P0500 - Vehicle Speed Sensor (3 Viewers)

[CruisersNLabs]

It rained quite a bit here in Tulsa on Saturday and my 5 year-old talked me into doing a few donuts in a muddy field near our house...he's a pretty convincing little guy. On the way back to the house I noticed that the speedometer stopped working, but all other gauges were operating correctly and today I drove it around the block and noticed the O/D light flashing and the CE light popped on a few blocks away and I pulled a P0500 code once I got home.

I am positive that it is the VSS causing the issues, but upon consulting the FSM I learned that there are 2 VSSs and I think that I need to test/replace the no. 1 VSS, can anyone else confirm this for me? Also, if it is the no. 1 sensor, is this the one at the top-left of the transmission? I think that this is a pretty straight- forward repair, but I will document with photos once I can confirm the location. Thanks in advance.

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[CruisersNLabs]

Any ideas out there? There isn't very much info when using the search function, most of the posts related to the P0500 code have little if any further information.

Thanks guys,
TW

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[CruisersNLabs]

I finally fixed this, but never replied back to the thread. I pulled the VSS and swapped it out with one from my other 80, cleared the codes and all was well, speedo worked, the O/D light didn't flash, etc. I reinstalled the old VSS until I could order a new one and thought that I would take it around the block. Immediately the CE light flipped on and the OD light started blinking, but my speedometer was working fine. I crawled under there and pulled the VSS again and in doing so realized that the VSS is actually two pieces...the lower part was very loose and could be unscrewed with very little effort.

I cleaned all of the mud and grime off both parts of the VSS, made sure that they were secured together tightly and reinserted it to the tranny. I cleared the code and it has been driving fine ever since with no codes being thrown. I have put may 200 miles on it so far and all is well.

Sent from phone

 

[LCWannabe]

Is there an OD light or was your OD OFF light flashing? I am having a similar issue now but it is my OD Off light that is flashing. Also, it takes a while for the tranny (I assume) to warm up before it starts flashing.

 

[CruisersNLabs]

The 'OD Off' light was flashing... Same one that lights up when you push the OD button on the gear s***f knob.

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[LCWannabe]

Ok. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[CallMeMatt]

Just out of curiosity how long did the swap take?

 

[ZackR]

The vehicle speed sensor swap? It only takes a few minutes.

 

[davesax36]

I just got this code today. Speedo quit working (again), but I have no O/D light at all with the button in or out. Could be a bulb, I guess, but I just replaced those. I'm going to see if a good cleaning will trick mine into working again. I've had weird idle problems with a barely off-idle stumble. I'm hoping it's all related. My speedo has been acting goofy since I started cleaning things off, so I'm thinking I might have "cleaned" some junk down into the fitting. I'll crawl under there this week to inspect it once things dry out. Lots of other parts on order anyway (OEM plugs, wires, dist cap o-ring)... I'll post up what happens.

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Mine started giving me trouble on the way to work today.

Speedo would go crazy over bumps, then it just stopped working.

No O/D off light and she drives like normal, but speedo stays at zero and odometer/trip is frozen.

Threw a PO500 on the way home, so I'm gunna get under there this weekend and see what's up with the VSS

I'm just hoping my rusted out exhaust didn't melt any wires

 

[Squash]

Mine was a broken wire.
Luckily I was able to get a bead of solder to work at the connector after I melted some plastic to expose some copper.

 

[MongooseGA]

Bumping this (can you tell I've searched?)

My speedo stopped working yesterday on the highway. It was actually neat to watch it die as it happened vs noticing it later. Cruise control was still operable even with the speedo dead. Easy fix, took it to the local parts box and used the scanner to pull and clear the codes. All is well and gauges all work.

Until today, same thing happened. I've had an issue with the speedo and tach once before and was able to solve it by jiggling on the cluster connection a bit a few months back. I have a feeling it's not that this time around. The code I pulled was the same p0500 mentioned here- question- are the sensors the same for all years or are they going to be model year specific? I'll do some googling but if anyone has a part # handy it would be appreciated.

 

[scramblyn]

Hey Mongoose. How did you work this out? Like you, I've been searching and can't find a good solution. Or are you just living without a speedo (like me!)

Thanks in advance for your help!

-j

 

[Inonidas]

Hey Mongoose. How did you work this out? Like you, I've been searching and can't find a good solution. Or are you just living without a speedo (like me!)

Thanks in advance for your help!

-j

Bumping this (can you tell I've searched?)

My speedo stopped working yesterday on the highway. It was actually neat to watch it die as it happened vs noticing it later. Cruise control was still operable even with the speedo dead. Easy fix, took it to the local parts box and used the scanner to pull and clear the codes. All is well and gauges all work.

Until today, same thing happened. I've had an issue with the speedo and tach once before and was able to solve it by jiggling on the cluster connection a bit a few months back. I have a feeling it's not that this time around. The code I pulled was the same p0500 mentioned here- question- are the sensors the same for all years or are they going to be model year specific? I'll do some googling but if anyone has a part # handy it would be appreciated.

Did you guys ever get it fixed?

 

[scramblyn]

@Inonidas - it turned out to be a bad wire. my trusty local mechanic ran a new wire and the speedo came back. that as after I replaced the sensor, so that's good for another 200k miles I suppose.

 

[MongooseGA]

Did you guys ever get it fixed?

All of my speed sensors and a rebuilt cluster.

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Mine was a frayed wire

Easy fix

 

[MongooseGA]

I just realized this is an 80 thread, not sure how I ended up in it other than a search link. Mine is a 100 so my fixes may be completely different than you're looking for.

 

[Malleus]

^different transmission, so not necessarily the same solutions, especially not like the mess you had to deal with

 

[Inonidas]

@Inonidas - it turned out to be a bad wire. my trusty local mechanic ran a new wire and the speedo came back. that as after I replaced the sensor, so that's good for another 200k miles I suppose.

Thanks, I'll check the wires before deciding to buy the sensor(s).

I just realized this is an 80 thread, not sure how I ended up in it other than a search link. Mine is a 100 so my fixes may be completely different than you're looking for.

Despite being a 100, the error code and the symptoms are the same so I think it's still worth considering. Thanks