Paul H.

While driving today, my check engine light came on and at the same time the speedometer quit working. Truck seemed to rum fine for the short time I drove it. Any guesses? Thanks.

PoBoy

Does the odometer still work?

Paul H.

Did not notice, to tell the truth.

Fahrenheit 451

A possibility:
http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Re...1&src=vip#Tran
Hopefully, it is something easier and cheaper.

Paul H.

Thanks Fahrenheit, do you or anyone know how to check the speed sensor or where it is located?

Paul H.

Update: check engine light went out but my speedo and odometer do not work. Could it still be the speed sensor or something else? Anyone.

DavidA

Check your fuses...some supporting circuit could be down. Just a thought.

HondaTec521

I just bought my '90 runner and i could have sworn it has a cable driven speedo. Maybe your cable broke/disconnected ? You probably have a speed sensor code.Or a transmission code.

Paul H.

All fuses checked good.

Hondatech, where is the speedo cable and is there a way to check to see if it is bad?

UKMyers

My 94 is electronic but if you have a cable it's behind the cluster.

Paul H.

Update: Decided to take 4Runner in and have it checked out by a mechanic. Turns out that a sensor attached to the transmission went out. The cost of this part: $317.00 Only Toyota sells this part. No one else does.

Fahrenheit 451

Woof! For that much, see if you can find a junkyard version or somebody on the board parting out a 4runner. Seems like there are a couple in the classifieds lately.
Also, a bit of a reach, but have you considered taking the sensor somewhere to see if it can be repaired like an electronic supply/repair house? I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find out there is a $0.10 resistor or something similar that burns up and could be easily replaced. Heck, there could even be something that gets a bit corroded/dirty that requires pulling the sensor apart to repair. I doubt there is a core charge so what is there to lose by messing around with the dead one.
I'm not electronics whiz kid, but I have fixed a couple relays/switches on my 4Runner in the past that I bet the dealership would have told me could only be replaced at mucho $$$.
Just a thought.
Don't necessarily believe them when they say it is a dealer only part too. It takes some hunting, but I have found parts clearinghouses in the past on the net that deal in old dealer inventory on parts that aren't high volume enough for the dealers to care about and have found the prices to be lower. I don't remember the site(s), but hey for what might be a couple hundred $$ savings you can afford to surf the net for a while

Paul H.

newer update: Well they replaced the sensor and guess what, it did not fix the problem. They did some more troubleshooting and after scratching their heads for awhile, they decided that they had no clue what was wrong. They said take it to toyota. Good news, they did not charge me for the part or the troubleshooting time. While driving to toyota the check engine light came on again. They now have it, I called them at 4:oo today and they told me they were checking it out and would call me before they closed if they found anything. No call back today. I just hope that it will not be very expensive. I miss driving my 4Runner and want it back.

M3TA4

paul,
I just had my secondary speed sensor replaced, it is located behind the instrument cluster, apparently the primary is on the tranny. My 4runner was doing the same thing only it would not shift out of 1st unless I manually did it, its automatic. It was intermittent so I knew it wasnt mechanical, the local Toyota dealer in Hattiesburg, MS tried to tell me I needed a new transmission, AAMCO hooked the computer up to it and told me about the sensor took em a coupla days to get the part from Toyota.

Paul H.

M3TA4, the primary is the one the mech. replaced. Must be the secondary. I wish I had gotten your message earlier. Oh well, hopefully they won't try to screw me over.

SD70MAC

I'm experiencing a similar problem on my 89 4runner. I was driving on the interstate and all of a sudden the speedo needle just dropped to zero and the odometer quit working. When that happened, the CEL came on and the "OD OFF" light flashed. I took the cluster out and the very end of the speedo cable had broken off. I went to Toyota and they sold me a new cable which took me 3 hours to put in. The connector to the back of the cluster appeared a little bit too big, but I decided to try it anyway. It wasn't but about 10 minutes later when I went for a test drive that the NEW cable broke too in the exact same place! I just got home from the dealer and he ran the vin # and found out the cable he sold me originally was the wrong one. If you have to replace the cable, make sure you give them your VIN # so they can get you the right cable!

Sludge

Im having the same problem on my 92 Runner. Needle drops and the CEL comes on. Any updated info on this would be greatly appreciated.

Paul H.

Update: it was the actual speedometer, not the cable. Dealer replaced it. Cost almost $400.

Robinhood150

Hmm...didn't see this post back in June.

Do a search for vehicle speed sensor and my name. Not sure which year they switched from cable to electronic though.