95 legacy speedo

[rtcaravan]

i just bought a 95 legacy wagon postal and the speedo dont work. the cpl we dought it off of had a new vss#2 replaced and didn't fix it. i put a new cluster in and still don't work. could it be vss#1 or trans computer? another problem is the rev limiter. when i kick it down to pass i can't because it bounces off the rev limiter at 4500. did they do that to all postal cars?

[Fairtax4me]

Does the Check engine light work? Is it lit?

[rtcaravan]

the check engine light was on when i swaped the new cluster. my old cluster must have a blown bulb. was going to fix it but forgot. so i'm shure its on. the at trans light flashes when i start it too.

Edited May 6, 2010 by rtcaravan

[Mike104]

Flashing AT light at startup means a fault code is stored in the TCU. You may want to get the check engine code read (free at most chain parts stores) and bring that back here.

 

There is a way to read the TCU codes by grounding a wire and counting the flashes. Perhaps someone who knows the procedure will chime in?

[johnceggleston]

if the front speed sensor is good and the speedo is good and the wire inbetween is good then it may be the speedo drive gears inside the trans. they are not user friendly.

[rtcaravan]

pulled the speed sensor out and put a screwdriver in the slot and it turns free. it shouldn't spin free right? and i guess there is no easy way to fix it.

[johnceggleston]

pulled the speed sensor out and put a screwdriver in the slot and it turns free. it shouldn't spin free right? and i guess there is no easy way to fix it.

 

it doesn't sound good. i would have put the flat blade of the screw driver in the slot in the senors hole, and rotated the wheel. the screw driver should have rotated when the wheel did. but the way you did it may be ok if you you got the screwdriver in the slot and you did not force it to turn.

[rtcaravan]

no i didn't force it. it turned free with no problems. i'll have to pull it back out and have the wife drive me around to see if it turns when driving.

[Gloyale]

AT Temp light, CEL, and rev limiting to 4500 are likely ALL from the lack of a VSS.

 

I know that my 96 Outback was rev limited when the VSS went bad.

 

Speedometer in dash is not connected to the second VSS that is in the rear of trans. That one is for the TCU to calculate AWD.

 

My guess is that one of the nylon gears on the diff that run the speedo is stripped. Either the Drive or the driven, can't know without inspection.

 

It is possible to inspect, and to replace the small, driven gear with Trans in car. Have to remove passenger side front axle, spin out the bearing retainer, and reach into the diff with snap ring pliers to get the gear off it's shaft.

 

The large drive gear that is mounted on the diff is much harder to replace. The bearing race for the diff must be pulled, and this is pretty much impossible with the trans in the car, or even out of the car without disassembly of the front diff portion of the trans.

Edited May 11, 2010 by Gloyale

[johnceggleston]

AT Temp light, CEL, and rev limiting to 4500 are likely ALL from the lack of a VSS.

 

 

how is the AT Temp light involved? that seems odd to me.

[bheinen74]

sounds like if you put the screwdriver tip in the top of the transmission case where the front speed cable goes, and the screwdriver turned freely, then that sounds like the speedo drive/driven gear inside the transmission is burned up, its plastic, and over time, it degrades and melts up. I have had this in one of my 4eat turbo Legs.

 

I did fix it, without removing the trans from the car.

 

If you have 4 good jackstands or a car lift, get the car up off the ground, and repeat your screwdriver tip into the trans with the car in drive. It should spin your screwdriver slowly. On mine, it would spin about half a turn, then free wheel, you could feel it stripping/slipping. Then if you twisted the screwdriver, it again would spin half a turn, then strip.

 

I had a portion of the drive gear stripped, again due to heat over time.

 

Parts alone can be purchased from the dealer. You need the drive gear, and the driven gear. And you need new oring seal for when you pull the sucker apart.

You also have to be very careful on the backlash. Again, I did this on my former car, and it never had issues after. Until you fix this, you will be in limp mode, the ecu throws the car in limp mode to "save" your components when it detects a speedo failure.

 

Before you fix, please take a reading on wiggle movement on both sides of the axle outputs.

The fix is to remove the passenger front axle, count the number of turns out the bearing cap retainer is, you do this by turning it in kinda like you would a carb needle mixture screw. then you turn it out and remove the cap assembly. There is a fragile oring seal, and you need to get a new one before you put it back together.

Pull out the bearing assembly off the diff, you can then get to the speedo drive gear, as well as the driven gear. The drive gear just slips over the diff, the driven gear has a c-clip and a washer holding it there.

its kinda a pain to get the smaller drive gear without dropping it into the trans case, and gear oil.

When you put it back together, the backlash SHOULD be set by a professional, but as long as you havent messed around with the other side, the rule of reinstalling by counting turns out applies.

 

I do not recommend this repair if you have never worked with setting backlash, or if you dont know what backlash is. It is not a repair for the normal do it yerselfer. You can mess things up, but a pro can do it for you, and the trans can stay in the car to do it.

 

Mine is still going 40k after i did the repair.

 

BH

Edited May 11, 2010 by bheinen74

[rtcaravan]

after i did more looking at it at work i'm shure it's the gears. spent hours tring to find a brake down of the speedo gears in the trans and if people have had problems with them. i'll have to bring it back in the shop so i can take it apart to fix it. good to know it can be done without pulling the trans. thanks for the help.

Edited May 12, 2010 by rtcaravan