speed sensor? AWD not working!!!

[oblique_03]

Hi,

Recently i have realized my AWD isnt working. The snow has been particularly thick recently here in Washington state, so it is important that i get this working soon. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Here is what i know so far: I get transmission error codes 11 (bad resistor)behind the battery, i tested the resistor with a meter and it is showing 1.5 ohms, definitely bad. I am also getting error codes 32 and 33 (speed sensors 1 and 2).

What i find perplexing is that my speedometer still works, cruse control works and there are no other problems that seem to usually be related to a faulty speed sensor. It might also be worth noting that my speedo reports speed about 5 mph faster than i am actually going, but according to many posts on this forum, that is normal.

I am planning on buying a resistor (25w 150ohm) tomorrow to replace the bad one. My next move will be to replace the speed sensor 2, but since i am not having any speedometer problems i doubt this will be the fix for my AWD. Let me know what you guys think. Am i headed in the right direction? would you guys check something else first? does it sometimes happen that the speed sensors still report the right speed but are dysfunctional in some other aspect? Thanks in advance.

*Edit* the AWD seems to never be engaged.

This is my first winter with this car and i don't know if this car's AWD ever worked after the transmission replacement that the previous owner had done.

My car is a 92 LS-L

[log1call]

Fix the resistor and clear the codes then retest after a drive.

The speed sensors detect if they are not in synch and post those codes because the awd isn't working.
There would be a small chance that one sensor is crook and might have been causing a conflict between the front and rear but it's unlikely to have gone this far without posting a fault before this.

As a general rule, they make the codes get stored in sequence and the recommended thing is to fix the lowest numbers first and recheck between every repair because often the higher numbered codes are the result of the lower numbered ones.

It isn;t foolproof but they do their best to make it work like that.

[oblique_03]

thanks for the info, but it seems not to relate to my problem anymore. Here is what i did today. I went to the Junk yard and got another resistor. Got it home and tested it and found out it was also bad, but i didnt trust my meeter anymore. So i tested it and it proved to be bad. so i plugged my old resistor back into my car and cleared the codes. I went on a 30 mile drive, and then checked the transmission codes. This time there was nothing. My AWD still isnt working though.

While in a garage today i opened my door and rolled down my windows to see if i could hear the C-solenoid buzz when i depressed the accelerator. I heard a buzz when i depressed the accelerator and then the buzz would go away when i let off the accelerator.

what do you guys think now?

Thanks

[log1call]

Are you sure the fuse under the dash isn't in that disengages all wheel drive? Apart from that, could it have burnt out clutches in the transfer clutch? What does the oil look and smell like... compared to new trans fluid?

[log1call]

Oops, the fuse is under the bonnet, not the dash!

[Blacky]

I'm sure this is a rare problem but my AWD was not working because the left rear axle was popping out of the differential. It's easy to check. Somehow the circlip had been lost on the inboard end allowing the axle to move out just enough to disengage the splines from the diff. The inner cv joint on the axle telescopes as well as articulates giving it enough movement to disengage.

[oblique_03]

Thanks Blacky and log1call! The fuse is not in, but the fuse does work. Blacky i will check to see if that is what is happening here. I am leaning towards the clutches though and am thinking about a 4.44 conversion. I am going to read up on it. I will keep you guys posted on what happens.

[b3lha]

The speedo and cruise control are driven from speed sensor 2. So sensor 2 is probably OK.

Sensor 1 measures the speed of the back wheels, Sensor 2 measures the front wheels.

When the front wheels start to spin, the TCU detects that they are going faster than the back wheels and locks up the AWD clutch to divert power to the back wheels.

But if sensor 1 is not working then the TCU will not be able to measure the speed difference and will not engage the AWD. But in that case it would throw an error code.

[oab_au]

Originally Posted by oblique_03

Hi,

Recently i have realized my AWD isnt working. The snow has been particularly thick recently here in Washington state, so it is important that i get this working soon. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Here is what i know so far: I get transmission error codes 11 (bad resistor)behind the battery, i tested the resistor with a meter and it is showing 1.5 ohms, definitely bad. I am also getting error codes 32 and 33 (speed sensors 1 and 2).

What i find perplexing is that my speedometer still works, cruse control works and there are no other problems that seem to usually be related to a faulty speed sensor. It might also be worth noting that my speedo reports speed about 5 mph faster than i am actually going, but according to many posts on this forum, that is normal.

I am planning on buying a resistor (25w 150ohm) tomorrow to replace the bad one. My next move will be to replace the speed sensor 2, but since i am not having any speedometer problems i doubt this will be the fix for my AWD. Let me know what you guys think. Am i headed in the right direction? would you guys check something else first? does it sometimes happen that the speed sensors still report the right speed but are dysfunctional in some other aspect? Thanks in advance.

*Edit* the AWD seems to never be engaged.

This is my first winter with this car and i don't know if this car's AWD ever worked after the transmission replacement that the previous owner had done.

My car is a 92 LS-L

Are you sure that you are reading the resistance of the resistor OK,?
When a resistor ages, its resistance increases, not decrease, 1.5 Ohms is almost a short. The standard is 9 to 12 ohms.
Why are you replacing it with a 150 ohm one?

Harvey.

[oblique_03]

yeah, as i posted further down from the message you quoted, i started to question my meter and tested it, and my meter was bad. I put the resistor back in and cleared the codes. So far, no codes have posted. I am thinking it might be the clutches, but i will give it a little time to see if it gives the codes again.

[TomsSVX]

Check this thread

Tom

[oblique_03]

forgot to address the second part of your question. i meant 15 ohm not 150, i was set straight on that mistake. thanks for catching that

[log1call]

"The fuse is not in, but the fuse does work"... that sounds like clutches or a broken shaft then. If the drive is working and you put the fuse in the drive should dissengage. If the fuse is out the clutch should engage and you should have drive to the rear. The default situation is to have drive to the rear... Having drive is what it fails-safe to.

[oblique_03]

the car has been stolen. When (if) i get it back ill let you know what the error codes say.