> The speedometer 'cable' is a mechanical cable that does not use electricity.
>> The faster the car goes, the faster the center of the cable spins and the more
>> the needle moves in the speedometer gauge in the dashboard panel. >>
>> This cable plugs into the transmission very far forward in the transmission
>> and in fact is plugged into the 'front differential' portion of the transmission.
>> It connects vertically from above and is held in place with a spring clip.
>> No transducers are involved unless you have an oddball conversion of
>> some kind or a car made for another country, AFAIK. There is always
>> something I haven't seen.
>>
>> This cable is hard to see but is near the front 'differential' oil level checking
>> tube/stick (NOT the same as the 'transmission' oil level checking tube/stick)
>> and is on the right side (passenger side on American cars). Since the cable
>> connects directly from above, it will be the upper most connector on the
>> transmission, except for air vent hoses.
>>
>> Climb in the engine compartment, get your head as close to the firewall as
>> possible, look straight down on the right side of the transmission (passenger
side), and you
> should see both the differential oil filler check tube/stick and the speedometer
>> cable connection.
>>
>> Your symptoms sound exactly like a failing speedomter (mechanical) cable
>> since usually the square end of the cable rounds off with wear and begins >> slipping.
>.........I was guessing that
>from the three transducers on the rear of the gearbox viewed from
>underneath, one was the Vehicle Speed Sensor but I didn't know which.
>.............. I asked the local
>garage to price a "vehicle speed sensor" as per the Subie Manuals CD
>and they came back with a whopping =A3230 (US$450?).
############## I just figured out that I am making too many assumptions..
What country are you in?
Is your car an automatic transmission or a manual (stick shift)?
If you are not in the US, what is the model name of your car? (Legacy, Leon, etc. ?)
##############
Two of the sensors have three way connectors and the top rear one just
>a cable traveling up towards the front of the "firewall"(?) - the top
>larger one without any plug & socket connector I assume is to indicate
>the position of the Gear (Shift) Lever but the remaining ones are a
>mystery - I couldn't find any mention in the Subie Manuals CD. By
>"multipole" connectors I am assuming you mean many more than three so
>haven't looked that far. Yet.
>Also the Speedo is electronic and the Engine Computer Unit obviously
>receives speed signals since it 'knows' the speed information is
>missing by illuminating the "Check Engine" light. Since this warning
>only began to appear as the Speedo failed I am assuming the two are
>connected - p'raps something else is the cause? If it doesn't snow
>later and the temperature gets above -40 I'll follow your
>instructions. Thanks, Pete
############## It's confusing. I thought you were talking about a '93 American sold Legacy Turbo with Automatic transmission. If this is your car, the one I am familiar with has transmission speed sensors (electronic) which feed the car's computer. All shifting decisions, etc. are made by the use of these sensors. However, someone thought it might be nice to let the driver know how fast the car was going, so they added a mechanical speedometer which is driven by a mechanical cable.
Are you sure your speedometer is electronic?
Also, if this is the car I am describing, you can't see the mechanical cable very well from under the car.
However, now I recognize that you may have a different car or a manual (stick shift) transmission.
Let me know,
Ol' Rep (not Subaru)