99 wagon speedometer works when it wants to, HELP

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?

first if you can tell me which speed sensor you you replaced.is it the single unit that is on the passenger side of trans bell housing.or did you replace the speed sensor harness that has 2 sensors.how did you check the wire to the speedo head.the must be 2 volts or more with all wheels of the ground and speed over 25 mph.

I have a 99 legacy wagon with exactly the same issue. Tac works fine, but speedo is intermitant. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Have you solved the problem yet? Have you done the attempted repairs yourself, or did the dealer try to fix the problem. I'm trying to wait until it completely stops working before I take it in to get fixed, that way I'll know that the problem it solved.

there is no one fix.you must test each componet to find the cause.the best way to check this is to pull the meter assembly out.on the back center of the meter assembly is a 5 pin connector.the center black wire is the signal wire.attach a dvom,digital volt ohm meter , back probe that wire with a striaght pin and attach the red lead from meter to it.black lead of meter to good ground.just lay the meter back and in test drive.when the fault happens see if you have 4volts or more when the car is traveling 12mph or better.

Thanks, sounds like a fairly simple test. Can you give me a couple of pointers at removing the meter assembly? I took a look, and there are 4 philips screws that hold the assembly cowling in place. Is it as simple as taking them out to access the assembly, or do I have to do a major disassembly of the dash?

I don't have a service manual for the car. I've seen a few places on ebay and the web as well as the standard Haynes. Any reccomendations?

http://www.datamanuals.net/subaru_comp.htm

yes just the 4 screws for the bezel.then you must pull the bezel out abit then disconnect each harness switch for that bezel.there is then 4 more screws for the meter assembly.

Finally took the speedo head out, added a wire to the back of the connector, put the speedo head back in and did the tests. AC voltage measured was over 4.5 Volts when driving, but speedo didn't work. When the speedo was working the voltage was the same. Tried re-soldering all the connections on the back of the speedo head, but did not resolve the issue.

I had a fight with Subaru Canada trying to get them to either give me the head for free, or give me a break on the price, but they were unwilling to recognize this as a manufacturing defect despite the numerous examples of this failure on a componenet that I expected to last the life of the car.

I've ordered a replacement speedo from the U.S. for $112.00 as the Canadian dealer wanted $250+tax for the unit.

Was able to download the entire service manual for the car from the subaru tech web site.

Shoud have the new head next week, so I'll repost after I've installed the unit.

So i finally broke down and took the subaru to a subaru repair shop. He said it needed a new speedometer head. Having replaced the cluster 3 times (which includes the speedometer head) I told him thanks but no thanks and payed him his money for doing very little. Alas I decided it couldnt hurt to try this crazy idea so we purchased a brand new speedometer head, and what do you know it works and has for a month straight.

I also have a 99 Legacy Brighton Wagon that has the same intermittent speedo problem. It started as an infrequent occurence but now has become more and more the case. Early on playing with the wiper controls seemed to start up the speedometer again. Now this does not seem to work very often. I took the instrument cluster out and made sure the speedometer head screws were tight and that all the connectors were seated. I also pulled the vehicle speed sensor (VSS 2) connector and visually checked the wires for problems. Seemed to be OK. This seemed to help temporarily but the problem came back quickly. I'm not sure what to replace first the speedometer head or the speed sensor. Any suggestions?

i have replaced just as many speed sensors as speedo heads.without testing its a gamble to guess.

Thanks for your reply Subaru Tech! I thought the speed sensor also gave input to the ECM to adjust timing and fuel mix. If the defective part was the sensor would I notice a difference in engine performance when the speedo wasn't working? Also, what's the chance the problem is in the wiring harness?

no you wont see a difference in performance.

I own a 99 Legacy Outback Limited Edition and have begun experiencing the exact same problem as you al have described. Have any of you come to any conclusions? The one thing that I find interesting with my case is that the cruise still contiues to work, which means that speed is being sensed somewhere. Have any of you had these same symptoms?

