VSS (Speed Sensor) Speedo not working!!!

[Luvs2slide]

I searched and searched...which explains my low post count. The car is a 92 LE w/ Redtop SR20det and S14 Transmission. I have tried 3 Speed sensors from all S13 KA's. 2 Zenki and 1 chuki. I still have no speedometer. My harness has been rerouted before this all happened. The cluster is a stock (92). Is there any possibility that the cluster is fucked? I have been crimping the VSS to the lower harness wires because the connector is missin...I am 99% positive that I'm hooking up the wires correctly. DOes anyone know the correct VSS wires which come from the lower harness? Sorry for the long post but Im leaving for Korea soon and the wifey will be driving the car! PLEASE HELP!!! I am stumped!:hammer:

[Luvs2slide]

Any ideas??? Cluster? Are there any fuses or relays?

[ecuastyle84]

its possible that it the cluster is bad...also check your wiring from the lower harness where you crimped it, just make sure nothing is damaged or loose

[Luvs2slide]

Ok. I will try using a different cluster...Will it matter if its a DOHC or a SOHC cluster? Also I have already made sure the crimps were good by testing the continuity. Thanks for the reply...Any other suggestions?

[johngriff]

SOHC/DOHC no matter. Wires reversed, doesnt matter.

If its not the wiring, its the cluster. The wire for the gauge goes to the fuse block junction in the engine bay, then around the headlamps, then to the SMJ, then to the cluster.

You can just direct wire 1 wire to the Cluster.

Done and Done.

[GSXRJJordan]

Done and Done.

John beat me to it AGAIN. If you think it's not working, direct-wire it, then replace your gauge, then replace the VSS.

[Luvs2slide]

Thanks alot guys for the info....So I could wire the VSS directly to the cluster? IS that what your saying? I;m guessing one of the wires from the VSS is a ground. I might try the direct wire hookup before I replace my custer just to make sure though...btw John, not sure if you remember me or not from Buttonwillow but you help me get more angle lol! I had the blue S13 coupe.

[Luvs2slide]

Ok so I tested it with another cluster 1990 to be exact. Once I stuck this in, I still do NOT get a speedometer reading. Also, my tachometer stopped working. I am 99% sure I am using a working VSS ( I have tested 3 of them and they all read .5-1 volts). Exactly WHERE do i wire it directly to the cluster? To the signal soldering point? If need be, I can take a pic of the back of the cluster. I have also tried to remove the PCB behind the guage itself and replaciing it with another but still nothing...Please help!!!:aw:

[Sidewayzzz]

I've looked through the FSM and I know there are two wires coming from the speed sensor. If I had a short somewhere, and would rather not troubleshoot it, could one of you gentleman who have done it before assist me with some wiring woes?

It says wires 6/12/24/7/13. I got this info from the Electrical System porting of the FSM under combination meter. It doesn't make sense to me that 5 wires connect somehow to the VSS. As I would understand it, 1 wire from the VSS goes to the ECU for top speed limiter and 1 to the cluster for a speed reading.

Can anyone shed some light on that for me?

[Luvs2slide]

If you are hard wiring it to the cluster, it should go to the Yellow/blue strip and yellow/green stripe wires. Should be pins 6 and 12. Doesnt matter if you wire them respectively because they are run off an AC voltage. Hope that helps.

[fliprayzin240sx]

^^^So you finally got it to work Nino?

[Luvs2slide]

No it still not working...But I just found out that the transmission isn't S13...Its fucking S14. And all this time I thought it was S14. So knowing this, I'm going to source a S14 VSS and try hooking it up via the lower harness...Now as far as directly wiring it to the cluster, do I still use the yellow/blue & yellow/green wires? Remember the car is a S13 hatch. Thanks and any info is greatly appreciated!:hyper:

[Dream240]

No it still not working...But I just found out that the transmission isn't S13...Its fucking S14. And all this time I thought it was S14. So knowing this, I'm going to source a S14 VSS and try hooking it up via the lower harness...Now as far as directly wiring it to the cluster, do I still use the yellow/blue & yellow/green wires? Remember the car is a S13 hatch. Thanks and any info is greatly appreciated!:hyper:

Wait so you're running a Redtop SR with an blacktop S14 tranny? That shouldn't matter. The VSS needs to match your car's wiring setup. If you've got an S13 then you need that VSS, S14 harness needs the S14 VSS.

It's the same even on the KA engine/trannys

Also as far as the wiring, have you tested the wires to make sure you have continuity from the VSS to the cluster? That would be step #1. then if you do check the signal output coming from the cluster side of the harness during operation. You should get some kind of reading from the harness connector pins while your driving and the VSS is hooked up. If not then you've got either a bad VSS or a wiring problem.

If you get a reading from the connector then you know it's your cluster, THEN go get another one. Also just making sure but you're running a JDM cluster right? And you're running with S13 JDM engine/tranny wire harness right?

[Luvs2slide]

the cluster is a USDM S13. I'm not sure about the lower harness...i bought the car off a friend...he had everything in his S14 and it worked fine...but he did try to use a S13 VSS and this is when I took the car over. THere is conituity between the cluster and the VSS wires...so you are saying that IF i am reading a voltage behind the cluster then the clusters bad???

[Luvs2slide]

Still not working unfortunately. I wired straight to the cluster and still no reading. I give up. I hate this transmission. Blah.

[projectRDM]

Transmission has nothing to do with it. The VSS must match the cluster, end of story. I've probably typed it a hundred times on here but no one seems competent enough to read it.

S13 cluster = S13 VSS. Done. The transmission can come from any year, any chassis, any market, hell even from a Frontier truck with new guts, nothing about the transmission matters. NOTHING. Only an S13 VSS will work, and again any market, JDM, US, they're all the exact same.

You mentioned the tach quit working, the SOHC tach does not work with any engine except the SOHC. We all know this too, been discussed since the dawn of the internet.

There is no ground on the VSS, just a variable resistance that creates the signal. If you have a working sensor, working cluster, and have run both wires from the sensor straight to the cluster than it will work, period. There's no possible way for it not to.

[infinitexsound]

give it to russ he is the guru....

[TheXFlames]

THANKKK YOU!!!!


btw :lfault:

Transmission has nothing to do with it. The VSS must match the cluster, end of story. I've probably typed it a hundred times on here but no one seems competent enough to read it.

S13 cluster = S13 VSS. Done. The transmission can come from any year, any chassis, any market, hell even from a Frontier truck with new guts, nothing about the transmission matters. NOTHING. Only an S13 VSS will work, and again any market, JDM, US, they're all the exact same.

You mentioned the tach quit working, the SOHC tach does not work with any engine except the SOHC. We all know this too, been discussed since the dawn of the internet.

There is no ground on the VSS, just a variable resistance that creates the signal. If you have a working sensor, working cluster, and have run both wires from the sensor straight to the cluster than it will work, period. There's no possible way for it not to.

[g6civcx]

Russ knows nothing. He just talks nonsense that he made up. Don't believe him. You need to donate your car to charity and then put a bullet in your brain.