Replace Speed Sensor 2, Dead at 314k miles

[svx_commuter]

That's a smile becasue it is NOT the gear inside the differential housing.

That would be a major pulling the tranny...........

So the the little square shaft that connects the sensor to the big shaft in the tranny broke right inside the sensor. The square hole inside the sensor is locked up and does not move. What ever roates inside the sensor has seized up. Pretty good that it lasted this long 15 years of highway driving. Lots of revs on that sensor.

I Know from another post by Earthworm that the shaft can be pulled out and is part of the new sensor.

How hard is it to pull the that small connecting shaft out? Mine is sort of stuck and I can't pull it just with my hands. Will it cut that oil seal that is around the slot in the big shaft?

The gear in the tranny is OKAY. I checked by holding the small shaft that is still in the big shaft that goes to the gear and it rotates when the car rolls. So I know that is good.

I got some pictures of this.

Any help would be appreciated

Take care of that SVX,

John

[svx_commuter]

Well I just pulled that small shaft out with plyers. It did not come out easy. the small shaft was broken. The new speed sensor has the small shaft inside with the rubber washer and metal glued to the bottom of the speed sensor.

It is nice to have back cruise, wipers, steering, speedo, odo and AWD

Take care of that SVX,

John

[michael]

Glad to hear it was so easy. That is one expensive CEL to fix. Prior to the fix did your cooling fans run with the key in the Acc. position regardless of engine temp.

[immortal_suby]

Glad to hear it worked out ok. You are my hero for having that kind of mileage. Mine seems like a baby at 243k compared to yours. I hope she is in as good shape as yours in another 100k.

[svx_commuter]

Originally Posted by michael

Glad to hear it was so easy. That is one expensive CEL to fix. Prior to the fix did your cooling fans run with the key in the Acc. position regardless of engine temp.

Yes both the fans ran all the time, switch in acc or when the SVX was on.

[svx_commuter]

I took apart the old VSS2 last night. The parts were seized, the ones that normally turn were all gunked up with a solidified grease, pretty heavy sludge that would be common for the age. Grease and oil get thicker with age if there isn't gas being added. Well this gets me thinking about how long the life of this sensor is and if there is any way to do some maintenance on it so it will last longer. It would be great to figure out some way to clean and relube this sensor after several years. There are a few things that make it wear out faster, fast accelerations in really cold weather when the grease is really thick, high high high speed driving, very hot engine compartment.

The other thing that is more obvious now is that my cruise control was actting up before this sensor died. The tranny was just not locking up the TC as quickly after getting above 45mph. It also would come out of lock-up easily.

The other thing that is obvious now is that the solenoid C, the AWD one in the trany was acting up. The rear wheels were starting to bind when I pulled into the parking lot, low speed driving. I was getting a TCU code for that.

So I am thinking the VSS2 was affecting the cruise and AWD as the sensor was starting to bind up.
I have to wait a little longer and see if the tranny code stays away.

I think it is not possible to damage the gear in the tranny with just the VSS2 seizing up but then again I haven't seen what that gear and shaft assembly look like. If we can get some opinions on that it may be wise to replace the VSS2 before the gear strips out in the tranny. The VSS2 is less costly then plulling the trans.

Take care of that SVX,

John

[LetItSnow]

My hot tip for diagnosing the VSS2 failure? Make sure your harness is connected throughout! Poking around under the hood, I came across a pair of connectors that looked like they were supposed to be together. Naturally, this is not always the case (see: green diagnostic connectors under the dash in many models), but a quick check of the wiring diagram and matching colors showed that it was the speed sensor wiring which had come undone. I imagine that, in the process of being in and out, the nubby that holds the connectors together is a little worn.

Cheapest fix! I imagine that the sensor or gear failure is more common, but this should definitely not be overlooked.

[JaySVX]

Congrats on your monster miles, bummer that the sensor went, though. Fortuantly it's not a big thing that went, see if you can make it to 500k!

[svx_commuter]

Originally Posted by JaySVX

Congrats on your monster miles, bummer that the sensor went, though. Fortuantly it's not a big thing that went, see if you can make it to 500k!

Hey Jay Thanks !
Let see, I got about another 14 or 19 years to work and I drive about 30k a year. So if I don' move that will be about another 300k to 400k miles. How about the 600k miles SVX

[svx_commuter]

I think I am not out of the woods yet with this.

This morning the SVX cruise control was not locking up and the TCU is showing errors for the solenoid C, speed sensor and ECU speed reading........................ this means to me that the gear inside the differential is slipping and giving out bad information..................

I think I am going to cut pull the retaining collar on the NEW VSS2, clean out all the grease and relube with something less viscous............

Any recomendation for a low viscosity grease?

[RojoRocket]

Very interested in your progress on this. Have about 10 days b4 return home and dealing with the same failure.

Glenn

[michael]

I'd try some white lithium grease so it won't thicken up in the cold. Are your vacuum lines fastened properly on the cruise control unit against the firewall?

[svx_commuter]

Thanks Michael, I got some of that at home. The cruise control vac lines are okay. The cruise will work with the VSS1 but just not as well when the VSS2 is working. The new VSS2 was fine when it was warmer out.
Thanks

[sd2649]

What exactly are your symptoms with the VSS2? My power light is telling me mine is busted, but the cruise and speedo work fine. what does it do, where is it? why does the SVX need 2 speed sensors? Does it cause a delayed shift when under wide open throttle?