98 lagacy speed sensor issues

[GirlWithALegacy]

So my car is throwing a speed sensor 2 CEL. I've done reading and havent found what i need. my car rev limits at 4 k only 1/2 the time, my speedo and my odo dont work unless i hit a nasty pothole and they only work for about 10 mi, but other than that i have no problems. I went to pull speedo2 off another car and the wiring goes completely into the harness without any clips. Ive tried to find what a new one would include but i cant find any. So my question is this.. should i just cut the wires between the sensor and the harness and splice the wires? or is there something i'm missing? i just dont want to screw something up by cutting it if theres an easier way to remove it.

[Mike104]

Can you let us know what model and year of your Subaru?

 

I'm guessing that since you said speed sensor 2 it is an automatic? 4 or 5 speed auto?

[GirlWithALegacy]

Oh yeah. sorry i misspelled legacy in the thread title and its a 5 speed L.

Edited April 4, 2010 by GirlWithALegacy

[GirlWithALegacy]

Already then... I rechecked the code and i was mistaken.. its a sensor 1. Im looking at my haynes and i just want to be sure... it says that speed sensor 1 is on the back of the transfer case. any reason it wouldnt be? and passenger or driver side... or directly on back?

[johnceggleston]

first i'm an auto trans guy , so i may be wrong on some of the finer points.

 

but... you need to tart over. vss #1, on autos, has nothing to do with the speedo / odo. so check your cel code again.

 

on 5 speeds, the vss #2 is on the passenger side about half way back, i think. on autos, the vss #2 has a wire connector built into the top of the unit. so the wire harness plugs right into the speed sensor.

 

check it again, unplug it and plug it back in again. not working except when you hit a pothole sounds like it could be a lose connection, or maybe the speedo drive gears. but lets not go there yet.

 

Vss#1 is on the rear extention housing, passenger side, again auto trans, and there is NO wire connector at the unit. it is part of the trans harness, which the manual trans does not have. edit, manual trans do not have this one.

 

pic below, from an auto trans, vss #1 is on the left and #2 is on the right.

 

if yours looks different, please disregard everything i said.

 

EDIT: maybe check the connector at the speedo.

Edited May 15, 2010 by johnceggleston

[Gloyale]

Your manual trans Legacy on;y has one VSS. For some reason Subaru calls this one VSS 2. Only automatics have a VSS 1.

 

 

The VSS on your car is on the passenger side of the tranny, about half way back.

 

3 prong connector right into the top of the sensor. Unhooks from the sensor. Sensor threads out with a 17mm wrench.