I have a 1999 subaru legacy wagon brighton edition. The probelm is the speedometer only works when it wants to, going on and off at will with no real pattern to its madness. The only thing that seems to work occasionally is to press the trip odometer reset a few times and sometimes the speedometer will start working again.

In attempting to fix the problem we have replaced the sending unit (attached to the transmission and sends the signal to the dash unit), that did not work. We then replaced the entire gauge cluster including the speedometer, this did not work. We checked the continuity of the wire running from the sending unit to the speedometer and it was fine, obviously the speedometer still didnt work...

Has anyone else had this problem or maybe just have any idea as to what the problem could be?

have you had any transmission problems?

I have a 1999 subaru legacy wagon brighton edition. The probelm is the speedometer only works when it wants to, going on and off at will with no real pattern to its madness. The only thing that seems to work occasionally is to press the trip odometer reset a few times and sometimes the speedometer will start working again.

In attempting to fix the problem we have replaced the sending unit (attached to the transmission and sends the signal to the dash unit), that did not work. We then replaced the entire gauge cluster including the speedometer, this did not work. We checked the continuity of the wire running from the sending unit to the speedometer and it was fine, obviously the speedometer still didnt work...

Has anyone else had this problem or maybe just have any idea as to what the problem could be?

 

I had that same problem but in an older car...my '90 Legacy. I had to swap out the whole cluster. East to install.

I have a 1999 subaru legacy wagon brighton edition. The probelm is the speedometer only works when it wants to, going on and off at will with no real pattern to its madness. The only thing that seems to work occasionally is to press the trip odometer reset a few times and sometimes the speedometer will start working again.

In attempting to fix the problem we have replaced the sending unit (attached to the transmission and sends the signal to the dash unit), that did not work. We then replaced the entire gauge cluster including the speedometer, this did not work. We checked the continuity of the wire running from the sending unit to the speedometer and it was fine, obviously the speedometer still didnt work...

Has anyone else had this problem or maybe just have any idea as to what the problem could be?

 

If you have repalced the speed sensor and the cluster , most likely it's in the wiring harness

What is probably happening is the harness is shorting to ground and cutting out the speed signal

Checking for continuity through the wire may check out ok , but the next thing to do is to check if that wire is grounded

 

SEA#3

have you had any transmission problems?

 

I havent had any transmission problems the only work done so far has been the addition of cruise control and a new clutch and flywheel.

i have the same problem with my 99 legacy. i can't get it to work by hitting the trip button. what i did do though was put my voltmeter positive lead on the wire coming from the tranny, and the neg. wire on the voltmeter to ground and checked voltage on that wire, and it was 2-5 volts after accelerating, so i assume the sending unit was ok.

sounds like you have a standard tranny also, so the sensor is easily replaced and you are sure IT is new.

i would think that there is a break in the wiring between tranny and speedo. also, check the ground at the dash to make sure you have the complete electical path. i am sure the speedo wiring needs to have a ground.

good luck and keep us filled in.

DanO

i had the same problem on my 99 leg l sedan 2.2 5M. replaced the speedo with new unit from 1stsubaruparts.com and all works fine. before you go messing with wiring harnesses may i suggest that the plastic foil pak on the rear of your guage cluster might be rotted/damaged which would cause a discontinuity. hate to say, pull the cluster again and replace the foil pak. ps, take a few photos so you know where all the bulbs and ground points are. btw, the wire on the small plug on the rear of the cluster is WAY too short and you will need tiny hands to unclick it to remove the cluster from the dash. i thought about splicing in some relief but just threw it all back together anyway with a few MF'rs along the way.

I have a 1999 subaru legacy wagon brighton edition. The probelm is the speedometer only works when it wants to, going on and off at will with no real pattern to its madness. The only thing that seems to work occasionally is to press the trip odometer reset a few times and sometimes the speedometer will start working again.

In attempting to fix the problem we have replaced the sending unit (attached to the transmission and sends the signal to the dash unit), that did not work. We then replaced the entire gauge cluster including the speedometer, this did not work. We checked the continuity of the wire running from the sending unit to the speedometer and it was fine, obviously the speedometer still didnt work...

Has anyone else had this problem or maybe just have any idea as to what the problem could be?

 

not sure if you've looked at it, but i had this happen to me once in an 89 buick century. the speedometer would go haywire. it was weird. it would bounce from 0-85 (pinned for that car). and then it just stopped working. it turned out it was the computer. then it happened again and the car didn't start (they replaced the busted computer with another faulty one).

I tried a third speedometer cluster today which suprise suprise did not work. We are going to attempt to run a new wire from the sensor to the cluster, we are still in that process but I will keep everyone posted.

I am beggining to lose all faith in subaru wiring, today my radar detector quit working in my subaru only, it works in all the other cars cigarette lighters. The funny part is everything else i have that works off the cigarette lighter works fine in the subaru. This car has been nothing but a headache...

I would recommend you follow Ofairlane's tip. Get a meter and measure the voltage of the line coming from the transmission. If you get the same results he got then check the ground to the cluster. You could try using a ground jumper lead to see if that helps.

 

Sorry you are having trouble but I have had very little trouble with the wiring in any of the Soobs that I have owned.

So amid our various trials the speed senson got disconnected and the car was driven, resulting in the check engine light coming on. We plugged it back in and took it to schucks and had the code check diagnos the problem. Schucks tells me I either have a bad cluster, speed sensor or wiring (something i learned today free electronics diagnosis at schucks could prove quite helpful in the future). Anyways does anyone know how to reset the check engine light because i am quite sure we fixed the problem and the light just remains on.

Thanks for all the help

I believe the light will turn off by itself if the problem is cleared.

I had a bad speed sensor, replaced w/ used and had autozone reset the cel. All's well.