97 XLT speedometer & odometer problem

[ranman106]

97 XLT speedometer & odometer problem UPDATED!!!!

Newbie here.

The speedometer and odometer on my 97 XLT are giving me trouble. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. I've never noticed any vibrations of the needle. But eveything else is working fine. But, the ABS light has been on for a while. I had the code pulled and they said it was a bad sensor.

I need to replace a couple of burned out bulbs so I would like to repair all of this at one time. Any ideas?

 

[nssj2]

sounds like a speed sensor

 

[sethpdx]

Speed sensor FTW

I agree

 

[ranman106]

Thanks for the help.

Will replacing the VSS take care of the ABS light or is that another sensor? If so, where is that one located?

 

[jp450]

Thanks for the help.

Will replacing the VSS take care of the ABS light or is that another sensor? If so, where is that one located?

On top of the rear pumpkin is the sensor.... 2 screrws and the wiring harnes and your in business....

 

[nssj2]

actually, if you have a 97 its on your transfer case. 98 was when they moved it to the pumpkin (at least with the v8s, dont know about the v6s)

 

[Cobraguy]

Here is some interesting information. (on a 99 V8 at least) The feed to the speedometer comes from the ABS module. I had two of the three sensors bad on mine, yet the speedo was fine. As long as it receives one good signal, the speedo works...yet you can get an ABS light. So I would say that's the first place to start looking. Check all sensors and hope it's there and not an ABS module. There are specific pin point tests to use for checking a sensor. You should use a scan tool and break out box if possible, but most folks don't have that available. You can still check the sensors with them by using a digital multimeter and the factory pin point tests.

 

[jp450]

actually, if you have a 97 its on your transfer case. 98 was when they moved it to the pumpkin (at least with the v8s, dont know about the v6s)

Yes I missed that it was a 97 that we are talking about. Sorry...

 

[ranman106]

Update:

I replaced the VSS. It seemed like it was fixed but the sppedometer stopped working again. Same problem .

Will replacing the ABS sensor correct the problem?

 

[Cobraguy]

It worked for a while then quit? Have you checked the output of the VSS sensor to see if it's still good? I do it through my scan tool...but you can also do it with a multimeter.

 

[flash771]

I replaced all that stuff on mine and it turned out to be a bad speedometer cluster

 

[1997]

none of this stuff helps, my speedo doesn't work and the truck doesn't down shift either, but guess what.......... when the speedo is out of the car and connected to a drill it works fine

 

[410Fortune]

Okay how did you hook up a 97 speedometer to a drill? The cable went away in 95

This thread from 2016 is about a 97 truck.
To hookup a drill to your speedometer tells me you have a 91-94 truck?

So a 97 explorer has two speed sensors
The vss is mounted in the tailhousing, this is the speed sensor for the engines computer, the speedometer and odometer in the dash

The abs brakes has 3 wheel speed sensors one in the rear axle and two at each front wheel, these are only used for abs in 97

The systems are separate in 95-97.5

In 98 they dropped the t case mounted vss and went to a single sensor. 98-05 the vss in the rear axle does all the speed sensing and the abs module itself does the speed buffering (calculations) for the engine computer.

In 97 The vss in the transmission/ t case is the one the engines computer is using to see the truck moving and adjusts the transmission shift Points based on this

The gear driven speed sensor in the tailhousing, the plastic drive gear inside the t case/ trans wears out and eventually will quit turning the speed sensor or it will “hop”you can stick your finger in there and feel if the center is worn down. A small camera can also get in there and see

 

[1997]

Okay how did you hook up a 97 speedometer to a drill? The cable went away in 95

This thread from 2016 is about a 97 truck.
To hookup a drill to your speedometer tells me you have a 91-94 truck?

So a 97 explorer has two speed sensors
The vss is mounted in the tailhousing, this is the speed sensor for the engines computer, the speedometer and odometer in the dash

The abs brakes has 3 wheel speed sensors one in the rear axle and two at each front wheel, these are only used for abs in 97

The systems are separate in 95-97.5

In 98 they dropped the t case mounted vss and went to a single sensor. 98-05 the vss in the rear axle does all the speed sensing and the abs module itself does the speed buffering (calculations) for the engine computer.

In 97 The vss in the transmission/ t case is the one the engines computer is using to see the truck moving and adjusts the transmission shift Points based on this

The gear driven speed sensor in the tailhousing, the plastic drive gear inside the t case/ trans wears out and eventually will quit turning the speed sensor or it will “hop”you can stick your finger in there and feel if the center is worn down. A small camera can also get in there and see

I took the VSS out of the transfer case and put the gear wheel on the end of it in the drill and the speedo works when turning the drill on. This tells me the driver gear in the T case is broken, I got as far as taking the drive shaft off and the flange and oil seal out and I can see the plastic gear on the spline but I can't get it off. Do I need to take the whole T case out?

 

[1997]

I took the VSS out of the transfer case and put the gear wheel on the end of it in the drill and the speedo works when turning the drill on. This tells me the driver gear in the T case is broken, I got as far as taking the drive shaft off and the flange and oil seal out and I can see the plastic gear on the spline but I can't get it off. Do I need to take the whole T case out?

The 1997 has a electronic speedo drive cable connecting to the vss, not a revolving speedo cable if that's what you're asking

 

[410Fortune]

97 has a gear driven speed sensor in the tailhousing. No cable

Put your finger in the vss hole can you feel the drive gear? Normally they are worn badly on the inside of the plastic gear

The drive gear pulls off of the tail shaft
It is held in place with a small check ball like a bb, see pics. Push the drive gear towards the t case first then remove the check ball

When I put a 4406 t case in my old 96 I had to add the 97 style vss Sensor and drive wheel. I used a dremmel to make a half hole for the check ball to sit in, my t case came with a metal stator wheel instead of the plastic gear drive wheel, so I fixed it.
These pics are from that thread:

410Fortune 96 AWD Ex - goes low range

I picked up my transfer case last night. Two t cases were included in the deal, one is strictly for parts. The t case I will be using in my 96 5.0L AWD explorer is a 2001 F-150 BW 4406 manual shift :) this makes me very happy. I will no longer have full time AWD, instead I will have 2wd, 4hi...

www.explorerforum.com

 

[1997]

View attachment 428629View attachment 428630

View attachment 428631

97 has a gear driven speed sensor in the tailhousing. No cable

Put your finger in the vss hole can you feel the drive gear? Normally they are worn badly on the inside of the plastic gear

The drive gear pulls off of the tail shaft
It is held in place with a small check ball like a bb, see pics. Push the drive gear towards the t case first then remove the check ball

When I put a 4406 t case in my old 96 I had to add the 97 style vss Sensor and drive wheel. I used a dremmel to make a half hole for the check ball to sit in, my t case came with a metal stator wheel instead of the plastic gear drive wheel, so I fixed it.
These pics are from that thread:

410Fortune 96 AWD Ex - goes low range

I picked up my transfer case last night. Two t cases were included in the deal, one is strictly for parts. The t case I will be using in my 96 5.0L AWD explorer is a 2001 F-150 BW 4406 manual shift :) this makes me very happy. I will no longer have full time AWD, instead I will have 2wd, 4hi...

www.explorerforum.com

Thanks, I'm going to try that today pushing it back first. I can turn the gear on the shaft with my finger I think that's not meant to be?

 

[1997]

Thanks, I'm going to try that today pushing it back first. I can turn the gear on the shaft with my finger I think that's not meant to be?

I can't push the gear back, looks like the T case needs to come out