Speedometer Stopped Working

[1995Pathfinder]

My daughter has a 95 Pathfinder XE with 102,000 miles and yesterday the speedometer stopped working. I checked the fuses (?), owner's manual and the Clymer manual and can't find anything on it.

Any thoughts, ideas, etc would be appreciated. Thanks.

Mike

[NISTECH]

You could have a bad speedo head. If you can turn the key on and go under the vehicle, locate the speedo cable going in to the trans[2WD] or transfer case[4WD] tail housing. if it appears to be connected disconnect it, have someone sit in the car watching the speedo while you spin the cable in the housing. If the speedo operates the pinion in the trans is toast,if the speedo doesnt work you speedo is bad. make sure when you do this the piece your spinning is pushed all the way in the housing otherwise it pulls out of the back of the speedo head. Typically though the failure is the speedo head it self.

[1995Pathfinder]

NISTECH,

Thanks for the repsonse.

I can not seem to locate where the cable goes into the transmission. I see alot of electrical connections, but nothing that resembles what I am used to seeing on a mechanically driven speedo. This is the 4 WD model and I believe I'm looking at the transfer case (?-the assy on the back of the transmission where the drive driveshaft which drives the front wheels comes from), but can not find the cable.

Any other "hand-holding" or guidance would be helpful. Thanks.

Mike

[1995Pathfinder]

NISTECH,

I looked agian and found it - it was an electrical connector and not a cable like I expected. I pulled it out, spun it by hand and the speedo is working fine. I reassembled it, took it for a ride and the speedo is o.k.

Could it have been a bad connection?

I did notice that when I pulled the cable from the transmission, I lost some oil. It did smell like typical gear oil although the consistency was like water - is this normal?

Thanks for all the help.

Mike

[NISTECH]

yeah thats pretty normal for the transfer case. You should probably change it if you havent in awhile. I suspect it was a bad connection in the pinion you took out. if it happens again at least you know what it is.

[1995Pathfinder]

Thanks for the valuable info...you saved me a trip to the shop....

Mike

[1995Pathfinder]

Here we go again......The speedo stopped working, I crawled underneath and disconnected the cable. I moved it by hand, reassembled the cable and the speedo worked fine. Well, now my daughter calls today and tells me it's not working again.

Is it worth replacing the wire/pinion assembly and if so, how expensive is the part?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Mike

[NISTECH]

yea it is likely the problem. It probably goes for around 100 to 150

[1995Pathfinder]

This past weekend I changed the speed sensor going into the transmission case. I transferred the pinion gear and snap ring to the new sensor and assembled everything. The speedo worked for my initial test and once again I got a call from my daughter that the speedo stopped working at 35 mph. It actually stayed fixed at that speed until the car was shut off. Any ideas? Does the ecu need to be reset after changing the sensor? The reason why I am asking is that the check engine light came on last week (now off) and I thought that might be the case.

Please help. Thanks.

Mike

[S13ChucKAT]

i have a similar problem, but it doesnt bug me very much.. My speedo works 80% of the time.. sometimes though, it just drops to zero.. and once i get to about (im guessing 50mph) it will kick in and go to like.. 15-20.. i just laugh at it, and be like.. "thats what ill tell the cops.. i thought i was goign 15mph

[NISTECH]

Then when you did the test on it you must have gotten it to work intermmittenly. I think your problem is in the speedo it self. Your check engine lite was probably a speed sensor code. try removing the instrument cluster and check the phillips screws on the back that hold the speedo in the cluster. One of them might be loose. If thats not it it is likely in the circuit board of the speedo[the actual speed sensor for the ECM]