I have a 95 deluxe cab pickup. The speedometer has had issues for many years, and I need to fix this before I pass it on to my teenage son. It works intermittently, sometimes reading accurately, sometimes overreading to the point it goes to the high side limit, Is this a electrical problem? I know it's electric, but not much more about how it works. Hoping its simple, and not a electrical short I'll have to trace out.

 

When my VSS1 Speed transducer approached failure, I got intermittent drop outs. The speedometer would drop to zero for an instant to 30 seconds, then return to the correct reading. Replacing the transducer solved that problem (there are those on this site who have reported success cleaning the transducer).

The transducer sends a pulse train, so I suppose approaching failure could lead to breaking up the train, which might look like a high frequency/high speed.

I doubt it's a wiring problem (but again, an intermittent connection could, I guess, vibrate in a high frequency).

 

After further research, I believe the odometer would have also stopped working if the transducer was faulty? My odometer works fine.

 

Then it's not the transducer (and very unlikely to be the interconnect wiring). I don't know much about repairing the Combination Meter (cluster).

 

My '95 4Runner has a cable operated speedo.

 

First, we need to determine if you have a mechanical speedometer with speedometer cable or an electronic speedometer.

Toyota used both on this era and I have heard that this problem can happen with both types, although the mechanical speedometer issues usually are accompanied by a noise as well.

Do you know which one you have?

The mechanical speedometer should be fairly obvious as there will be a speedometer cable coming out of the transmission (2wd) or transfer case (4wd).

 

My 95 base truck has the problem so i spent $40 on a GPS unit at Amazon so I now have a working speedometer. The only other fix i have heard of is there is someone in Atlanta that can fix them or can exchange yours for a repaired one. Last I heard it was $250.