Also, why are there two different speed sensors

I've had the same problem for about 2 years now. The speedo works intermittently. The cruise control always works - even when the speedo does not. My wife discovered that toggling the door locks (electric) will cause the speedo to start working about half the cases. I've also tried the window and sun roof, but that approach is nowhere near as dependable as the door locks.

Does the speedo and cruise control use different speed sensors, or does the fact that the cruise always works rules out the speed sensor as a possible culprit?

Thanks.

1999 Legacy Outback. Same problem.

Thanks to SUBARU TECH for the diagnostic tip. It's easy to do.

When the speedo is working, the DVM measures only 2.4 V DC and 2.7 V AC at speed, not the 4 V that SUBARU TECH says should be there. Is that already an indication that one of the sensors, not the head, is faulty? I will post again when I can get measurements when the speedo is not working.

Also, should I be measuring AC or DC? tanwagonman says AC, I'm just double-checking.

I have found an easy way to deternind if it is the speedo head or the VSS,

To test the speedo head while moving press and hold the trip reset button, it the head is faulty the speedo will start to work while th button is depressed

This seems to be a dead forum, no postings other than mine since Sep. 2006. Sad. SUBARU TECH is an especially valuable resource to lose.

To sum up my experience for anyone with a similar problem stumbling across this forum:
I noticed that the voltage at the speedometer went down slightly when the speedometer stopped working, from 2.4 to 2.36 v DC and 2.6 to 2.56 AC.
Based on SUBARU TECHs note that voltage should be 4 volts, I thought this suggested a bad speed sensor 2. I asked my dealer, and he told me that replacing speed sensor 2 was cheaper than replacing the Speedo Head ($300 vs $400). I told him to replace speed sensor 2. It turns out that there are two speed sensor 2 configurations in the 99 Outback. In one, the sensor is separate. That's the cheap repair. In the other, mine, the sensor is part of a harness, an expensive ($760) repair. Since the car was already in the shop, I told them to go ahead and change the harness. It did not fix the problem, and the voltages at the speedo head were still "too low".

Now, I didn't know if the 4V that SUBARU TECH specified only applies to the non-harness version of the speed sensor. Since I already knew how to pull the instrument panel, I found a used instrument panel (through automotix.com, a good service) for $90 and tried that. It didn't fix the problem.

I've tried everything I have been told to try, I'm $860 poorer, and still have the problem. So, I'm going to give up, take my dealer's advice to wait until it breaks and stays broken, and let them fix it. Since it's been intermittent for over a year, I think that it may never finally break, and I may never buy another Subaru. An intermittent speedometer is an absolutely ridiculous thing to have to live with.

This seems to be a dead forum, no postings other than mine since Sep. 2006. Sad. SUBARU TECH is an especially valuable resource to lose.

To sum up my experience for anyone with a similar problem stumbling across this forum:
I noticed that the voltage at the speedometer went down slightly when the speedometer stopped working, from 2.4 to 2.36 v DC and 2.6 to 2.56 AC.
Based on SUBARU TECHs note that voltage should be 4 volts, I thought this suggested a bad speed sensor 2. I asked my dealer, and he told me that replacing speed sensor 2 was cheaper than replacing the Speedo Head ($300 vs $400). I told him to replace speed sensor 2. It turns out that there are two speed sensor 2 configurations in the 99 Outback. In one, the sensor is separate. That's the cheap repair. In the other, mine, the sensor is part of a harness, an expensive ($760) repair. Since the car was already in the shop, I told them to go ahead and change the harness. It did not fix the problem, and the voltages at the speedo head were still "too low".

Now, I didn't know if the 4V that SUBARU TECH specified only applies to the non-harness version of the speed sensor. Since I already knew how to pull the instrument panel, I found a used instrument panel (through automotix.com, a good service) for $90 and tried that. It didn't fix the problem.

