I have a 98 ranger XLT 4.0 4x4 that has the 2-3 flare, the Speedo/odometer don’t work, and the check engine light is on. No ABS light, I may be wrong but didn’t think my truck has ABS, I have never seen any ABS light flash upon startup. I have replaced the speed sensor on the rear diff with no luck fixing the speedo, I have checked the wiring from the sensor to the harness under the driver seat under the cab - it is good at least to that point, not sure how to test it the rest of the way. The truck has around 130,000 miles or so. The transmission shops say the trans needs a full rebuild, I feel like there is a simpler fix, any advice?

 

Electronics can be faulted from factory a speed sensor being one of them! there are 2 of them on the 5r55e...and they're on the transmission not the diff . I'm not sure about the diff sensor ...look for 3 things 1. speedo not working. 2.abs, brake light on dash. 3. irregular shifts compared to normal.

 

i have never had the ABS light come on, have also never heard of there being a speed sensor on the tranny itself. It reads a code for no input from the speed sensor I’ll have to look up the exact number for it and post it.

 

Welcome to the forum

Code is P0500 no VSS/speed signal at computer

In the 1998 to 2000 Ranger's the rear ABS sensor is used as the speed sensor
All Rangers from 1988 or so had Rear ABS, some got 4 wheel ABS in later years
Your ABS bulb should come on with Key ON, that's a BULB TEST not an ABS test, all warning lights should come on for 2 seconds or so as a BULB TEST

As for the 1998 - 2000 Speed system

The 2 Rear axle ABS/VSS sensor wires run to the ABS Module, directly
But the wires are spliced and they run to the GEM module behind the radio in the dash
The ABS sensor outputs about a 20,000ppm(pulse per mile) signal, AC Volts, the Ford system is calibrated to use 8,000ppm, AC Volts
The GEM module is calibrated for the factory tire size, and it converts the 20,000ppm to the corrected 8,000ppm and sends it out to speedometer/odo, computer and Cruise(if so equipped)

Yes, its not uncommon for rear axle VSS sensor to fail, but that would cause ABS light AND no speedometer, AND code P0500

Unusual for a problem with the GEM, so I guess it would be best to check the wiring

GEM will have 4 connectors in a 4x4, its the 4x4 controller
One of the connectors will have a Grey/black stripe wire on pin 1, 18pin connector, thats the SPEED SIGNAL OUT wire to speedo/computer/cruise
Pin 9 on that same connector is ABS sensor IN
Pin 18 on same connector is ABS sensor IN << this is a ground signal

The ABS sensor generates its own AC Volts, .5 to 6vAC, so its a SINE WAVE, 1/2 + volts and 1/2 - volts, AC, only the + 1/2 is used, so other 1/2 is grounded, this is why only 1 speed signal wire is needed as OUT to speedo, computer, cruise, because these devices already have Grounds available

Diagrams below, as said the 2 wires from rear axle VSS run to ABS module but have a splice to feed GEM

Yes, no speed signal would effect shifting in an automatic trans
2WD and 4x4s lost trans/transfer case speed VSS sensors in 1997, and then trans got it back in 2001 and up as OSS sensor

1998 to 2000 were the only years that shared rear axle ABS sensor as speed signal

 

Ok I have no ABS light on at startup or any other time, I DO indeed have the p0500 code, no speedo or odometer. I have tested the wiring from the sensor itself to the harness that goes up into the cab under the driver seat. Have not tested it to the GEM, could the wiring be bad inside the cab somewhere? Also, does this affect the 2/3 flare?

 

By the way thanks for the reply RonD! Thanks on behalf of myself and everyone else who has learned from the tremendous amount of knowledge you’ve made available to the rest of us on this forum, you have no doubt helped to keep countless of these trucks that we love on the road!

 

Thank you for the comments

Good read here on the 5R55E: https://atracom.blob.core.windows.ne.../2003_5_50.pdf

Just as a baseline
The A4LD transmission was Rangers 1st solenoid transmission, 1 then 2 solenoids, used 1985 until 1994
In 1995 more solenoids were added to the A4LD's Valve Body and transmission was renamed the 4R55E
In 1997/8 Ford engineers added an "OD on" when in 1st gear to get an in between ratio for smoother shift from 1st to 2nd, who's ratios were far apart, so engine had to REV up high to shift to 2nd in a 4R, with the added ratio(1st + OD) it was smoother
With this software added to 1997/8 computers the A4LD was renamed again to the 5R55E, a 5speed, but internally exactly the same as the 4R55E, lol
So there is:
1st
2nd(1st + OD)
3rd
4th
5th(OD)

Yes, the computer needs a speed signal to know when to shift, turn solenoids on and off, so get that fixed FIRST, then diagnose any transmission issue

 

Ok so this is getting weird, here is the 18 pin connector, there are only 13 wires going to it, the diagram says their should be 14. The one missing is specifically the number 9 red/pink (or) grey black. There is NO red/pink or grey/black wire going to pin 9 how is this possible???

 

And pin 1 is grey/black wire?

