So today on the way to work my ABS light is on and the speedometer is sitting at 0 or bouncing all over the place. After reading some I am thinking it is probably the 2000 Ranger C309 issue. Has anybody dealt with this and are there any gotchas I should be aware about before digging into this thing? Or is this something I should just let a shop handle?
2000 xlt 2.5L manual RWD
Service Bulletin

 

Ok so i pulled the C309 plug and it all looks good. No water or corrosion. I put it back in place and still have the issue though. The ABS light is on and the speedometer only works intermittently. I bought a code reader and was able to come up with these 2 codes:

P0500 vehicle speed sensor A

and a pending one (whatever that means)

P0136 O2 sensor circuit bank 1 sensor 2

So I am assuming it's something to do with the first one. Since the C309 looks good to my untrained eye, no water, no broken pins, no corrosion, where would this other sensor be located and how difficult is it to replace?
Also which O2 sensor is that, the one by the cat or the one further back on the exhaust?
Thanks in advance for any help

 

Sensor 2 is the one after the Cats
Usually that code means wire got melted or unplugged

ABS light AND speedometer issue, AND P0500 all at the same time means you should probably replace the rear axle speed sensor, the VSS, but check the wiring up to the front, having that P0136 code could mean VSS and O2 wires got into some trouble, odd coincidence
Maybe some road debris bounced up and hit wiring at a common point for both

Speedometer and computer(P0500 no speed signal) both get that signal from the GEM
GEM and ABS each get speed signal directly from the VSS.
If ABS light wasn't on then could be GEM issue, but since it is.................it has to be VSS sensor itself or wiring from that sensor to ABS and GEM

 

Thanks for the Info. I ordered a new sensor, Unfortunately it seems none of the local shops keep them in stock. At only $20 - $25 it's a cheap replacement. Of course they stuck it in a crappy place on top of the differential. I have to crawl under tomorrow and douse it with some WD40 so it can sit overnight and loosen up some. I'll double check the wiring after I get it replaced. It doesn't seem the O2 sensor is effecting too much right now, but I'll get one of those ordered as well. The truck has been sitting for a while so it's in need of all the general maintenance. so replacing a few sensors falls in line with that.

 

O2 sensor is most likely OK, code P0136 says "circuit" malfunction

Just a heads up about OBD Codes, NEVER google a code number, look up the number on a FULL CODE LIST, like this one: OBD-II Trouble Codes
The Computer has several codes for each sensor, it uses one over the others for a reason

These are the codes it had to pick from
P0136 O2 Sensor Circuit Malfunction (Bank I Sensor 2)
P0137 O2 Sensor Circuit Low Voltage (Bank I Sensor 2)
P0138 O2 Sensor Circuit High Voltage (Bank I Sensor 2)
P0139 O2 Sensor Circuit Slow Response (Bank 1 Sensor 2)
P0140 O2 Sensor Circuit No Activity Detected (Bank 1 Sensor 2)
P0141 O2 Sensor Heater Circuit Malfunction (Bank 1 Sensor 2)

Computer chose P0136, circuit issue, not sensor high or low or slow
It could mean the sensor is disconnected internally, so bad sensor, but could be wiring problem

P0500 from 1998 to 2000 was usually VSS sensor issue, so safe bet on that being the problem

 

New speed sensor fixed the problem. It was an easy swap out the only issue being the plastic on the connector was a little brittle with age and the tabs broke off regardless of how careful I was with them. Instead of pig tailing on a new connector I'm probably just going to zip strip it in so it doesn't bounce loose.

 

Good work

Thanks for the update and fix