I've tried everything I have been told to try, I'm $860 poorer, and still have the problem. So, I'm going to give up, take my dealer's advice to wait until it breaks and stays broken, and let them fix it. Since it's been intermittent for over a year, I think that it may never finally break, and I may never buy another Subaru. An intermittent speedometer is an absolutely ridiculous thing to have to live with.

after reading a bunch of stuff in the forum, I came to the conclusion that subaru tech didnt know as much as he thought, Mine was the speedo head and I repaired it myself, with a used one for 10.00

I have found an easy way to deternine if it is the speedo head or the VSS,

To test the speedo head while moving press and hold the trip reset button, it the head is faulty the speedo will start to work while the button is depressed

rockwerks, it's entirely possible that the head that came in the $90 instrument panel I bought is bad too, because they both start to work while the button is depressed (sometimes). And I agree that if you can make the speedo work by (essentially) banging on it, it's most likely the head.

Where did you find a speedo head for $10? Maybe I just need to keep trying heads until I find a good one. (And I'm not even sure that if I bought a new one for $200 it would be good).

I've Got The Samed Damned Problem The Sucker Hops Whenever I'm Under 25 Mph And Is Off By About 5 Mph When Up To Speed...

Funny Thing Is I Didnt Figure That Out For A While...
Whilst Driving I Set The Cruise Control...
Well Poeple Were Always Giving Me The Brights Blowing Thier Horn Amungst Other Things Till I Figured It Out...

How Much Is It To Get It Fixed? In Total?

Mr whizard http://www.mrwhizard.com/ fixes it for $180.

hello my name is joe develis. I own and operate an automotive repair facility
i have two 99 subaru legacy's one is a sedan and the other a gt wagon.
one is a five speed trans and the other an automatic.
when I found that both had the speedo problem as all 99 models do, I became interested. I scanned the ecm and got into the data pids to see if
the vss was giving out a signal to the speedo head. I did this when the speedo was not working. In both cases I found that the ecm was giving a
signal to the scanner which clearly states that the problem is in the head.
upon getting a used speedo cluster from the salvage yard I put it in and it
did not work. boy I am in the business and should no better. I never thought
at the time that I could have another bad head. I did. but before I found
this out I made the same mistake as many techs. I replaced the harness
set up in the automatic very costly and took out the sensor in the five speed.
by the way the five speed has a plastic sensor with three threads and thread
lock on it. I could not get out the old sensor without breaking it and I had t0
remove the transmission to finish the job right!!!!!!!!. A total waste of time.
because the problem with that was in the head also. both gave signals but
I took the advice of a local subaru dealer's service manager and ordered the
harness and sensor for both cars.

it is possible that a sensor can cause this problem, in my experiences with
two at my shop at once highly unlikley.
the way to fix this problem is to replace the speedo head itself with a new
head from the dealer. the dash is easy to remove.
this will solve your problem. it has for me.

I learned the hard way. your local service shop should have a scanner
tell him to go into the data stream to see the vss signal when the speedo
is not working. hint leave the car overnight as when the car is cold. the
problem will more than likley show its ugly self.

even guys in the business have to make mistakes to find out the solution.

good luck. and do not buy a used cluster it will most likley be bad as all are.
its a huge problem with the 99 models only. must of been a bad batch
of speedo's that year from whoever made them.
nissan pathfinders and pickup trucks had the same problem in the heads of
97 model years. I have done alot of those.

good luck.

I too experienced the same speedometer problem on my 1999 outback wagon. Subaru dealer informed me they could not diagnosis it unless it actually happened to them at the shop or a test drive. After viewing these multilple forums and testing (pressing trip meter, activating cruise control, etc.), I purchased a new speedometer head from the dealer for $207. Replaced the malfunctioning one and have fixed the problem. Dash removal/replacement is simple and didn't take over 45 minutes. Wish Subaru mechanics would cruise these sites once and a while.

Well, I paid a dealer $800 to replace the harness and bought a used instrument cluster for $100, both to no avail. What's another $207 for a new head? I'm really tempted to try that. If I do, I'll report back.

I fixed mines today, 3/17/2008. I bought a 99 Legacy Outback (http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3036990)with-out inspection. I had to get this fixed. Its still not registered I've had it for over a week. My problem I discovered was bad grounding. Press the window switch up and down to see if the interior light dims. Its an easy fix:

1. Disconect the negative from the battery.

2. Take the dash out.

3. Atach a cable to the screw on the back of the speedo with a cable connector. The screw has nothing attached to it and is next to the speedo harness with the green/black cable.

