Speedometer not working

[kamoore63]

Hi all. I actually have a Forester rather than a Legacy but assume the solution to this problem would be the same (or close) for Legacy so thought I'd post her, too. I have a 1998, 5 spd., S model. My speedometer just stopped working and the check engine light came on immediately. I gather the two are related. The car seems to be fine otherwise, the tach works, as does the rest of the dash display: just the speedometer and odometer have stopped working.

I suspect there's a relatively simple cure here (i.e. a cable not attached) but don't have any kind of a manual that can point me in the right direction. Any ideas? I tried looking behind the panel from down by the pedals but there's a mess of wires up there and I couldn't distinguish the speedometer cable from anything else.

Thanks!

[dewt2003]

I have a 96 legacy and the same exact thing happened a few days ago. So far, I can't figure it out. I bought the Hanes manual and searched the web but your post is the closest I've gotten to finding an answer. If you find out what the problem is, please post back!

[Vidar]

The speedometer gets its readings from the gearbox. There is a 3-way plug on the top-right side of the gearbox. Look it over. it sounds like a ground fault.