Seand Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 I have a 2004 Outback (85,000 KMs) with 5sp. My speedo starting going wonky on the way home (bouncing about) and then died. No indication of any problem prior to this I do have a full coverage plan so I'll be going back to the dealer. In the meantime, I'm just wondering what might've happened. I like having some clue about things before I head out to see the garage. Cheers and thanks, Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 You may need a new spedo head. I am assuming you dont have any CEL lights on? nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Dead VSS or loose connection? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Dead VSS or loose connection? Should throw a CEL light or tranny light or both. If ti was an earlier subaru i would suspect them, but it should throw a light on a 2004. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericem Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 True. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seand Posted February 8, 2010 Author Share Posted February 8, 2010 No CEL but now the damn thing is working again. Guess I'll hold off on the dealer until it becomes more "consistently" dead!!!! Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 check the wiring connectors at the speed sensor and the back of the speedo. on a 97 there are 2 wires that go directly from the sensor to the speedo. your year may be different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 just a hunch, but check your gear oil. the speedo is an electonic unit instead of a cable, and the unit can still be good, but failing at the gear in the transmission. if your car is an automatic, there is a smaller dipstick on the top of the trans that contains gear oil for the front diff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seand Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 Mine's a 5sp. Same deal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seand Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 Speedo was fine today and last night - UNTIL driven at highway speed. At which point it stopped working again!!! Suggestions? Could it be low transmission fluid? its a 5 spd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 could it be low on gear oil, yes. but i doubt it. i'm betting it's the speedo head or VSS. if it's under warranty go get it fixed or documented now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seand Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 Just checked my tranny and the level was just below the low mark. I topped it up and took the car for a drive. Hit the highway and after a few minutes the speed dropped to 0, waited, bounced back to 100, dropped to 0, waited and bounced back 100. etc etc. THEN the "wait" period became shorter and shorter until the bouncing stopped altogether. Drove for another while on the highway and the speedometer read properly. Dropped down to lower speed, no problem, came back up to highway speed, no problem. I'm going to give the level another look before I head back home on the highway after work. Do you think I may have found the problem? Or is it just a co-inkydink that topping up the oil appears to make the problem go away? We shall see but I'll cancel my appointment for now. I always manage to bring vehicles in with problems only to not have them show up for the mechanics. Go figure!!! Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I can say with 100% certainty this is not oil level related at all. Focusing on fluids will be a waste of time for you from here on out. Speedo head or VSS. My bet is the speedo head based on your description. The frequency, timing, intermittent nature of it doesn't matter at this point. That's common for components to fail this way rather than complete black/white working or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seand Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 Checking the tranny oil certainly wasn't a waste of time for me - seeing it was low!!! I'm guessing a bad VSS would blow a code - would it not? I'll drive it for another while to see if the speedo problem comes back. If/when it does, I'll pack it off to the dealer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 (edited) in the 90s the speedo take off in manual trans is different than the front diff take off in auto trans. i ASSUME that it is all mechanically driven, no fluid power unless there is a provision for "lack of lube" which then let it cut itself off. but i can't imagine that being the case. some one posted a pretty good pic last year. found pic: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=883922&postcount=14 whole thread: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=106822&highlight=speedo* Edited February 9, 2010 by johnceggleston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seand Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 So is there any rationale for how low tranny oil (on a 2004 OBW with a 5 spd) may affect the speedo? Any at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Checking the tranny oil certainly wasn't a waste of time for me - seeing it was low!!! I said it would be a waste of time to continue looking into a fluid based cause of your current issue, not waste of time to check. That being said gear oil is not going to cause this problem. But, if it really was low - then your problem isn't that the fluid is low or the speedo - but that you have a leak somewhere. Gear oil doesn't disappear or burn in a trans - it leaks. I'm guessing a bad VSS would blow a code - would it not? No, not always. Say 95% of the time you'll get a code (realizing that's a made up number, but you get the point). I'll drive it for another while to see if the speedo problem comes back.Yep, it will. Keep this in mind next time you see it: You can probably verify the speedo head if you have a trip meter elsewhere on the car? If the speedo head is bad all other trip mechanisms will work fine (odometer or a trip calculator like my car has). If the speed sender/sensor is bad then any mileage related (speedo or odometer) will be cracked up. For instance it will show 100mph but the odometer won't increment that fast, it will read accurately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seand Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 There are no visible leaks but the dealer did tear the tranny apart a while back - I wonder if they never fully topped it up when they finished the job??? It'll be interesting to see if there is any change in the shifting now that the oil is at the right level?? I'll keep a close eye to odo and speedo now to see if they jive with one another. In the meantime, I've got lots of warranty left so there's no big rush to bring it in!! Cheers and thanks, Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seand Posted September 9, 2010 Author Share Posted September 9, 2010 UPDATE It's been seven months since my last post on the speedo issue. Ever since the moment I topped up the tranny oil, the speedo has not acted up! Not sure if it's a coincidence but I'm happy!! Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.