4. Run the cable down to the open hood latch and ground it there.

5. Connect the negative on the battery tighten it start the car ride around and see if this worked for you also.

The reason to connect the cable there is that the problem might be that the speedo is not getting enough current or volts. If you take the dash or instrument cluster apart and take the speedo out there is a circuit board or what ever is called. The screw ataches where it says GROUND but there is no ground atached to it..? Hope this helps, if it does let me know I'd like to take some credit for discovering something. Thanks for reading.

Thanks to the tip from tednjqb and the other numerous posts I figured out the solution to the problem. First replacing the speedo head is a waste of money, there's nothing wrong with it. The problem is the metal of the mounting screws. After removal of the speedometer assembly you will need to unsnap the clear plastic cover in front of the gauges so the speedometer can be removed. On the back of the assembly you'll notice 5 screws that hold the speedometer head in place. The problem is these screws have some oxidation on them preventing a good connection to ground. All you need to do is remove the screws which enables you to remove the speedo head. Use a wire brush and clean contact points on circuit board and clean screws too. Replace speedo head, tighten screws and put assembly back in dash. Your speedometer should work now and it won't cost you a cent.

OK, this thread has been active for a few years and many possible root causes for the known speedo symptom have been advanced by you all. Here's my own tale of woe with this; I'm just beginning to try to sort it out:

I too have a '99 Outback and the speedo quit working back in April. I don't recall exactly what I did at that point but it started working again and I thought "problem solved." Not quite: the problem re-occurred this past week. It is more than the zero reading of the speedo. In fact, before the speedo went dead the other symptoms I'd seen back in April appeared:

Check Engine light came on
Power greatly decreased (couldn't accelerate to save my life)
Low idle speed
Very rough idle: the car shakes#2-4 above suggested to me that somehow the engine wasn't firing on all cylinders. I recalled that in April I'd had the ECU codes read and it pointed to the VSS as the root cause. I'd balked at replacing one or both of them, though, since it was an expensive crap shoot and the problem seems to resolve with whatever I or the local shop did (e.g., cleaned the battery terminals..?)

This time, the ECU code again says the VSS is at fault. But I still wonder: do the above symptoms indicate that the VSS is really bad? If so, why would the problem be intermittent? (Forgot to mention that when I first start the car, symptoms 2-4 above don't appear; only when it's been run awhile (5-10 mins) does the power diminsh, etc.) If the sensor was bad, would it go bad in a gradual-failure manner that could cause the problem intermittently? My gut tells me that's unlikely.

OR... could there be some other root cause that is causing the VSS to RESPOND or function intermittently, though the sensor itself is OK?

Then, on another auto forum, I found the following commentary on the problem:

2007-03-27 00:00:00 Midlothian, VA
Speedometer fails spontaneously, intermittently and frequently. indicated speed drops to zero. returns spontaneously after 10 seconds to 15 minutes. not vehicle speed sensor (vss) or wiring/connector related. service technician found speedometer circuit board delaminated, causing components to separate from circuit board. stated this appeared to be caused by oem sealant used on the circuit boards as seen in other subarus and many honda vehicles. speedometer is an obvious safety and legal liability component, which provides critical feedback to vehicle operator. many other failures reported on internet. recall should be issued if further investigation confirms defect frequency.


Now, this is pretty interesting, and I haven't seen it reported elsewhere on Internet auto forums. It's the kind of failure that is classically hard to find. And it's something that could understandably lead people to conclude that other things are the root cause when their troubleshooting or repair attempts inadvertently move or flex the circuit board, restoring its original state (i.e., eliminating the short or open that the delamination is causing). It's also the sort of thing that could explain the fact that, on my car at least, the symptoms only show up when the car is warmed up (the idea being that the circuit board heats up, distorts, and the short or open rears its ugly head).

