Oh God Help I Screwed Up My Instrument Panel--No Speedometer

[Soul Shinobi]

I recently took out the instrument panel to replace a light on it (also I made the orange needles red like jnorion in this topic). Now I'm going to be straight with you guys, I'm new to messing with cars, however I am open minded about it and motivated to learn.

This was my second serious operation to perform on the first car I've ever owned, my '92 Legacy (first was the classic snorkusectomy of course). It was a bitch, even for me being technically inclined (I'm a wizard with computer hardware), especially because I was too nervous to take off the steering wheel because I was worried I might not be able to get it off, or get it back on just right (the way it was talked about in my Haynes manual scared the hell out of me).


Down to business; I performed the operation like so:

-disconnected battery
-removed more panels than I would have liked to
-finally got the mother out

That took me about 6 hours, including a rush trip to Home Depot to get a funky thing that would let me get at the two screws in the ashtray bay.

After performing my intended operations I proceeded to reinstall the instrument panel. I firmly placed all the plugs back into it then attempted to seat the panel on a mechanical rod which I firmly assume is for the trip-meter or whatever you'd call it (mile counting thing).

I screwed everything back in and swore I'd never do it again, and that if it didn't work I'd probably kill myself. I started it up and went for a quick drive--everything worked fine, including the speedometer and trip-meter.

That day I took the car in to the local shop to have an auto technician I trust fix a problem related to some third party junk that the previous owner had installed (CB radio and a crazy alarm system). I had that stuff removed and told my guy to also restore the car's electrical system to nearest it's factory set up as possible to make future repairs and my toying with it much easier.

He spent forever with the thing and when I got it back the speedometer and trip-meter simply didn't work. I'm sure he didn't take out the instrument panel himself as there wasn't so much as a finger print on the cover for it (I had cleaned it myself just before giving it to him). I mentioned it to him the day after and he gave me this look that clearly said "Well how in the hell could that have happened?" I made an appointment for him to check it out Monday, as well as for him to fix the horn (an older and unrelated problem).

So basically I'm wondering how this could have happened and why. I'm thinking that maybe I didn't seat the instrument panel as well as I thought and it was easily loosened by him doing things nearby. Also, this has lead me to presume that it's the mechanical thing that turns the trip-meter that the speedometer judges the car's speed by as well. Is there something easy I can do (like push the mechanical part from inside the engine compartment instead of taking everything apart again) or should I just ask my guy to do what he can (which makes me nervous). I'm just not sure what the hell to do.

[Manarius]

Any CEL's? If not, then the VSS still works.

I bet the cable for the speedo just got undone some how...

[magicmike]

if he removed an alarm system its possible that the brain of the alarm was wiretied to the thick speedo cable and he pulled on it a bit. It doesn't take much for the cable to pop out of the cluster. you can reach up from behind the dash and push the cable back in without taking out the cluster again. I have done it. Also, in the future dont take your car to a mechanic for anything to do with an alarm system. take it to a stereo shop.

[Soul Shinobi]

Any CEL's? If not, then the VSS still works.

You've lost me my friend.


magicmike, I'll try that. EDIT: Wait, which cable is the speedometer cable? Say I was looking at the instrument panel, which part would it be behind?

[ferrari494]

speedo cable is the big thick black one

[jnorion]

It's a big black circular cable that looks like a coaxial cable for your tv. It's a pain in the ass to get it plugged in properly, and after messing with it I've had it come undone on the freeway the next day a couple of times because I didn't quite push it in hard enough. I'm sure it just came undone when the guy was messing with stuff underneath.

The good news is that you can probably tell the guy that since he disconnected it, he should put it back, and make him do the dirty work.

[Manarius]

You've lost me my friend.

I just wanted to confirm that you had no CEL so that we could be sure that the Vehicle Speed Sensor wasn't busted. A broken VSS would cause the speedo to stop working.

[Subaru_Nation555]

You've lost me my friend.

I just wanted to confirm that you had no CEL so that we could be sure that the Vehicle Speed Sensor wasn't busted. A broken VSS would cause the speedo to stop working.

Yeah a bad VSS will give you a CEL, no speedo and stalling problems (at least with me) Perhaps the cable was so old it got damaged in the process or just wasn't hooked up right. Good luck

[Soul Shinobi]

It's a big black circular cable that looks like a coaxial cable for your tv. It's a pain in the ass to get it plugged in properly, and after messing with it I've had it come undone on the freeway the next day a couple of times because I didn't quite push it in hard enough. I'm sure it just came undone when the guy was messing with stuff underneath.

Yes, that's exactly it. I'm fairly sure I didn't get it on well enough, which is really my fault. How the hell do I get it on all the way? Should I just ask my technician to do it anyway? Ideally I'd like to be able to force it on right while taking the car apart as little as possible.

Also, I want to confirm that this is also why my trip-meter (mile counter) is not working.

Yeah a bad VSS will give you a CEL, no speedo and stalling problems (at least with me) Perhaps the cable was so old it got damaged in the process or just wasn't hooked up right.

I'm pretty sure I didn't hook it up well and it came loose, however my car is also idling inconsistently as well. Do you think that might be related? And what the hell is a CEL?

[Subaru_Nation555]

CEL=check engine light. I don't really know how the VSS is related to idling but I know that I had stalling issues and I pulled the code and it was the VSS. Once it was fixed the car idled like normal again.

[jnorion]

The cable runs the speedometer and the odometer (including trip meter). If you take off the panel that's right below the steering wheel, the one that has the change tray and hood release on it, you can lie on your back and reach up past the steering column and shove it in, without removing the gauge cluster or the trim pieces or anything. You probably will want a flashlight so you can see where you're aiming, but once you figure it out you will have to actually attach the thing blind because there isn't enough room to see past your arm.

[Soul Shinobi]

CEL=check engine light. I don't really know how the VSS is related to idling but I know that I had stalling issues and I pulled the code and it was the VSS. Once it was fixed the car idled like normal again.

Huh, that's interesting. Yesterday the check engine light came on at one point and stayed on for the day (one trip about 15 miles, 2.5 hours with the car off before the return trip). It was no longer there today. Probably unrelated.

jnorion, THANK YOU. I got it, man, is that a relief. I got it in and went for a quick drive to find that it worked, but that the speedometer was kind of jerky. I brought it back home and put two drops of three-in-one oil on the end of this cable and put it back in firmly as before and took the car out again. It's like new, thank god for that. I was so worried the problem was something else. Also, thanks for the idea to take a red sharpie marker to the needles, mine look great!

[Subaru_Nation555]

Glad it all worked out for ya! It can be a pretty scary feeling thinking you messed something up.