I have a 98 ranger and the speedometer stopped working. All other guages are still wroking though. It seems to work when it's warm or dry out. Sometimes it will want to work, the needle will start bouncing. But mostly it doesn't work. I took the dash and gauge cluster out but everything seemed to be plugged in. There is no speedo cable. So would I have to replace my entire gauge cluster? Or is my problem elsewhere?

 

Check the grey connector under the drivers seat; you might also have water/moisture in the big black connector that runs from underneath the truck to inside, which is under the drivers seat, underneath the carpet, you can spot it if you look from underneath the truck. You might also have a faulty speed sensor which sits atop the rear differential.. good luck!

 

Thanks I'll check that stuff out

 

Your problem is most likely with the speed sensor or speed sensor wire. It must be shorting somewhere. My speedo stopped working intermitantly today because my superlift truspeed calibrator connection had slipped slightly (it splices into the speed sensor wire).

If you have an auto, does it rev up to over 3k then slam into gear? If so that means that your not getting a signal from the speed sensor to the gauge for some reason.

 

Same thing happened to me, problem was in the speed sensor on the diff. I just replaced the sensor and everything was fixed.

-Levino

 

no it's a manual

 

You can have the same speedometer failure manual or automatic. It makes an automatic behave erratically because the speed sensor input is used for the auto trans shift points.

Check the connector under the truck below the driver seat first. It can get water/corrosion inside causing any number of electrical problems on circuits in the rear of the truck. If it's OK, reassemble it with dielectric grease on the pins. Then check the connector at the ABS/VSS sensor on top of the rear axle housing. If everything checks out OK with those two connectors and the speedo still doesn't work, then it is likely that the ABS/VSS sensor on the rear axle has died. It's a fairly common failure and a replacement sensor is about $20 or so.

 

Well I just got done installing a new speed sensor this morning and that was the problem. Thanks to everyone for all of your help, I really appreciated it

 

Was it still rolling on more miles to your odometer?

 

I have the same problem i changed the ABS (VSS) in the rear end the problem is still there i drive 8 to 10 miles it works fine after that it will drop to 0 and may start working right away or may not work for miles and no my odometer doesn't work either when the speedometer quits working...I took it too the ford garage for another problem and they looked at it and said they pulled the sensor out and there were metal shavings attached to the magnet the tech informed me it was nothing to worry about...? But the problem is still present

 

Read my suggestion above about the connector under the truck. On a 98, it is a 16 pin square connector.

 

Well i did what you said took the connector apart at both ends under the seat and on the rear axle cleaned both ends used (Di Electric Grease) and reconnected i even pulled the cluster out and made sure everything was tight still i have the same problem i looked at all the wires from the cluster back too the connector they look good ...i'm at a loss from what i understand there isn't much too the operation of the cluster it is all electronic and i only have 75k miles on my 98 i guess maybe change the cluster?

 

Well i replaced the cluster in my truck everything seems to be working ok now only drove about 25 miles and it worked the whole time so i guess it was the cluster that was the problem ..i picked one up out of a bone yard ...it was a wrecked 98 with only 5900 miles on it it cost me $50 dollars..i rolled the miles ahead to match my truck...thanks for all the advice

 

Yeah, odometer still rolling on miles but speedo stuck at 50, occasionally moves to 45 but 99% of the time it's stuck on 50. 1998 ranger, manual 4x2 four cylinder. Do you know what the problem is?