Another Speedo Not Working

[Spooled]

I've been working with my speedo all afternoon and I'm just not seeing why it's not working. I'm working with an automatic '93 Pathy with a mechanical speedo. I installed a brand new speedo cable, thinking that was the problem. Nope. I took the instrument cluster out and drove down the street. I can see that the speedo cable is spinning, so that's not the problem. I put a drill in the back of the speedo to spin it - the speedo read up to 25mph. So, I learned that my drill spins at 25mph. So, if the speedo spins freely with the drill, and the speedo cable spins correctly, why are two halves not making a whole? I am getting a vehicle speed sensor code out of the tranny diagnostics, but figured since the speedo itself isn't showing speed, the speed sensor reed switch in the speedo wouldn't have any information to give, thereby triggering the error code.

 

So........anyone care to take a shot at this one? I'm out of logic and could really use another perspective.

[94extreme]

you ran a cable and there is code for speed sensor? hmm....

 

 

if one half is spinning and the other too then i am guessing the CONNECTION must not be connecting.

[88pathoffroad]

Either the speedo head at the rear of the speedo is stripped out or...tried stopping the cable from spinning by hand while it's moving? Or can you spin the speedo cable by hand with the truck not moving? Maybe the gear on the SS is stripped out.

[Spooled]

Good suggestion. Don't know why I didn't think of that. Still a no go though. I just tried holding the cable - I can not stop it from spinning. Nor can I make it spin in Park. Looking at it closely, the speedo head is definitely not stripped out. Still a perfect square. And the speedo head spins very freely.

 

The connection was my thought too, but I just don't see how it could not be making a positive connection. It's pretty fool proof - not that I haven't proven myself a sufficiently talented fool before. I've removed at replaced the cluster at least 5 times, and tested after each time. It's too bad there is no viewing angle to see the connection being made. I'll keep plugging away at it, but keep the suggestions coming if you've got them. Thanks!

[SaKaNa]

I tried forever to figure out what was wrong with my R50's speedometer. Replaced the whole cluster, the cable, the speed sensor. Finally I find out it was this tiny worn away plastic gear. The little bag it came in says "PINION SPEEDO" on it.

 

[zonianbrat]

SaKaNa where is that gear located? Is it by the VSS sensor down by the tranny? I have a problem with my speedo too. It seemed like every once in a while I would start up and leave and the speedo would not work but then like a mile or two down the road it would catch up. I was thinking it was the VSS but I started a new job and I am in the middle of nowhere TX for training and I had to drive into a place called the Ranch and it is like a 25 mile washboard bumpy dusty road. Well I figured out today that when I go over cattle guards slowly my speedo would quit working. then I pushed in the trip odometer later to clock mileage and again it quit working. I got a little pissed and banged on my dash and low and behold it started working again. This happened three more times and If I just hit the dash a couple of times it usually comes back to life. I have a 97 R50 do you guys think it is a loose conection at the cluster? Crap I just realized I totally thread jacked. So Sorry.

[SaKaNa]

That gear is down at the far end of the transmission, I think its technically the transfer case. Mine went on and off for a while before it completely stopped... Sometimes it'd swing up to like 40mph when I was doing 85 on a highway, sometimes it'd bounce up and down between 0 and 5 or so, but my OBDii reader was giving me a speed if I drove around with it connected, so I figured it was the gauges themselves. $150 for a new cluster and still nothing. So then I got tired of the situation and just got a TomTom soley for the purpose of knowing how fast im going when theres a cop around, though I've started using it for alot more than that. Then I figured it must be the speed sensor itself, since my OBDii computer stopped giving a speed reeading and started giving a VEHICLE SPEED SENSOR failure code. After I replaced the speed sensor for $192 it worked for a few minutes... literally "around the block" then stopped. *FINALLY* my mechanic was doing an oil change and decided to take a look, replaced that gear, everythings fine.

[Spooled]

I tried forever to figure out what was wrong with my R50's speedometer. Replaced the whole cluster, the cable, the speed sensor. Finally I find out it was this tiny worn away plastic gear. The little bag it came in says "PINION SPEEDO" on it.

 

If it was the pinion gear, the cable wouldn't be spinning. I thought of that though.

 

It must be in the connection. It looks like the cable isn't sticking out far enough for some reason. I can pull it out further, but unless by some miracle it happens to be perfectly oriented and placed to go right into the speedometer as I install it, it just gets pushed back in. I'll talk with my parts guy at Nissan and see what he thinks.