Ok first off i just recently bought this 2003 Is300 last summer. Its a 5 M/T car. It has a brand new speed sensor from the Lexus dealer which i replaced because when i took off the old sensor i opened it up and it was broken inside (atleast it looked like it was). However this did not fix the speed sensor code on the car and i have no speedo, odometer and my traction control light it on. I have checked the wiring harness and made sure i have continuity from the sensor plug up to the back of the gauge cluster. This leaves me with 2 possibilities. Either the gauge cluster is broken or the mechanism that drives the speed sensor is broken.

Does anyone know what dives the speed sensor inside the transmission? is there a gear or does it use a magnetic pickup?

Also i think my cluster may have been tampered with because i am getting a speed sensor code and have no MIL light on the dash. Also there is no MIL light when i turn the ignition on. I tried swapping out the bulbs in the back of the cluster and the light still did not come on.

What im thinking i need to do is prop the back wheels off the ground and run the car. Then back probe the wiring harness to the cluster and see if i am picking up a varying voltage signal from the speed sensor. If i am getting this then it pretty much is 100% the cluster. If not then it has to be the transmission to sensoir interface.

Anyone have input?

 

im starting to get the feeling that no one here actually works on their cars themselves....