Intermittent speedometer in 99 Outback

[L. Kreh]

I have a 99 Outback wagon (2.5L and automatic trans) with 108,000
miles. Just this past weekend, the speedometer started working only
intermittently -- sometimes it works, sometimes the needle just sits
at zero mph. Any idea what could be wrong and how much it will cost
to fix it?

TIA.

 

[Tim Reeve]

When I had a similar problem with a '94 Loyale, it was the speedometer head
which had gone. In that case, it was a few hundred dollars to buy and
install it. The symptoms were that speed shown would vary (at 100 kph for
example) anywhere from 0 to 140!
Cheers,
Tim

 

[david baldwin]

Just cleared up a long standing litany of problems on my 97 Impreza.
Purchased with the CEL on16 months ago. OBDII scanner said the speed
sensor was malfunctioning. A couple of months ago the gas guage
started being less than accurate. About that time there would be
ocassional times where it would start running on two cylinders.
Stopping the engine and restarting would fix the situation. Finally,
the alternator stopped charging, but Autozone said it checked out OK.
I had checked the ground and was planning on doing a load drop test on
the positive side when to my dismay, I found it wouldn't start at all,
eventhough I had just charged the battery. The first thing I tried
was a jumper cable to the the engine from a ground and sure enough, it
started. A quick ground cable replacement has cleared up all of my
problems for almost a month now. Since the ground cable was having an
"intermittant" problem, it was a bit hard to narrow down. The ground
cable sure is a flimsy thing.