Speed sensor or something else?
05-08-2008, 04:23 PM
#21
Registered User
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Well, I took the old sensor out and the gears are in good shape so I might try the cleaning in the sensor area. Can't hurt to try. This is one year after the last post and the Autozone price on this is $253. No luck at Kragen and half a dozen salvage yards don't have one.
This is a repair I can do (simple bolt on operation) so I would love to find a used one to experiment with before laying out big bucks. Any ideas from anyone here in May, 2008. The threads here on this subject were VERY helpful.
This is a repair I can do (simple bolt on operation) so I would love to find a used one to experiment with before laying out big bucks. Any ideas from anyone here in May, 2008. The threads here on this subject were VERY helpful.
05-11-2008, 08:47 AM
#22
Registered User
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Tabernacle, NJ
Posts: 538
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I am having the same problem starting yesterday on a wheeling trip. However mine will even jump around sometimes at random with the truck in nuetral sitting still. I'm going to pull out the sensor today and clean it out as dan said, hopefully that fixes it and my speedometer itself isn't going out.
05-12-2008, 08:06 AM
#23
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Last edited by pray4surf; 05-12-2008 at 12:48 PM.
05-12-2008, 04:53 PM
#24
Registered User
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I went on Craigslist and found some ads for Toyota based suppliers..turns out one was in Denver and the other only about 90 miles away from me in California.
I talked to the guy on the phone and ordered the part for my 93, T4R, automatic and 4WD. It was to be $45 and he would only ship Fedex..$20 for next day...that was HIS decision...he doesn't like the post office priority mail which would have been $9 or so.
Anyway, the vss came and the minute I opened the box I knew it was wrong. It was larger than mine and had a different configuration on the 3 prong plug.
I took pics, called him and THEN he told me that in my year the Toyota people had changed the fixture somewhere along the production timeline.
He is sending the new one and I am crossing my fingers on it working.
I will try to attach the pics of the two sizes for my year truck. I am not auto mechanically oriented, but it's so simple even I can do it.
Mine is the one on the left.
Three major differences: gear size, main shaft size, plug configuration.
Hope this helps someone !
I talked to the guy on the phone and ordered the part for my 93, T4R, automatic and 4WD. It was to be $45 and he would only ship Fedex..$20 for next day...that was HIS decision...he doesn't like the post office priority mail which would have been $9 or so.
Anyway, the vss came and the minute I opened the box I knew it was wrong. It was larger than mine and had a different configuration on the 3 prong plug.
I took pics, called him and THEN he told me that in my year the Toyota people had changed the fixture somewhere along the production timeline.
He is sending the new one and I am crossing my fingers on it working.
I will try to attach the pics of the two sizes for my year truck. I am not auto mechanically oriented, but it's so simple even I can do it.
Mine is the one on the left.
Three major differences: gear size, main shaft size, plug configuration.
Hope this helps someone !
Last edited by movieman990; 05-24-2008 at 04:59 PM.
05-12-2008, 07:51 PM
#26
Registered User
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Good to know....now if only the guy at the order counter had thought to ask me about which one I had before shipping me the wrong one!
Hopefully this thread and all the pics will help some other non-mechanic who might run into this in the future.
05-13-2008, 06:48 AM
#27
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I went on Craigslist and found some ads for Toyota based suppliers..turns out one was in Denver and the other only about 90 miles away from me in California.
I talked to the guy on the phone and ordered the part for my 93, T4R, automatic and 4WD. It was to be $45 and he would only ship Fedex..$20 for next day...that was HIS decision...he doesn't like the post office priority mail which would have been $9 or so.
Anyway, the vss came and the minute I opened the box I knew it was wrong. It was larger than mine and had a different configuration on the 3 prong plug.
I took pics, called him and THEN he told me that in my year the Toyota people had changed the fixture somewhere along the production timeline.
He is sending the new one and I am crossing my fingers on it working.
I will try to attach the pics of the two sizes for my year truck. I am not auto mechanically oriented, but it's so simple even I can do it.
Mine is the one on the left.
I talked to the guy on the phone and ordered the part for my 93, T4R, automatic and 4WD. It was to be $45 and he would only ship Fedex..$20 for next day...that was HIS decision...he doesn't like the post office priority mail which would have been $9 or so.
