Code 33, Vehicle speed sensor -- will a new speedo cable fix it?

[zyewdall]

Last week, the speedometer/odometer on my '91 Justy stopped working, and at the same time, the check engine light came on. I pulled the code today, and it is 33 -- no signal from the vehicle speed sensor. I'm not sure exactly how everything is put together on this car, but the Chilton's implies it's the same as a Loyale.... so does the speedometer cable mechanically drive both the speedometer and the VSS -- and if so, replacing it might make the VSS work again too...

 

Or maybe the mechanical cable is still fine, and it's actually the VSS that drives both the speedometer and the ECU from the mechanical cable input, and the VSS died? :confused: In which case I'll be needing a new speedometer unit

 

On a positive note, I did a road trip around southern CO this weekend, and got 41mpg with it (I figured the mileage with google maps, since the speedo wasn't working And that was with no thermostat -- I just replaced that today, and found that someone had completely removed the thermostat.... hmmm. No wonder it would only maintain temperature on steel hills. Hopefully it won't overheat with a real thermostat in there. It maintains highway speed pretty good -- 70mph is about top speed on the highway -- 4,000rpm in 5th gear. It gets a little less peppy above 8,500 feet elevation, but still not too bad.

 

Z

[GeneralDisorder]

The VSS is inside the speedo head. So yes - making it work again will fix the code. Whether it's the cable or inside the tranny.... you'll have to check.

 

GD