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All right, your car's speedometer isn't
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moving at all when you drive. Most
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times, the fix is either replacing the
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speed sensor on the transmission or
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repairing a bad connection in the
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wiring. You'll need some basics. A
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socket set, a jack and stands to get
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under the car, and maybe an OBD scanner
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to read fault codes. That's pretty much
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it. Now, first thing, if your car
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speedometer is dead, but everything else
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on the dash still lights up, that points
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to the vehicle speed sensor. This little
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sensor sits on the transmission and
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tells the ECU how fast the wheels are
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turning. When it fails, the speedometer
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just drops out. Pull the plug off. Check
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for corrosion on the connector pins. A
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green or white powder there. That's your
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issue. Clean it up, plug it back, and
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test drive. Lots of times that's all it
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takes. If cleaning doesn't work, the
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sensor itself is probably shot. It
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usually comes out with one small bolt.
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Swap in a new one and you're back in
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business. They're not expensive. Most
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are under 70 bucks. Okay, so if the
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speedometer is working sometimes but
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then cuts out or jumps around, that's
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often wiring. The harness that runs from
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the sensor to the dash can rub through
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or crack with age. A quick continuity
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test with a multimeter will show if the
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wires broken. Fix the brake, tape it up
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right, and you're good. Now, if both
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your speedometer and odometer have
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stopped together, that's another big
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clue it's sensor or wiring. But if the
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odometer still clicks miles and only the
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needle's dead, that means the cluster
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itself is bad. The cluster is just the
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whole gauge unit inside the dash.
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Sometimes the little stepper motor that
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drives the needle burns out. In that
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case, you'll need to repair or replace
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the whole cluster. Anyway, if you're
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driving something newer like a 2018 Ford
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or Toyota, the speed signal might go
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through the ABS module. That means a bad
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speed sensor can trick the dash into
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thinking you're parked. If you've also
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got an ABS light on, that's the system
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to check. Quick question for you. What
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car model are you fixing right now? Drop
2:02
it in the comments because some cars
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hide these sensors in weird spots.
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Here's a little story. I had a
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Volkswagen come in last year with a dead
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Speedo. Customer swore it was the
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cluster. Turned out a mouse chewed the
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harness right above the transmission. A
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$10 roll of wire fixed it. Point is,
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don't assume the expensive part first.
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One quick safety note. If you're pulling
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the cluster out of the dash, disconnect
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your car's battery first. Some dashes
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have SRS airbag wiring behind them, and
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you don't want surprises. All right,
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then let's recap. Dead speedometer.
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Start with the transmission speed sensor
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and its wiring. If that checks out, look
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at the cluster. And if you've got an ABS
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light, too, don't forget those will
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sensors. Like and subscribe if this
2:49
helped, and share your car speedo fix in
2:52
the comments. Always good to hear what