Anyway, the vss came and the minute I opened the box I knew it was wrong. It was larger than mine and had a different configuration on the 3 prong plug.
I took pics, called him and THEN he told me that in my year the Toyota people had changed the fixture somewhere along the production timeline.
He is sending the new one and I am crossing my fingers on it working.
I will try to attach the pics of the two sizes for my year truck. I am not auto mechanically oriented, but it's so simple even I can do it.
Mine is the one on the left.
Troubleshooting my VSS / Speedo issue, I found this helpful FSM page with instructions on benchtesting the VSS using the vehicle battery and a DMM
http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/2003/Repa...ommet/insp.pdf
Step 2 under Inspection
What year truck do you have and is it a 4x4?
Rick
05-13-2008, 07:27 PM
#29
Registered User
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Well, here's the latest in my saga and a lesson for others in the future maybe.
As mentioned earlier I was sent the wrong vss...see pictures above. The counter guy (90 miles away on the phone) said he would send the correct one. I called him two days later....having trouble finding it...knew he had it, but they just moved, blah, blah, blah.
He suggested I take off the black triangular piece (the actual sensor) from the WRONG one he had sent, and put it on my ORIGINAL one. He said they were the same and it should work.
Well, a big smile came on my face as I drove down the block and ACTUALLY SAW THE SPEEDOMETER reading again. HOWEVER, I drove a 2 mile loop around my house (I KNOW it's 2 miles) and the speedometer showed I was going 60 miles an hour (I was going about 30) and the distance of the loop magically became 4 miles.
Then I took it on the freeway a distance of 1 mile from entrance to exit. It showed me going 110 mph and the distance measured 2 miles.
SEEING ANYTHING WRONG HERE?
Thinking about it, the gear on the WRONG VSS is bigger than the gear on my ORIGINAL, so I think the sensor that came on the NEW, WRONG VSS is relating incorrectly to the smaller gear on my OLD CORRECT VSS. Does this make sense? In other words, the NEW black piece was designed to be used with the larger gear in the NEW, WRONG VSS.
Anyway, I call him AGAIN tomorrow and we'll go from there. I'm making a 1,000 mile round trip next week and I don't want the speedo showing I'm going 110 mph NOR do I want the Odometer racking up 2,000 miles for a 1,000 mile trip. I'll put it back together the way it was and use my GPS to show me how fast I'm going.
Any input (one way or the other) on this newest development will be appreciated.
As mentioned earlier I was sent the wrong vss...see pictures above. The counter guy (90 miles away on the phone) said he would send the correct one. I called him two days later....having trouble finding it...knew he had it, but they just moved, blah, blah, blah.
He suggested I take off the black triangular piece (the actual sensor) from the WRONG one he had sent, and put it on my ORIGINAL one. He said they were the same and it should work.
Well, a big smile came on my face as I drove down the block and ACTUALLY SAW THE SPEEDOMETER reading again. HOWEVER, I drove a 2 mile loop around my house (I KNOW it's 2 miles) and the speedometer showed I was going 60 miles an hour (I was going about 30) and the distance of the loop magically became 4 miles.
Then I took it on the freeway a distance of 1 mile from entrance to exit. It showed me going 110 mph and the distance measured 2 miles.
SEEING ANYTHING WRONG HERE?
Thinking about it, the gear on the WRONG VSS is bigger than the gear on my ORIGINAL, so I think the sensor that came on the NEW, WRONG VSS is relating incorrectly to the smaller gear on my OLD CORRECT VSS. Does this make sense? In other words, the NEW black piece was designed to be used with the larger gear in the NEW, WRONG VSS.
Anyway, I call him AGAIN tomorrow and we'll go from there. I'm making a 1,000 mile round trip next week and I don't want the speedo showing I'm going 110 mph NOR do I want the Odometer racking up 2,000 miles for a 1,000 mile trip. I'll put it back together the way it was and use my GPS to show me how fast I'm going.
Any input (one way or the other) on this newest development will be appreciated.