So here's my question: is it possible that such a circuit problem could cause the VSS to function intermittently - and that the intermittent signal (or power) delivered the the VSS could cause it to thereby screw up the mixture being fed to the cylinders so badly that the power drops dramatically? And would that be consistent with the fact that my speedo is now reading zero at all times (not intermittently), even though the engine's poor-perfomance (low power) symptom is not continuous?

Thanks, all, for reading through this long post. Looking forward to reading your comments.

It's now 3 years later and my speedohead has failed again. I'm going to try and get Subaru Canada to confess that they have a defect, but I'm not that hopeful. Very disappointed in the quality of the product.

Just read through the posts on '99 speedo problems. My '99 Legacy "L" wagon has 98K miles. Bought in Sept '06, previous owner appears to have given it lots of TLC. Only problem so far had been replacing an alternator about six months ago. In the past 4-6 weeks, speedometer has been misbehaving just as others have described. With no warning, speedometer stops working entirely (i.e., more than just giving a "false" reading), then, abruptly starts working again, for a while. Appreciate advice given by others, really appreciate caution about speedo units from junkyards! This may be new information: In 2-1/2 years I have had car, it has always been parked outside, and sometimes is not driven for several days at a time. I live in a climate that can be very damp and very cold.

It appears that this forum has essentially died, but I want to share recent experience concerning Subaru speedometer issues. May help.

Son has 1999 Outback with same intermittent speedo issues. Also there was other evidence of electrical issues in the car (warning buzzer was weak, radio worked sometimes, etc). We took instrument cluster out of car and tested voltage being received at the back of the 5-pin connector. Voltage started high but declined as car accelerated which we assumed was normal as speed was working. We removed speedo head from cluster and connected back to 5-pin connector again measuring voltage on each side of the connection. There is where we noticed discrepancy. Voltage would drop occasionally when car was not running. We removed female of 5-pin connector and resoldered connections. Now we have stable voltage on both sides of the connector. We also removed oxidation from screws holding head in the cluster as it appeared that provided grounding to entire cluster. After reconnecting all of the couplers to the back of the cluster speedo works well and has consistently. Also removed other electrical issues with interior. Bad thing now is that odometer records mileage twice as fast. Not sure what to do.
Since this site is not very active, any suggestions are welcomed via email. Please send to kaneable991@comcast.net

I have it figured out!!!! I went through everything in this forum changing the head worked for about 3 months (it was the longest fix I found). Then I started pulling the old head apart because I was pissed to waste my money on a new one that did the same thing. What I found was the female connector (blue) was not making contact, it had a high resistance open. I stuffed some folded paper into the side of the female connector and a tiny bit into the inside of the female when sliding the male half in. I has now been 6 months and still working fine.

The part has the single wire feeding to it. hope you are all as happy as I am with this VERY CHEAP FIX!!!! WOOOOHOOOOO

I took a jumper wire and spliced into the single blue wire that plugs into the head. Then soldered other end of the wire directly onto the circuit board. Took care of the problem.

Fixed it too!

I had the same issues except my cruise wouldn't engage either. Speedo was crazy and worked sparingly if I used the power windows, but not always.

On the back of the Speedo head I noticed that the blue GROUND plug was loose in the connector. So instead of paper I took a toothpick and broke it off in the connector/wire area and another one between the the two connectors. WORKS GREAT!! BTW I checked all the solder joints and had no cracking or oxidation, fortunately.

Thanks for all those for their input!

Update 9-10-11:

Trying to run a new ground didn't work at all. I get about 2.6 Volts when working or not working. So I took off those Stainless steel screws on the back of the speedo head and on the other heads. I noticed that the SS screws where oxidizing (white film) on the hardware. I pulled them off and used a brass brush to clean them. After installing them again the head works great!!!!!!!

Unfortunately, the cruise control still doesn't work so not sure. Additionally I accidentally broke off the needle on the Hot/Cold gauge and had to glue on an ORANGE colored Toothpick. Don't mess up the needles like my dumbass..

The wife doesn't like the toothkpick needle so she wants a new cluster, but we'll see.

