speedo will not work

[BOOYAHGRANDMA]

Hello every one , i have 1998 ford ranger 2.5 with a 5speed in it. A few days ago the speedo and trip meter stoped working , the ABS light never came on. I went ahead and changed the VSS sensor on the rearend and then re checked all my fuses every thing seemed to be good but I still have no speedo or trip meter. I have done search after search and still cant figure it out , I have also tried two other gauge cluster and they do the same thing , everything else but the speedo and trip meter work. Is there a fuesible link that controls just the speedo or something that might have blown? I cant figure it out for the life of me , please help guys/gals

 

[runningslow]

Does the needle do anything at all? Does it bounce, jump up and down with engine speed, drop when brakes applied? I had some bizarre symptoms when I was having issues with mine. Eventually it just stopped working.

I was able to fix my speedo by cleaning up the ground wires. I paid particular attention to the one on the firewall, that looked like it was coming from the ECU. I would just trace the wires from the VSS and look for problems.

I was having speedo issues with my '97. My VSS is on the tranny, so I guess '98 is when they moved it to the axle. However, I think the solution might be the same.

 

[BOOYAHGRANDMA]

Thanks for the reply I will check out the grounds again , on one of the clusters i tried the speedo needle would move a little bit upon start up but that was it. Also i was wondering since the ABS light has never came on does this sound like its limited to only the speedo wiring? I understand that the RABS sensor shares info for the speedo , but at some point the speedo has to become its own circut right? The other thing i am having a hard time with is why do i get my test light to light up when i check the pig tail that hooks up to the RABS sensor , i done understand why there is power running into the sensor , I thought that the sensor sent to single form the rear up to the abs and all that good stuff up front , so why the power running into the sensor?

 

[greenpus]

i know of no fuse associated with the speedo but who knows...
i would follow the sensor wire out of the rear end and make sure it's not pinched in the frame or else where.

 

[greenpus]

Thanks for the reply I will check out the grounds again , on one of the clusters i tried the speedo needle would move a little bit upon start up but that was it. Also i was wondering since the ABS light has never came on does this sound like its limited to only the speedo wiring? I understand that the RABS sensor shares info for the speedo , but at some point the speedo has to become its own circut right? The other thing i am having a hard time with is why do i get my test light to light up when i check the pig tail that hooks up to the RABS sensor , i done understand why there is power running into the sensor , I thought that the sensor sent to single form the rear up to the abs and all that good stuff up front , so why the power running into the sensor?

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18170

 

[BOOYAHGRANDMA]

Yeah i have read that 100 times over trying to think of what else it could be , see the thing is I never have had the ABS light come on , but if i unplug the pigtale from the sensor then the ABS light comes up so i know the ABS circut is working. I am starting to lean towards the G.E.M. being bad , going to try and check the GEM next to see if i am getting power for the speedo out of it

 

[greenpus]

i know when my sensor went bad the check engine light came on and the engine ran like crap but my abs light did not come on if i remember correctly. The speedo didn't work either. this is on a 2000 so it should be the same as yours.
i was lucky and it was an easy fix for me by replacing the $20 sensor.

 

[BOOYAHGRANDMA]

What code came up when your sensor went out? was it a p0500 , i have a scaner and the only code I have is a p1401 which is a Differential Pressure Feedback Electronic Sensor circuit High Voltage. I haved tryed 3 differant abs/vss sensors all with the same result . one from auto zone , one from ford , and one from a friends truck. Other then the p1401 code nothing else has come up , when i unplug the sensor i get P0500 which leads me to even further belive the ABS circut is good. Thanks for the help though , back to the drawing board for me

 

[BOOYAHGRANDMA]

Can any one help me figure out where the RABS/VSS redwire with pink line and green wire with black line change into the info for the cluster? I understand that the green/black wire is the ground but when does the RABS/VSS single change into the speed info for the cluster , is it in the GEM? I have the manuel and some of the wire diagrams just want to make sure its the wire i think it is. I think the red/pink wire goes into the GEM and changes into the gray black wire and that wire feeds to info to the cluster...