05-13-2008, 09:20 PM
#30
Registered User
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Tabernacle, NJ
Posts: 538
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Mine started jumping all over again today even after I took the sensor apart and cleaned it. I'm not in any mood to spend $250 on a new one to find out it's the speedometer itself. I'm ready to say the hell with it and just continue using my gps for speed and mileage.
05-17-2008, 12:37 PM
#32
Registered User
Join Date: May 2008
Location: portland oregon
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
my 93 v6 4runner started doing the same thing-speedometer quit-transmission defaults to 1st gear-od light flashes code 42-defective speed sensor-mine is also the one on the left in the photos so i guess its the w56 tranny-i've got one on order should be here monday 05-19 sounds like this is a common problem the info here helped a ton -I had dealers telling me it "might be the speedo cable" funny , it doesnt have one. Thanks for all the info. I'll post the results after i change it-p.s. best price i could find in portland was $132.45
05-20-2008, 03:39 PM
#33
Registered User
Join Date: May 2008
Location: portland oregon
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
What a pain-went to get my part and of course what they had wasnt even close-i think it was the speed sensor for abs or something-well they quoted me 250.00 bucks for the right one-I am looking elsewhere-I think the confusion comes when you tell parts guys its on the transmission-I think Toyota calls it a vehicle speed sensor since it senses vehicle speed and relays that to speedo-but it definately controls the transmission also-I'll post agin if I find a good source-3 days of part searching for a 5 minute repair!
05-20-2008, 07:57 PM
#34
Registered User
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Tabernacle, NJ
Posts: 538
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
$250 sounds about right for that part. The g58 model is nearly $100 cheaper. Sounds like they tried to give you the rear diff mounted sensor for the ABS like you said. It seems to be such a small window for finding a truck with the sensor instead of a cable. Only what... some 93 and 94 trucks have it? Then you have to find one with the same tranny as you... my local yards don't have anything
05-20-2008, 08:10 PM
#35
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: San Francisco East Bay
Posts: 8,259
Likes: 0
Received 824 Likes
on
651 Posts
In 2005, I paid $231 for a Toyota VSS. So $250 sounds correct today. (1994, 4x4, automatic)
One way to diagnose is the Cruise Control; the VSS will take that out along with the speedometer.
RockAuto (www.RockAuto.com) lists a VSS for $178 (check the photographs to match to your current unit!) Whether dealer or otherwise, it comes WITHOUT the gear; use the one from your existing unit.
I've only ordered once from RockAuto (valve cover gasket and O2 sensor), and they did fine by me.
One way to diagnose is the Cruise Control; the VSS will take that out along with the speedometer.
RockAuto (www.RockAuto.com) lists a VSS for $178 (check the photographs to match to your current unit!) Whether dealer or otherwise, it comes WITHOUT the gear; use the one from your existing unit.
I've only ordered once from RockAuto (valve cover gasket and O2 sensor), and they did fine by me.
05-23-2008, 07:42 PM
#36
Registered User
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My problem is solved !
I can't provide you with all the details and pictures at the moment but will do so in a day or so.
Briefly, my parts guy sent me a speed sensor that looks like the one on the left in pictures above, BUT instead of terminating in the black sensor part, it has a threaded section which will accept YET ANOTHER part !
The second part comes from Marlin Crawler and has female threaded end which goes on the male threaded part; THEN, there is the standard 3 wire connector. Basically, I think this was a way of converting a real CABLE type speedometer setup to an electronic setup. My parts guy said they BUILD full ROCK CRAWLER type vehicles (I guess really tricked out for slow rock crawling) and this is what they use.
In a day or so I will attach pics and give you the name of my supplier and of the Marlin Crawler part. You could actually do a google search on Marlin Crawler and find a pic of that HALf of the setup.
The total bill on this should be about $150 or so, but my guy is being real good about letting me experiment with parts and so thus far I have only paid $45 for the original WRONG sized part.
more later.
I put it on in 10 minutes and test drove it around a known distance and it showed correct speed and distance accumulated.
Briefly, my parts guy sent me a speed sensor that looks like the one on the left in pictures above, BUT instead of terminating in the black sensor part, it has a threaded section which will accept YET ANOTHER part !