Okay I finally went through the trouble of taking off the steering wheel of my 99 legacy wagon to properly fix the broken speedo. The problem as someone mentions above was corrosion on the screws holding the actual speedo head unit to the cluster (5 phillips screws) there is a light white film i took off with an emery board. Also at the base of the green ground connector (on the circuit board) there was some brown substance that I scraped off (very very carefully). Drove it around for a few mile using turn signals flashing brights (all the things that would disable the speedo before, that is for the maybe 10% of the time it was working) and all is well.

man, when seeing the title, i just thought you're speaking the game speedometer (http://www.filereach.com/download/4981-kel-f-speedometer-rar.html). :p

Another unhappy Subaru owner, except that the car didn't cost me anything. My speedo went out about 2 years ago, and before I had a chance to get it fixed we bought ourselves another car and stopped using the Subaru. We had brought it in for something, and the estimate we got back just made it not worth the cost at the time.

Fast forward to 3 months ago and I finally started the car up again after sitting unused for those 2 years, and took it out for a short spin. I then brought it to a mechanic and for a hefty fee got it in like new condition. The car has only 50k miles on it, lost miles to the speedo notwithstanding (not more the 2-3k). The ONE thing he couldn't fix was the speedo! He wanted to send out for a replacement head, but that it would take a few weeks, but in the meantime my son needed the car so we couldn't wait. It was still mostly working at that point anyway.

We drove it to Florida from NY and the speedo would kick in as soon as we hit 50mph and keep running all day. But once down there my son said it never worked. We drove it back to NY last week and it worked maybe over 50 miles of the trip, but while it was working I noted the speed vs the RPM and was able to judge speed on the tach.

I took the speed head out this afternoon, checked the green wire, checked the connector, looked at the traces, tried the screw in the connector tricked mentioned elsewhere, all to no avail. I'm wondering too about the ground screw, it was fully oxidized. That in itself should have at least been fixed by unscrewing/rescrewing but not that I can tell. I put it all back together and everything else still works.

I'm going to try hard wiring from the green wire to the board, and also hard wiring a ground to the chassis and see if that'll do it.

After doing the above, when my son used the car again he said the speedo has been mostly working. Every now and then it stops but then starts up again. All I really did was jiggle a lot of wires, and unscrew and re-screw everything. That makes me believe it is just the ground screw, and all the other fixes out there work because by unscrewing it you've removed enough oxidation to make contact. I'm leaving well enough alone at this point.

And nobody has read this board since I posted anyway...

I have the same intermittent speedometer problem on my 1999 Subaru Outback...179000kms.....my cruise control works fine, I am told that rules out the sensors, they are working fine....or the cruise control would not work.
I have followed all the advice on here, replaced cluster......, cleaned and tighten screws , added ground wires....checked circuit board and connections....... added the wire to bridge the trace...resolded connections....and so on.....
my speedometer is still intermittent...
I have found that I when the heat is on mine will start to work , may work for a day or 2 Min's ....but does seem to be heat related....which brings be back to poor connection...
I am completely out of ideas....any suggestions?

Why is there no recall on all the problems with the 1998 and 1999 subaru's with the odometer problems. It seams like it should be illegal for subaru not to fix this problem because the milage also stops and it can never have TRUE milage readings? There are hundreds of people talking about having this problem all over the internet and at the subaru dealerships.

Thanks,
dalerace

dalerace......I guess the only people who can answer your question regarding a recall is Subaru.....but first they have to admit that there is a problem.
By the way I think I may have fixed my problem with the speedometer intermittently not working, the problem that Subaru had never heard of.
I removed the famous blue socket connector from the speed sensor and replaced it, it has been working for the last 200kms, I am keeping my fingers crossed....
Subaru seems to have a problem ever admitting they have any problems.
I had a problem with my automatic transmission, there are lots of threads regarding from a cold start, there's a delay of engagement into drive from park or reverse, so-called morning sickness,, but according to Subaru they had never heard of that problem either, even though they sent me an email telling me they now supply a rebuilt automatic transmission for my 1999 Subaru Outback for only $4000.00
I do love my 1999 Subaru Outback....just not Subaru the company (Fuji Industries)