97 Subaru legacy Speedometer sometimes works

[jay3ld]

Hello,

 

I own a 97 Subaru Legacy sedan with almost 200 thousand miles on it. My speedometer has been acting up the past couple months and today it has gotten worse.

 

Right now I can't get it to work. I have been trying to do my internet research and have come up with the resetting the trip trick. This was working fine for a while, but today when I reset the trip, it worked until I came to a stop, then it quit working again. In addition the trip doesn't seem to increase, but I believe this is in direct relation to my speedometer not working.

 

My ATM light does flash a lot when I start it up, which leads me to think its possibly the spedometer sensor at the top of my transmission (I believe my subaru has two sensors). But I don't know how I would test this.

But I have also read that the cluster is notorious for corrosion and other things. I do know how to use a multimeter, however I do not know what connections I would need to test and the connections are not exactly easily reachable (from what I read about taking out the instrument panel).

 

 

Is there any light as to what I can do to locate the issue? I am a diy person and would like to avoid taking it to a mechanic if it is something I can easily fix myself.

[idosubaru]

i'd get a used speed sensor, swap it in place. if that doesn't fix it then get a used instrument cluster and swap it in place.

 

those two items rarely fail, not worth paying new prices, are easy to replace, and due to no demand shouldn't cost much from a yard. $25 probably, hardly worth wasting you're time testing probably.

 

you can post in the parts wanted forum here, someone will have a parts transmission or those used parts lying around.

 

if you look at the lower left of the screen right now you'll seen threads similar to yours - might want to skim those and you'll probably find folks with the same issues and see what their causes were.

[jay3ld]

Thanks for the information. After searching around a bit, I found out I could actually pull out the cluster without doing as much work as I had originally thought. The cluster on my Subaru has a trim piece that once removed (4 screws) just has 4 screws locking it in place. Removing those allows me to tilt it downwards an I can maneuver it around. Per another suggestion I read, I jiggled the wire, but it looked to be securely in place.

 

My local authorized Subaru dealer would be able to ship a new one, but at a price of $264. I found a similar subaru (96 outback) at a junk yard about an 1 hour drive from me, but the savings will be worth the drive if they have the part. I need another part for my subaru as well, so it won't be that wasted (I broke one of the heater vents somehow).

[plodder]

Sounds good!!! Here's another piece of advice. Grab fuses from inside fender well fuse box, take the crank case sensor, camshaft sensor, coil igniter, even an ecu if it is all a "YOU" pull yard, I would have saved a lot of needless bother and speculation on my last issue, oh yeah grab the starter too(if the same). I grabbed most of that stuff recently and paid about $30.00....Good luck:)