The second part comes from Marlin Crawler and has female threaded end which goes on the male threaded part; THEN, there is the standard 3 wire connector. Basically, I think this was a way of converting a real CABLE type speedometer setup to an electronic setup. My parts guy said they BUILD full ROCK CRAWLER type vehicles (I guess really tricked out for slow rock crawling) and this is what they use.
In a day or so I will attach pics and give you the name of my supplier and of the Marlin Crawler part. You could actually do a google search on Marlin Crawler and find a pic of that HALf of the setup.
The total bill on this should be about $150 or so, but my guy is being real good about letting me experiment with parts and so thus far I have only paid $45 for the original WRONG sized part.
more later.
I put it on in 10 minutes and test drove it around a known distance and it showed correct speed and distance accumulated.
05-24-2008, 04:46 PM
#37
Registered User
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sources for problem solving
Ok, here are two links that might help some of you.
One is to the Marlin Crawler web page. Go to it and scroll to the bottom. The converter is the 2nd item from the bottom.
http://www.marlincrawler.com/htm/transfercase/gears.htm
The other is the Toyota parts buy in Santa Clara, CA. He has been very helpful.
Couldn't find the link, but here is their address and phone.
The Toy Connection
750 Comstock
Santa Clara 95054
408.988.4040
Also, here is a picture showing the Crawler and the associated VSS that you need to make the combination work.
Hope this helps someone.
One is to the Marlin Crawler web page. Go to it and scroll to the bottom. The converter is the 2nd item from the bottom.
http://www.marlincrawler.com/htm/transfercase/gears.htm
The other is the Toyota parts buy in Santa Clara, CA. He has been very helpful.
Couldn't find the link, but here is their address and phone.
The Toy Connection
750 Comstock
Santa Clara 95054
408.988.4040
Also, here is a picture showing the Crawler and the associated VSS that you need to make the combination work.
Hope this helps someone.
Last edited by movieman990; 05-26-2008 at 02:32 PM.
05-25-2008, 06:54 AM
#38
Registered User
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Clip:
The other vss there is $250 which is the same price as Autozone....this is for the smaller diameter VSS (I forget the tranny number noted in a previous post).
At that price the two piece option I mentioned in my two posts above would save about $100. But requires piecing it together.
RockAuto (www.RockAuto.com) lists a VSS for $178 (check the photographs to match to your current unit!) Whether dealer or otherwise, it comes WITHOUT the gear; use the one from your existing unit.
.
.
At that price the two piece option I mentioned in my two posts above would save about $100. But requires piecing it together.
05-26-2008, 12:41 PM
#39
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: San Francisco East Bay
Posts: 8,259
Likes: 0
Received 824 Likes
on
651 Posts
Hey, that is clever! Did you get a part number on the Toyota Part?
And how does the whole thing stay in the transmission (or transfer case)? The factory unit has an ear through which a bolt holds the whole thing in. I don't see anything like that on your set up.
Is the Marlin Crawler part "plastic"?
And how does the whole thing stay in the transmission (or transfer case)? The factory unit has an ear through which a bolt holds the whole thing in. I don't see anything like that on your set up.
Is the Marlin Crawler part "plastic"?
05-26-2008, 02:27 PM
#40
Registered User
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
...
There is a flat metal piece which slides into a little cut-out slot on the VSS. It then sticks out at a right angle like the piece you are talking about on the regular vss. There is a hole in it and it comes with a shorter bolt since the little slice piece is not as thick as the original.
No, I didn't get a Toyota part number. My counter guy took care of getting this together. The VSS (apparently from a MECHANICAL speedo cable) came from him and the crawler from the crawler people.
The crawler IS plastic.
Basically this converts a mechanical cable setup to an electronic setup.
There is a flat metal piece which slides into a little cut-out slot on the VSS. It then sticks out at a right angle like the piece you are talking about on the regular vss. There is a hole in it and it comes with a shorter bolt since the little slice piece is not as thick as the original.
No, I didn't get a Toyota part number. My counter guy took care of getting this together. The VSS (apparently from a MECHANICAL speedo cable) came from him and the crawler from the crawler people.
The crawler IS plastic.
Basically this converts a mechanical cable setup to an electronic setup.
