coezoo

I have a 92 ES-300 with a bad speedometer. Indicates about 20 mph slow at highway speeds. New from dealer is about $1200. Anyone know of any good options?

Thanks

PFB

How are you verifing that your speedometer is off?

futures

I search Pick n Pull website in my city on a continuous basis. When ever they get a 92-96 Es300
listed I get over as fast as I can. The speedometers are the first to be picked so get over fast. Easy to remove entire instrument cluster -replace whole cluster - don't even bother trying to fix speedometer -Disconnect neg battery terminal . Need 2 phillips screwdrivers -1 short and 1 long . Push steering wheel as low as it can go .Using small screwdiver unscrew black molding - 2 screws under 2 small black flaps on the top of the molding -use flashlight and you will see them - pull molding out - using large screwdriver unscrew 4 screws that hold cluster in . "Create"a long sharp makeshift tool - I use a throwing dart to push and unsnap the the 4 electrical connectors - easier to do it this way than trying to unsnap- with your thumb and finger in confined space - keep your old cluster for parts-especially the needles if they still illuminate. There are 3 large electrical connectors at the top/behind of the cluster and one smaller bottom right . Unsnap them using "dart". Pull cluster out.
You have to test the "picked" cluster to see if is better than yours. Just plug in the top 3 electrical connections. Attach neg battery cable . Turn ignition key and see what you got -its alot like buying a lottery ticket - you never know. May have to interchange the needles from yours but you have to live with the mileage registered on the picked cluster.

EEngineer

lol
it's not ur speedometer...speedometers very very very very rarely fail
it's the vehicle speed sensor

coezoo

Thanks for all the responses. I am not certain it is the speedometer. That is what a dealer told me. I was planning to try to replace the whole cluster like futures said, but hadn't been able to find a used or rebuilt one.

EEngineer: where is the speed sensor located and how easy is it to replace?

LW ES300

You can also call the "local" junk yard. I picked up one in CT 2 summers ago for $75. Last summer I was changing intermittently blinking LED's I put behind the panel (see pic in my signature on left column of this screen) & my dumb dog jumped into me & the dash corner broke when it fell to the ground Called that same junk yard and they had one for $45. Note: 1992-1996 ES300 dash will/should fit your year/make. You'll be stuck with whatever miles are on the odometer you may get at the junkyard. Make a record somewhere of the real miles on the car before replacing it so you'll know the actual mileage.

If you end up doing this follow the thread posted here by Lexucan 4-5 yrs ago

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...ing-bulbs.html

Lexyboy

did you by any chance get it fixed? was it the speed sensor? i have the same issue. 20kms slower than normal and barely works in the mornings till it warms up. i have a 92 ES300 that works and looks like a top. my email as well is troylocke@invis.ca. ,tks, Troy.

Spimley

Was searching for an issue i'm having and this is what caught my eye.

98 es300 with 206K sits in the sun at work all day 4-5 days a week for last 10 years i've owned the car.

Last night the speedo was going bonkers while wife drove it home last night and it was hesitating/skipping as well

took it str8 to mechanic and grabbed a rental, after looking at it he was convinced it was the VSS, so I grabbed one this morning, and he replaced it, it worked perfectly, at first. But after it sat in the sun for a couple hours waiting for me to pick it up, he did another test ride and the cluster started doing it again, no hesitation this time but the speedo was again bouncing all over the place.

Plan A)
We're going to let it sit overnight and see if it repeats the issue when its not 110 degrees inside the car, but we're starting to think that we need a cluster replacement/repair.

Any thoughts on how to dig deeper into this besides Plan A?

Spimley

Quick update:
Replaced the VSS $45 + 1/2 hour labor bought local
Replaced instrument cluster $94 + 1/4 labor Ebay
had it back on the road for 36 hours and 60 miles so far so good.

If it continues to function fine I can either assume that it was the cluster all along or that both parts malfunctioned at the same time (which seems odd) I've had times before where we are chasing a somewhat gremlin solution out out multiple possibilities before we find the culprit.

turtlepeas

EEngineer, I was wondering about this same issue on my 98 es300.. So everything works on my cluster EXCEPT the speedometer and mileage counter (counter is lit, but blank). At first thought I'm thinking just a bad/burnt cluster, but are you saying that fixing/replacing the faulty speed sensor should fix this issue? I do have a speed sensor code.

Spimley

My mechanic stated as much, he immediately defaulted to the VSS as the culprit and since its a very reasonable part (everywhere except at the dealership) and easy to replace if you are a DIY type, or minimal labor costs if you are taking it to the right guy, its worth trying that first IMO. In the end i'm not sure if both parts failed but I left the new VSS in either way because both parts cost me around $200 including labor which is pretty dam reasonable.

turtlepeas

I have a VSS I just ordered that should be in tomorrow and I can't wait to at least see if it solves the problem. This has been a gremlin chase for me too but I think it's from "generic" information.. When I pull up the P0500 speed sensor code for my 98 ES all the searches for the corresponding part show that it's the small black "L shaped" speed sensor. This is a mistake in that although that part IS a speed sensor, it's not the correct one.
The vehicle speed sensor I think I need is the long metal one with the gear wheel on the end that dips down into the transmission. I can see it plain as day and recognize it for what it is since I've had other cars with the same exact one. I just NEVER thought to give it any inclusion to the problem since every bit of scanner software shows the small black one as being what you need.

What led to this confusion for me is that there are two different types of transmission, and I honestly didn't know this until I dug down into donor cars and my own. All of the cars I salvaged from have the two black "L shaped" sensors and both are on top very near each other. Not so for my transmission, which has one black one on top BUT then the real VSS is at the firewall side of the transmission. I had been chasing the wrong diagrams and pictures, but EVERYTHING I found researching was for the transmission other than the one I have. If the incoming part works I will report back.

Spimley

ya, the L shaped thing vs the long one with the gear had me scratching my head initially as well when I looked up the part.

So when I called my napa buddy I was asking for his thingy.




fortunately for me my buddy is a napa parts guy who was a mechanic back in the day before he hurt his back so he knows both ends of the parts biz, so when i'm on the phone with him discussing it he was correcting me and asked me to confirm back to the mechanic with a phone call to make 100% sure we were on the same page.

What I ordered was the correct part.


sounds like you are on the right track.

TaninAuto

VSS will not fix this issue. It's a cluster problem. We repair them every day.

https://www.taninautoelectronix.com/...luster-repair/

Spimley

Given my example detailed in previous posts TaninAuto is just as likely to be right since I replaced my VSS first and when it didn't solve the problem immediately moved on to replacing the cluster. I did explore repair as an option with my mechanic but I couldn't wait 1-2 weeks turnaround vs 3 business days for the replacement so went the more expedient route to get back on the road with a functioning cluster.

The good news is that if its not the VSS then you aren't out much time/money since its a cheap part and only takes a few minutes to replace.