96 Explorer with V6. 225K miles.

Both quit working for my wife today. I did a search and the simple answer seems like the speedometer head in the dash. Not hard to get the cluster out, haven't done it in years.... easy to get the speedometer itself out?

AND are there any other things to check first, is there a cable anymore? Or a sensor to test?

Thanks tons in advance, seems fairly simple but don't want to buy a 400 buck gauge and find it was a 20 buck cable or 50 buck sensor..

Jeff

 

your explorer I'm 99% sure runs a vss type sensor or what is called a vehicle speed sensor. I would invest in a haynes or some type of service manual so you can locate and replace this part. most of the time they are very easy. I would say it is almost never the gauges although it can happen, but chances are the sensor or the plug/connection are bad. the problem with sensors any senors you may have to check voltage reading if it doesn't fix the problem to rule out a bad connection or broken wire before you try other parts. also if you replace a sensor and have good power check continuaty(sp?) of the part or have the parts place verify the part is good and they didn't sell you a bad one.

most pre 95 obd 1 cars/trucks have the cable set up and 96 up obd 2 computer cars/trucks run the full electronics now.

the cable set up also ran down to a plastic(most of time) gear that was replacable at the tailshaft of the tranmission,this little gear actually gives the vehicle speed.

advance auto's website list's the sensor for your truck they have different options for the odometer if it's digital and cruise etc. most are under $40.

hope this helps. good luck.

 

Thanks, its a place to start, have the repair manual somewhere, haven't much touched the vehicle since about 110K miles. I'll look sensors. COuld be a fuse or just dust in a sensor.

Thanks, Jeff