Speedometer and odometer not working

Tiny
MARS
  • MEMBER
  • TOYOTA PICKUP
I have a 1993 Toyota pickup, 4x4, standard transmission, 93K miles. This truck has a speedometer sensor. I have located the sensor and want to determine if the sensor is bad or the wiring to the sensor is bad. The electrical connection to the sensor has 3 wires. Can I use a voltmeter to verify if the wiring is bad? What should I see when looking back to the speedometer cluster when I look at the 3 wires? How about looking into the sensor? Sorry I don't have the color of the 3 wires that go back to the speedometer cluster.

The odometer is not working as well as the speedometer not working. That is why I suspect I may have a wiring problem between the speedometer sensor and the console. I will be measuring resistance between the 3 wires that go from the sensor connection to the speedometer/odometer. I am not sure what to expect. I suspect I will see a resistance for the speedometer. The 3rd wire may go to a power source, I'm not sure. I was told the power sensor needs power but is not protected by a fuse. That is why I suspect a wiring problem. The speedometer went sporadic(ie bounced around for a few seconds) before it completely stopped working. Hope this helps.

Thanks
Friday, April 21st, 2006 AT 7:37 AM

1 Reply

Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 47,536 POSTS
Hey Mars,

I found the wiring diagram for you and none of the wiries head to the speedo they go into the the PCM.

A Toyota vehicle speed sensor is usually bullet proof. I have never seen a failure but I have seen a lot of speedometer failures. The VSS does a lot of other things besides a speedometer.

I have replaced dozens of instrument clusters on Toyota trucks and I have NEVER found a wiring problem or a bad vehicle speed sensor. The symptom of an occasional bounce is that of a bad cluster.

One truck I repaired had a corroded connector on the back of the cluster which I cleaned with a pencil eraser but never a bad wire or VSS. That was over a 20 year period.

Here is a diagram so you can do some testing please let me know what you find so it will help others

Best, Ken
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Thursday, December 22nd, 2016 AT 2:40 PM

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