1996 Regular Cab 4 cyl 5 speed

No speedo or Odo.....

ABS light goes on blinks once and turns off

Replaced Speed Sensor on rear end and on tranny

Still no Odo.....

I didn't see any blown fuses....

also my horn don't work.....

urrrg

 

For speedometer/odometer check fuse #25 in cab fuse box, 7.5amp fuse

I think '96 should use a horn relay, in the engine fuse box there should be a diagram on the under side of the lid, horn relay is at one end of this fuse box, there should be 3 or 4 similar relays right next to the horn relay, swap horn relay with one of those and see if horn works now, if so replace that relay.
If not then check fuse #4 in this box, 20amp fuse.

If all else fails get a longer jumper wire and run 12volts to horn, see if horn works when it has 12volts, if not replace horn.
If it does work then problem may be under the steering wheel, there is a long multi-wire coil under the steering wheel, it is called the "clockspring" because it looks like a an old clockspring, lol.
This allows the steering wheel to be turned while maintaining connections to the Horn, airbag, cruise or other steering wheel buttons.
If there is a broken connection on the clockspring then that button won't work

Found this diagram for 1996 Ranger engine fuse box: http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/s4...y_location.jpg

 

All fuses and relays were good.... didn't have a long wire to test horn... I'll have to find one.... there is suppose to be 2 horns correct? the biggest issue is still the speedo/odo/cruise not working

 

Do you have a 1996 or 1997?


But with either year the VSS uses the old speedometer gear setup inside the transfer case(4x4) or transmission(4x2).
Rear axle sensor is just for ABS.

When you pulled out the old sensor from trans what did the gear look like?
Picture here: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech...s_withgear.JPG

If the worm gear in side the trans is stripped or has moved then speedo gear may not be turning, so no VSS pulse.

I mention this now because you included Cruise control in the not working state, and the cruise and speedo share the same VSS but are separate systems, i.e. if speedo doesn't work Cruise should, and visa versa, so problem is in the VSS or its wiring to the cab.

Diagram here: http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/FO..._172049_a1.jpg

You can see all the devices that use the VSS are totally separate, so for speedo AND cruise to both not work then problem has to be VSS or is main wires going out

 

Ya my unit looked like that.... I had to take the gear off the old one and put on the new unit... I stuck my finger in the hole but really didn't know if it should spin by my finger or not.... (it didn't).....

Any other area that the wires are likely to go "bad"?

 

Does the Odo use the same vss?

 

Any idea where the grounds are?

 

Yes odometer uses VSS

In the diagram the Pink/orange stripe wire on the VSS is the Ground wire, pull off the connector on the VSS and use an OHM meter set to lowest setting to test for good ground.
i.e. put 1 probe of the OHM meter on the pink/orange wire and touch the other probe to the Frame rail, need bare metal.
Should read 0 OHMs, meaning good connection to ground.

If not then you can splice into that wire and add a good ground Ground

For the Signal wire, Gray/black stripe, you will just have to trace it as best you can.

You can buy an EVTM for your Rangers year
Google: EVTM Ranger

It is specific to each year, it will have all the connections and locations you need for troubleshooting.


Just to take it off the table you can test your 2 wire VSS with a drill and Volt Meter.
Read here: How to test a 2 and 3 wire speed sensor

The 2 wire VSS generates its own voltage

 

I think its the gauges,,,, I was driving and the needle starting moving and worked for 1.7 miles then dropped.... I smacked dash and it started working and went another 1.7 miles and sropped... now nothing....

If I get some new to me gauges can I switch out odo?

 

Reads like a loose wire not the gauges

And the gauges not work won't effect cruise control

 

Now it works first drive of the day only and only for 1.7 miles each and every time.....

 

Couple of things to try
Get a variable speed reversible drill and pull out the transmission VSS sensor with its gear.
Turn on the key and use drill to spin gear/VSS, not sure which direction it needs to spin but you said it works at start up so when it works thats the correct direction.

Let it run for that 1.7 miles and see if it goes past it, if not then yes wiring issue
If it does go past 1.7 miles then the worm gear inside the trans tail shaft is probably loose, and it not spinning the gear because it is slipping on the shaft or it is losing contact.

If it is a wiring issue then leave drill hooked up and pull the dash, turn on key and start drill spinning VSS again, check wiring connections on the back of the dash
You said "hitting the dash" made it work again, so my bet is loose or corroded connection

 

My 1998 Ranger is almost doing the same thing except my speedo and odo will stop working but cruise is not affected. It seems to work better the colder it is, completely intermittent, banging dash does nothing.

 

Welcome to the forum


Speedo and odo share the one wire for signal, so are the same issue.

You may need to pull instrument cluster and check that wire, Gray/black stripe wire has VSS signal.
The Ground wire is shared with Fuel gauge, temp gauge and Oil pressure gauge so if they stay working then Ground should be OK

 

I have visually looked at it and didn't see any problems. I either need to jack up the back and put it in gear and check for pulses or the safer way is to get a pulse generator and see if something in the cluster is bad. Maybe even pull the VSS out and spin a gear in front of it.

 

VSS is a Variable Reluctance sensor so will generate it's own power, AC Volts, .5 to 1.5vAC depending on speed

Yes you could test that either way, the key needs to be on because the speedo's VSS signal is modified by the GEM or 4WABS module to correct for axle ratio and tire size.

BUT...........you know the VSS works, so your issue will be either the speedo/odo assembly itself or the wire to the GEM, or if you have 4wheel ABS then the wire to the 4WABS module.

The GEM is behind the radio, pin 1 will be the Gray/black stripe wire that goes to the instrument cluster for speedo
Pin 9 can be Gray/black stripe or Red/Pink stripe wire from the VSS.

You could test both with OHM meter, pin 1 to instrument cluster
Pin 9 to VSS(need long jumper wire)

 

Great information, thank you. Now I need to dig out my variable AC power supply.

 

AC power doesn't simulate variable reluctance(VR) signal, so AC power supply wouldn't help you.

You can use a volt meter set for AC power to see a VR signal, because it is a oscillating pulse

 

If your mileage has ever stopped working. You may choose to not fix it. Mileage is already not accurate. Your choice. I would try to fix the MPH.

 

Thanks for the info, I forgot about that. Getting old.

 

I don't know about the OP but my speedo and odo stop at the same time. I definitely need to get the speedo working.

 

Confused Do you have a speedometer problem or a mileage problem or both? The way I read it was the speedometer worked a little. The mileage wasn't.

 

speedo and odo for me are intermittent. When the speedo quits working, so does the odo. The cruise still works and I still get speed signal from the OBD II port so it isn't a VSS problem. I have narrowed it down to either the wire between the computer and the instrument cluster or inside the instrument cluster.

 

I have seen the instrument pulled for new lights to be put in. I wonder what signal is not making it there and why? Stay safe without the speedometer. I just can't call it a speedo. Bad picture in my head. If its a group thing I will try to convert.

 

Speedometer and odometer share the same signal, same as they did from the one speedo cable in the old days.

Full electronic instruments use LED odometer and store odo reading in microprocessor memory
Your 1998 would still have mechanical odometer and uses a small electric motor on the back of the cluster to "roll" the odometer.
The gear on this motor was a known issue, causing odometer to stop working, but didn't effect speedometer.
The "speed" signal connects to the back of the instrument cluster at one place, then splits, one going to speedo and the other to odo electric motor.

If speedo and odo both stop working at the same time then problem is at that 1 connection or back towards the source of that signal, i.e. GEM and VSS