Vehicle Speed Sensor came up as a problem while running ECU diognostic. Where is this located? how hard is it to change? Throw me a freakin bone here will ya....

 

did you just have work done?
Try reseting the ecu and see if it comes back.
I had my tranny rebuilt and it trip that code.
I just reset and it has not come back.

 

well since the past 2 days i was getting the check engine light...i had checked the code on the 1st day and the ECU gave me 3 problems:

evap canister vent control valve
automatic trans control unit signal to ecu
evap control system pressure sensor

today i checked the codes again and i had one more added on the the top list, which was the:

Vehicle Speed Sensor

I reset the ECU and it didnt seem to come back so i am not sure whats going on now.....

 

Vehicle speed sensor will take you a matter of mins to change. It's easy if you can get the car on the lift and see it. It basically sits right on top of the tranny..it looks like a small plug and when you pull it out it's like a lil wheel.. Should be green. for 4thgens

 

With the 3 I've had they were all black with a red pinion gear.

 

Umm.. wait I take that back.. 4thgen is red gear.. And 5thgen is green.. I had to swap one out of a 4thgen and put it into my 5thgen tranny when my speed sensor went bad

 

THANKS GUYS! how much do they go for any idea?

 

another question guys...could this possibly cause the cruise control to not work? I am having this problem with the CC...where sometimes it works and somtimes it doesnt. If it doesnt work...shutting off the car and restarting it seems to fix it.

 

If I remember correctly it was something like $45 or so..

 

thanks! thats not too bad...for now the service engine light is gone..if it comes back i'll start replacing stuff.

 

Hello all, well the check engine light came on, and i got the codes out of it...it read Vehicle speed sensor, so it turned it off and waited for it to come back on again, and it did in 2 days, so i went to the dealer and they checked it and told me that it was my speedometer head, and that they have to replace it and recalibrate it or something like it. But the total price is over $400 should i give in to the evil dealership or do this on my own?

thx

 

Hey guys i checked with nissan and they said the color of the gear doesnt matter even though the original one might be red. I just purchased a speed sensor which is for a 97 and its green. Is this correct. someitmes these nisan parts people screw up!

 

Have you been on a dyno,or had an emissions test lately?
Putting your car on a dyno might trip a couple codes.
It will go away after a few miles.

 

no i have been getting this ECU code since a month on and off...i reset it and hope it wont come back but it does after a few days or a week. My cruise control stops working sometimes too all of a sudden and lately my overdrive light has blinked a couple of times. I am also getting bad fuel milage and sometimes the car seems to drive a bit werid like the transmission feels werid. All of this i believe is because the speed sensor is not working properly and its tripping the check engine light since the past month or more every once in a while. It was only $36 bucks, i dont really do any MODS and stuff on my car so i dont mind spending that amount to stop getting those errors.

 

i have service engine soon light on mine, i just thought it was a dealership trick to make you come in and spend money, also my cruise control doesnt work right now either

 

dude i changed mine myself. Its very easy. The speed sensor is $30 bucks and its right on top of the tranny. you can see it when u look down from the engine compartment. Its all the way in the back by the fuel filter and all the way in the bottom. Its just one bolt holding it. Do it yourself.

 

I replaced the speed sensor and as kenju4u stated it is not hard to do-it-yourself. However about a week after I replced it the check engine light returned and the code was the same - 0104 which is speed sensor fault. Any ideas as to what to check next? Thanks

 

I replaced the speed sensor and after a week the darn light returned with the same 0104 code - any ideas???

 

did you got to the dealership to have it fixed and if so how much did it cost ? 20-30 ?

 

OH man! you are in the same boat as me i guess. I am getting 2 error codes:

0104 - Vehicle Speed Sensor
0504 - A/T control unit singal to ECU

I have replaced my Vehicle speed sensor too but i keep getting the same 2 errors every 7 or so days. Right before i get the check engine light before i start my car my OD light flashes a few times and my cruise control also doesnt work sometimes, but i think this is related to core problem.
Someone suggest that the wireing harness might be bad in my car. They said the 97's have this problem, but i have checked my harness and i dont think its the cause the light stayed off for like 9 days when i drove the car through all types of weather and distances and roads and it didnt come on. I think if it was a broken or a cut wire it would probably happen more often. I am thinking about taking it to the dealer and getting it checked out cause i think the problem now is beyond anything anyone can help me trouble shoot on this forum.

 

Before I changed the speed sensor I was getting both codes you mentioned. After changing the sensor I am only getting the 0104 code - speed sensor - the A/T one seems to have dissappeared. I have a pretty good relationship with my Nissan dealer and my daughter works at the Nissan plant here in TN so maybe she can ask one of the employees about this problem. If it did not interfere with the cruise control, I would not be so concerned as the car runs great. I appreciate your prompt response

 

NO I removed the "bad" sensor and installed the new one myself it was easy. The part only cost $ 23 at the Nissan place.

 

yeah i was suprized myself to find out differnt nissan dealers charge differnt prices for parts. I would think it would be the same since they are all nissan but apprently not!

 

my car is at the dealers today cause of the this problem. I am sick of the light coming back over and over again for the same thing which i replaced the speed sensor already...we'll find out today what causes it..hopefully nissan will have some answers for me, and maybe even a not too expensive fix.

 

Please keep us advised when you find out the problem. My car is a 97 SE and I have experienced these exact symptoms for about the last month. I was about to replace the VSS myself but am holding off for now. I am concerned about that A/T control unit error code.

Hope the dealership is kind to you!

 

Hey guys i am sure you guys have been waiting to see what the dealers told me... well they told me its the speedo head which is bad, the signal from the speed sensor is going to the speedo head correctly but the speedo head is not calabrating correctly and sending bad/no signal to the ECM and TCM. Since i am having problems with my cruise control, and my car is giving me bad gas mileage it makes total sense to me and I am getting it replaced.
Its gonna cost me around $400...worth it i guess.

the speed sensor was never bad but they said it was a 50/50 chance that it could ahve been the speed sensor so i guess I tired...since the speed sensor is cheap ($30) and i replaced it myself no big harm, but if you dont wanna waste $30 for no reason you should do a test on the speed sensor with a volt meter according to any max manual. i think your suppse to connect the volt meter to the two terminals on the speed sensor and turn the gear if it registers .5v its good.

I also checked at 2 differnt dealerships and they both gave me the same estimate. I remeber another maxima.org member posting about a dealer quoteing him around $400. The part it self cost about $215 new from the dealer. I also checked the junkyard who were asking $179 for a used one...anyways the speedo also needs to be calibarated. Which costs around $25 - $35. All together its coming out to around $400 and change. They have already ordered the part and as soon as it comes in calibrated they will call me to bring the car in for installing..they said its about a 1 1/2 hour job.

You should definately get this done cause haveing a bad speedo will make the cruise control not work properly, and also prevents the transmission from shifting correctly, it also cause you to get horrible gas mileage...all the symptoms I have.

Suppostly this seems to be a common issue on a 97. I think we should call Nissan and have this filed as something that should be considered for a recall. If they get enough complains they will look into and get it done.

Here are the two annoying error codes I was getting even after replacing the speed sensor:

0104 - Vehicle Speed Sensor
0504 - A/T control unit singal to ECU