Well today as I'm driving along i see something strange. While i have the car in gear the speedo will not register speed at all. If i take it out of gear it reads what appears to read normal. I have no idea what can cause this . Any one else have this happen?

 

so your driving along and you put it in N and the speedo will work, but in gear it doesnt? Sounds like a speed sensor.

 

Um 5sp but yea

 

that is an interesting problem, my guess would be with the vss too or a bad connection to the vss

 

Yea, I would definitely check out the VSS. Maybe something inside the transmission has to do with it? When not in neutral the gears aren't meshing with the gear on the VSS? Maybe check to make sure the VSS is in the transmission all the way.

Other than that, maybe check your gear shift position switch. Maybe something is shorted out with it and its just confusing the ECU beyond belief? Meh, you would probably have a code if that was the case. I would check out the VSS first, then the GSP sensor.

 

I didnt think the ecu seen anything as far is gear selection on a manual. I will deff check the vss tho.

 

Only thing I can think of is that when you're in gear you're losing your connection to the speedo sensor somehow, perhaps from the slight rocking of the engine when it's under load vs in neutral.

The speedo sensor signal goes straight to the tach - the ECU has nothing to do with it so it's not an ECU problem.

I have an extra VSS. You can have it if I can borrow your slicks this weekend.

 

yeah neal is right go check ur speedo sensor...

 

Well it sees whether or not you're in neutral.

Is it just when you shift to neutral or is it whenever you clutch in? If it's just when taking out of gear, then it couldn't be any sort of load related as clutching in would be the exact same as moving the shifter to neutral.

And the VSS reads directly off of the diff, so it shouldn't matter what gears are meshing with what.

 

I had a car the did that every time you put load on it like accelerating or deceleration it would stop reading. it turned out to be the gear on the vss was partially stripped. The torque was enough to pull it away enough to stop reading.

 

Well Neal looks like i need the speed sensor. I will try to replace it in the car.

 

I hate to say it, but worn diff bearings could easily create enough play to engage and disengage the teeth of the speedo sensor. Play in the diff carrier bearings would cause it to shift around when you load and unload it.

I'm not saying this conclusively, but it's definitely possible.

Dave

 

Well its not reading at all now so i dont know what to do. Now wats crazy if i free rev it it will read lol.

 

kzoo, I am experiencing this right now too. While driving, every once in a while, my speedo and odo stop. It finally triggered a SES light (actually, this is my '96 so it would be a CE light )and guess what? Vehicle speed sensor.

If you have your cruise control set when the odo/speedo stop, that's when the car whigs out and gives you a CEL. Otherwise you might not get a CEL for the VSS.