Speedometer problems

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Feb 17, 2005 | 01:13 PM

turtlemon

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Speedometer problems

Hi all, I'm new to this site and a new PSD owner. I bought a '97 F250 4x4 with 112K on it. Soon after, (during my vacation nonetheless) the cruise went out/odom/speedo. I limped it to where we were going, turns out the VSS was loose, a local tranny shop reattached it for me...easy. That fixed the tranny shifting problem but still the speedo still goes nuts. Every time I hit a big bump it goes beserk, and the odom. goes blank (its digital). It eventually mellows back out. The tranny shifting is being effected also...I've already poured a bunch of $$ into the truck. I recently replaced the cam sensor, (dealer said 2 error codes related), but this did nothing. So any help would be appreciated.!! The whole intrument clauster?? I've seen other posts where they replaced the VSS and problem still persists. I've also heard about an excitor ring?? Any links or tips would be great....

thanks!

Eric

Feb 17, 2005 | 01:37 PM

Casey

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Joined: Jul 2003

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It's almost certainly not the instrument cluster. It could be the VSS, the exciter ring in the rear end that the VSS looks at, or the wiring from the VSS to the computer. Any of these could cause your problems.

Feb 17, 2005 | 01:41 PM

turtlemon

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...thanks, will check the vss again, I think it's only $50 bux or so...cheaper than a whole new inst. cluster. how expensive/difficult is the excitor ring to fix?? How do you access it?

thanks much

Feb 17, 2005 | 02:13 PM

Casey

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To get to the exciter ring you remove the cover off the rear of the axle. The ring bolts to the ring gear.

Feb 17, 2005 | 05:44 PM

18vtx00

Fleet Mechanic

Joined: Nov 2004

Posts: 1,427

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From: Templeton, Massachussetts

changed 2 vss 's this week in sd and 95 van,, oem is only 21 for sd and 37 for e150. i would start there. see if some metal shavings come out of the diff on the sensor.

Feb 18, 2005 | 03:28 AM

fedextech

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you said the wiring was loose on the vss, that tells me that the conector could be damage ( the retainer clip broken) and allowing for a loose connection, which explains why it gives trouble when you hit bumps. you also need to check the wires from the frame to the vss, they could be damaged or broken INSIDE the insulation. when lift kits are installed, soemtimes people forget to lenghten the wires and it pulls everything apart. if you can't find anything there, pull the sensor out and look at it, check for damage or large amounts of metal on it. you can test the ohms to see if it's within specs.

Feb 18, 2005 | 09:34 AM

turtlemon

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thanks for the input, will look into it this weekend if the rain lets up!

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Mar 2, 2005 | 01:01 AM

RocknXJ

Senior User

Joined: Jan 2004

Posts: 254

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From: Bakersfield, CA

Don't know if you figured your situation out, but while on vacation last week I encoutered the same thing. Speedo went out and trans started shifting funny, so I assumed it was the speed sensor. The speed sensor checked out OK, but I had told them that the dome lights quit at the same time. Turns out that on my '96 the speedo is on the same circut as the dome lights, and there was a short in a wire going to the dome light which blew the fuse. When the fuse blew the speedo quit working, as did the cruise control, and the trans started shifting badly.

Sort of funny.......fix the dome light to get the trans working right again.