Speedo off, but it's weird. No really, it's weird.

[qikgts]

So... Car came from the factory without cruise, still has 2.73's and the stock speedo.

I put a VSS and matching cable into my car so that I could install a piece of aftermarket equipment several months ago. All was well and the speedo had been pretty much accurate until about 3 weeks ago when the speedo became intermittent then it eventually stopped turning.

To troubleshoot, I pulled out the VSS to take a look at the gear because the aftermarket piece stopped getting signal when all this started. (Nothing turning, no output from the VSS.)

First off, I noticed the VSS wasn't pushed all the way into the trans. (I figure, my fault no big deal. I flipped the bracket over so it would fit right when I put it back in.)Then I pull out the VSS and find the gear is a little chewed. Again, no big deal, off to the dealer to have them order a replacement gear. The two must be related, right?

So tonight I pulled the VSS, swapped on the replacement gear and I go for a ride. Guess what, now the speedo is about 5 MPH off.

Why?

Has anyone ever had a VSS/speedo cable not pushed in all the way and saw a change in output when they pushed it all the way in?

This has me baffled. Doesn't make any sense.

Any input?

[Handlebar Moustache]

So... Car came from the factory without cruise, still has 2.73's and the stock speedo.

I put a VSS and matching cable into my car so that I could install a piece of aftermarket equipment several months ago. All was well and the speedo had been pretty much accurate until about 3 weeks ago when the speedo became intermittent then it eventually stopped turning.

To troubleshoot, I pulled out the VSS to take a look at the gear because the aftermarket piece stopped getting signal when all this started. (Nothing turning, no output from the VSS.)

First off, I noticed the VSS wasn't pushed all the way into the trans. (I figure, my fault no big deal. I flipped the bracket over so it would fit right when I put it back in.)Then I pull out the VSS and find the gear is a little chewed. Again, no big deal, off to the dealer to have them order a replacement gear. The two must be related, right?

So tonight I pulled the VSS, swapped on the replacement gear and I go for a ride. Guess what, now the speedo is about 5 MPH off.

Why?

Has anyone ever had a VSS/speedo cable not pushed in all the way and saw a change in output when they pushed it all the way in?

This has me baffled. Doesn't make any sense.

Any input?

Replacement gear is different than the original? I'd count the teeth....

[JACook]

What's weird here is your driven gear was damaged at all. With stock 2.73s, you're not
using a fragile speedometer gear. Unless...

Does the replacement gear have the same slant to the teeth as the chewed up one? I've
seen Toploader/SROD gears put where they didn't belong before. Another tell would be
if the entire gear is not molded in color, only the tip. Toploader/SROD driven gears are
natural color nylon, with only the tip of the gear dyed for identification.

Also, since the drive gear on a T5 is also plastic, it's possible it was damaged as well.

[qikgts]

Thanks for the input guys.

The replacement gear is correct for the application. Looks the same, same tooth count, etc.

I drove the car further today and found the faster I went the further off the speedo became. It was reading 5 mph slow around 45 but by the time I was at 80 it was almost 15 slow.

I had a long highway drive to do today and I wanted to check the odo but I was foiled by road construction because they removed the mile sticks for the first 35 or so miles. By the time I got to a well marked area, the speedo had quit again. I'll pull the gear out and report on its condition either later tonight or tomorrow.

I'm starting to think the drive gear is damaged like you mentioned Mr. Cook.

[qikgts]

Today- Pulled the VSS out and the replacement gear was trashed again. I also looked in the hole to find that things didn't look right there too. That gear is scared up, looks like it's missing a tooth off of it and what's left doesn't seem to be centered in it's hole.

I did notice something that may be related though. I usually don't beat on it that bad but yesterday I got on it in second, got it up to about 3500-4k and abruptly let off the gas, then the trans popped out of second.

Anyone think that the output shaft could be moving around causing an alignment issue between the drive and driven speedo gears?

[JACook]

It's possible. Usually excessive end-thrust shows up first as the shifter dancing forward and
back when you're on/off the throttle.

[qikgts]

The shifter stays pretty much in one place. It moves just a hair, not more than any other Mustang I've had or remember driving.

The trans was gone through about 8-10 months ago and I called the guy to see if he had any ideas. He said he wanted to take a look and see if there was anything going on with it popping out of gear and he thought possibly the nylon pads on the forks could be swapped for brass ones if they are worn. That was all he had to offer along with thinking maybe that drive gear has just seen it's share of mileage. IDK...

I hate pulling this thing out on the floor...

Any other thoughts Mr. Cook?