If there is no wire in pin 1 then you have a 1997 setup and would have a VSS speed sensor on the transfer case

As labelled here: https://www.therangerstation.com/tec...t_motor-18.jpg

 

Yes there is definitely a grey/black wire on what I assume is pin 1 on bottom right? also how do I know which pin is which? I’ve just been going to the color description from the wiring diagram but there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to it.

 

Yes, I would try looking at other wire colors to see what pin numbering works, Ford doesn't do random, so pin 1 will be at one end of course and with two rows there are only 4 choices

 

My latest diagnostic attempt was as follows: Set multimeter on continuity setting. Disconnected the 2 wire rear speed sensor harness from the diff, I connected one lead of the meter to one of the two speed sensor wires, then probed each pin on the 18 pin harness that plugs into the GEM and tested for continuity that way. I get no continuity on any of the existing 13 pins/wires (or what the diagram indicates should be 14) pins/wires. Switched the multimeter lead to the other wire on the rear VSS harness and again probed all 13 wires/pins on the 18 pin harness that connects to the GEM. I get no continuity on any of the pins again. So with no continuity on either wire from the VSS to the GEM the possibilities I presume then are that 1)the wires are possibly broken somewhere between the VSS and the GEM. 2)the GEM wiring diagram which I have come across in many different places is possibly wrong or mislabeled as a different model or year or something? My next thoughts are to try running 2 wires from the VSS on the diff up to the cab and splice them into their appropriate pins on the 18 pin harness and see what happens, However I’m not sure if I have 100% confidence in that often cited wiring diagram considering that my harness has 13 wires/pins instead of 14 like the diagram indicates, and is also missing the red/pink or grey/black on pin 9. Any thoughts?

 

One VSS wire should be a Ground, test that at the VSS, 0 or low OHMs to ground
pin 18 on the one GEM 18 pin connector can be that same wire, or test as a Ground

Pin 9 on that same connector should be the other VSS wire, this is the VSS IN, pin 9 is used from 1995 to 2000 GEMs as VSS IN

From 1995 to 1997 it came from transmission/transfer case VSS so no conversion needed, it was 8,000ppm, so no wire on Pin 1, VSS OUT, that was only used on 1998-2000 Rangers

In 2001-2003 GEM changed to just two 20 pin connectors, no 4WD control, pin 14 was VSS IN and pin 1 12volt IN

VSS outputs an AC voltage signal(sine wave) and only the Positive half is used by GEM and ABS, which is why one wire reads as Ground

This is 1998 wiring diagram from another source, shows GEM VSS inputs as the same 9 and 18 pins

 

Ok I have drawn out the 18 pin connector in detail with colors in their corresponding pin locations as it exists in front of me and it does not match the diagrams. There is NO grey/black wire on pin1. Pin1 is EMPTY, there is no wire there whatsoever. How is this possible? There are no loose wires hanging around in there or anything of the sort, couldn’t have just up and vanished, the speedo and Odo did work correctly at one time. I have tested both wires starting at the VSS, neither has continuity to pin18 ground or to pin9 on the 18 pin harness/connector. I very much suspect these GEM diagrams may be inaccurate, mislabeled, or from a similar but different year or model or something. If I recall correctly the 2 wires coming from the VSS are white/green and white/red or something like that at least as far as from the VSS to the harness under the driver seat which I will double check tomorrow. Is it possible these VSS wires are actually on one of the other harnesses going to the GEM?

 

Here also is a photo of the transfer case. as you suggested I checked the transfer case to see if it happened to be the ‘97 setup which it doesn’t appear to be, the port for the gear cable/speedo is just a dead end and it has no round connector anywhere like in the photo.

 

Yes, but there may be an explanation

You have 4 wheel ABS, not just rear ABS

Look under hood for a large unit on driver side with 5 brake lines, looks like this: https://www.ranger-forums.com/attach...10226-1819.jpg

Although not common, in some Rangers they installed Explorer 4WABS units which did the speed conversion, so grey/black wire on ABS Module(unit in the picture) pin 10 is VSS OUT

So GEM pin 1 wasn't needed

Pin 10(ABS) runs to pin 9 on GEM, and also runs to speedometer, cruise and computer on grey/black wires
So pull off ABS connector and check for corrosion

GEM needs speed signal for 4WD, 0MPH for 4 low shift for example, Ford also did "Doors Locked" above 5MPH on some models, not sure if Rangers ever got that

 

Ok, I checked the ABS and it is indeed the 4WABS from the explorer, it even says explorer on the side. So I go to inspect the connections and find the harness is completely disconnected just hanging loose down below the ABS box! I reconnected it and now have both speedometer and odometer, the trans shifting has improved dramatically. This only further reinforces my hesitation to ever take my vehicles to the mechanic because they constantly screw things up! Can’t thank you enough RonD your help was invaluable. Kept my Ranger on the road and saved me hundreds on the repair bill! Now on to the next project, transmission. I had come across that “2-3 flare in the 5R55E” article previously and found it very informative and insightful, I think I will continue this project on a new thread and would be grateful for your input RonD!

 

Good work

Thanks for the kudos, and the update, and THE FIX

 

I adjusted my pressure solenoid and now when I go down interstate and floor it it will flare out of overdrive instead of going into 3rd or second. Adjusting the pressure solenoid fixed 2-3 gear change. Could bands needs adjusting?