97 tranny in a 94... help with speedo

[spottedsquirl]

I'm reclaiming my 94 ranger from my brother. It has the original 3.0 and a 5 speed manual from a 97 ranger. My bro didn't listen to me about finding a tranny from 91 through 94 to go back in it. He got a deal on the 97 which I don't blame him and then he tells me the speedo don't work, for obvious reasons of course. I don't have the funds to get another tranny. So, my question is does anyone know of a way to get the speedo to work or how to get an aftermarket speedo to work? Thanks

 

[spottedsquirl]

When I first had my ranger the tranny went out and nearly took my foot with it, I can explain that one if anyone wants to know. I knew mine had a cable driven speedo and anything 95 to 97 has a gear driven electronic vss. At the time I thought the 94 cable wouldn't work in place of the newer vss. I scrolled the the forum and found that it may actually work but how do I do it? I read something about a clip and detent spring needed and someone swapped the tail housing to get around the mods. Mindful, I may no longer have access to the original tranny to do a tail swap. I'm still considering an aftermarket speedo set up if anyone can help me with the wiring details. But, on the other hand I like the idea of keeping the factory setup. Any help with this is much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[RonD]

The 1997 transmission should still have Gear Driven speed sensor, so you just need the adapter to have both cable and sensor

Look here: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/speedometer.shtml
3rd and 4th picture down

They were used from around 1988 to 1994, sensor was used for cruise control

The driven gear(one on the adapter) can be changed to fine tune speedometer to correct speed

Current one may not match your axle ratio and tire size, but will be close enough to use

Video here on changing the driven gear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_o2UgXzpqw

Gives you an idea of what to look for on your 1997 tail shaft housing.


Worst case is that you have a late 1997 so actually a 1998 trans, with no speedo hook up on trans.

In that case you would need to either change the trans or use a cable drive motor like this one: http://www.dakotadigital.com/index....t_id=886/category_id=287/mode=prod/prd886.htm

Not cheap

 

[spottedsquirl]

Thanks! I'll look into into it!

 

[spottedsquirl]

I looked more into it. I came across the adapters mentioned above but, they don't include the driven gear. Assuming the original driven gear is still attached to the cable, will I be able to use that one to go on the adapter?

 

[RonD]

Yes, Ford used same gear style just different number of teeth so they could be calibrated for axle ratio and tire size

Drive gear should be 7 tooth("drive gear" is on the output shaft of transmission)
"Driven gear" is the one that can be changed, it is on the part/adapter than can be removed

If you know axle ratio(on drivers door label), and tire diameter, then you can use a Gear calculator to make sure you have the right one when you go to swap it out

Axle Ratio, read here: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/axle_codes.shtml

get tape measure to get tire diameter, side to side not top to bottom
Or look up size on line

Calculator here: http://www.fortesparts.com/about/calculator

 

[spottedsquirl]

Thanks for all the help!

 

[spottedsquirl]

Sigh... shrug... thumbs... my brother don't know the difference between a penny and quarter at times. It's a 2003 transmission in my old 94. Not the 97 trans he told me before. What all would I need to do to if I wanted to change out the tail housing? I know it's not just swapping housings. Or should I just go with the electronic vss to manual cable module?

 

[RonD]

Thats too bad

1994 dash is different than 1995 and up, much different, so putting in a electronic speedometer would be more work than it is worth.
And you would still need the SGI-5E connected to the OSS or Rear Axle ABS sensor, to calibrate it

OSS= output shaft speed sensor, used on tail shaft housing from 2001 and up, has a tone wheel on shaft instead of a gear, not sure if you can swap tone wheel for a gear, I would say no, but never looked into it
OSS and VSS(rear axle) are the same "type" of sensor, VR type, so either will work with correct calibration.

ECD-100 cable drive would be simplest for stock look, but expensive, also hooks to OSS or Rear axle VSS sensor

You can get dash mounted GPS speedometers, never used one so can't say how accurate they would be, but not that expensive

 

[spottedsquirl]

I sure am glad you said GPS. I completely forgot I can get an app that I used before and worked pretty good as long as I had good signal. Be just fine for work and back for now and until I figure this mess out. Thanks for all the help and support!