1999 Subaru Legacy SUS speedo problem?
 

So I just got a car that was as is. It is a 1999 Subaru Legacy SUS LTD. There is a problem with the speedo and odometer and trip. Every now and again it will work and somtimes it will just cut out even if i don't do anything. Now my question is could this be a bad sensor or could this be a bad cluster or wiring problem? I don't think it would be a sensor cause it would just go completely right? The part if it is the speedo since there were two for my year is one is 89 bucks the other one is 250 with out labor which would add to 500 and that might not even be the problem. I guess i'm just asking what yours thoughts may be and maybe this has happened on other subarus.

i dont rememeber if they switched to wire system but the cable in the back could be unpluged it happend to my moms 1993 and i just reached in to the back and pluged it back in (took some flexing to get to it)

This could very well be a speed sensor problem.

At any rate, the question will get more of the attention it needs in the correct forum.

Does the car have an automatic gearbox? If so, is it behaving normally when the speedo is dead? Are there any warning lights to indicate that the TCU and ECU have lost the signal from the speed sensor? Flashing Power Light? Check Engine Light?

I assume that the 99 Legacy uses an electronic system like the SVX. If the failure is at the sensor end, the ECU and TCU should complain when they don't get a signal. If the ECU and TCU are happy then the problem is most likely at the speedo end.

Someone in the UK had a similar problem that turned out to be just a bad connection at the back of the speedo:

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/showthread.php?t=12278

pretty much what happens with my car is ill be driving it and the speedometer is working and randomly it will just stop and go to 0 and the odometer and trip stop as well. the auto trans shifts smoothly and everything else works. no check engine light has ever came on and same with any other warning light. The thing is the speedometer works but just randomly it will cut out or if i also sometimes just start the car it won't work and i drive a little ways it will work and then stop once again.

The good news for you is that the instrument cluster is not difficult to remove. I would recommend starting there and checking the connections.

this is a HUGE problem with the 99 model year. Its not the VSS sesnors, its the head in the dash. The sontacts corrode and you loose electrical contact. Luckily its easy to take apart, clean the terminals, and your good to go. If it was the VSS sensors you would get a cel.
They switched to electrics in the 1995 1/2 model year

nipper