doggonit1221

I recently purchased a 86 corvette that needed tons of work. One of many issues was no speed displaying on instrument cluster. I have been reading up on speed sensors and wanted to check it out. I removed out from the 4+3 OD manual transmission housing. It didn't come out in one piece. What confused me was that I didn't find any gears like I've been reading on the internet. I took a picture of it, but sure how to post the picture. Do all speed sensor have gears? I'm thinking that the speed sensor was missing the gears and that is why it would not display speed.

These speed sensors seem to be very hard to locate. After a lot of looking a found a guy in California that can remanufacture a speed sensor for my corvette if he can find the correct gears.

WVZR-1

I sent you an email. If you send me your snapshots I'll ID what you've got and also post them to your thread for others to advise also. I may have parts required for a fix. I'm out of most options but I do have a few left.

Cliff Harris

This is the VSS body with gear:



These are the VSS gears.



The gray one goes on the tailshaft and the green one goes on the VSS. Most Corvettes have a red tailshaft gear.

ghoastrider1

you having any other problems with the dash?

WVZR-1

OP - I resized your 9M file and here's what you sent. Your VSS is destroyed and the gears are "somewhere". Do you have them?




If you have your gears I believe I can give you an inexpensive "repair" locally. If you don't I believe I have what will fix your car! Your VSS is destroyed - there ain't no guy in Cali going to be able to help!

I sent you another email after having issues with the 9M file but I finally just resized it using PAINT. Was there more in the file? A couple pictures or what?

This is a "stock image" of a typical early VSS with "center pin" connector. Yours has had the crimp that holds the assembly together removed and it's fallen apart as I would have expected. Between Cliff's post and mine I believe you can see there's NO FIX! My repair will be as inexpensive as possible!



Where are you located?

doggonit1221

By looking at your pics, I believe there's a second half of the VSS housing that is still in the tranny housing and that the gear may be on the other side of that. I'll have to remove it and take a peak at it. I don't have a lift so getting to it is a bit awkward with the exhaust in the way.

doggonit1221

The gas gauge reads full regardless the amount of gas in the vehicle. I'm told I should have 80 ohms from the fuel sender when full. I'm getting 103 ohms. So I figure I'll need to replace the fuel sender in the gas tank. Another project.

Other than that, the instrument display is working fine after replacing its bulbs.

doggonit1221

I only sent that one pic. This phone takes some large sized pictures, but very clear.

Yeah, there's no fix. I need a new one. The problem I'm running into when looking for one and when I finally think I'm getting somewhere with a replacement, the description states that VSS belongs to an automatic transmission.

I'm on the east coast, Fredericksburg VA.

This morning I'm going to see if that gear is still in the tranny housing.

WVZR-1

Did you "pry" the crimp ring from the VSS in an attempt to remove it from the transmission? If yes then the driven gear is inside of the transmission still. I don't know of ever seeing someone do that.

doggonit1221

Yes, I did. When I removed the retainer bracket, I still had a difficult time removing it. I didn't know it was crimped together and tried to 'gently' pry it out, but apparently not gentle enough. Rookie mistake.

Dt86

They can be a real pain to remove. I may have one. I'll have to check. It was in an auto 2.59 rear car though.

WVZR-1

Yours won't help the OP - his is a 4+3 MT and should have if original likely a 42 tooth gear when the rest is removed.

I sent you another email with some more explanations and also thoughts on the FSM. Now that I've seen this response and realize that you did it I can give you a more detailed approach to the repair. Check your email!

Dt86

Thank you. Even though they "look" the same I wasn't sure if they were.

doggonit1221

I got it out. Looks like it's the green gear. And it's intact.

WVZR-1

For a C4 VSS requiring a 40+ tooth count take these numbers to your favorite local auto parts store and buy. You'll need the VSS and a connector to use in a '90 and earlier C4.

GM 10456089, Wells SU1005, SMP SC13 for VSS

GM 12085498, ACD PT120, Wells 236, PICO 5638C for the connector.

***There's no assurance that this will correct the "NO DISPLAY" of your cluster but there's no doubt that you need the VSS. With the VSS connected to the connector you should be able to spin with a drill and get the display to work if it's going to.

Nokones

If the VSS sensor and gears are no longer available, you can always go with a GPS signal to pulse converter if you want to continue to use the OEM instrumentation cluster unit. Intellitronix is the unit that I am thinking about and Summit has them for around a hundred bucks. You need to determine which pulse rate your controller requires. The Intellitronix is switchable for the standard pulse rates.

You can't beat the accuracy of GPS for speedometer accuracy.

I'm sure there may be be other converters available.

doggonit1221

Update:

I purchased the parts locally and now displays speed.

I'll be starting another thread with help with replacement part for the reverse lamp switch. All my reverse lamps are not functioning.

Nokones

That would be easy to check. Just disconnect the plug at the switch and close the circuit with a wire, turn the key on, if the lights come on, the switch is defective. If the lights do not come on, you will need to trace the circuit and look for the problem.

On a manual tranny, the switch is located on the tranny and the automatic tranny the switch is located on the shifter.

I hope this helps.