[FIXED]1997 Engine Speed Sensor

[The_Jackale]

Hi guys, I bought a broken truck! Now Im also fairly good at testing electrical components which is the only reason I laid down 3800 bucks on a 241k mile Truck. Oh and Diesels sound sexy :D and will pull my future projects easily.

 

So I didn't have much time to figure out the issue on it. But the symptoms are, No tach, no speedometer, no lights(wait to start, check engine ect) and the trans was said to be in 2nd, topping out at 30 to 35. And also the coolant temp was not working (but I think that is on a different line electrical circuit, will confirm). Im going to buy a new coolant sensor just in case that one is bad, because I thought it was a direct connection (sensor to cluster)

 

Just for fun on the test drive, I left the the crankshaft position sensor unplugged from the front of the motor and The speedometer was working, wait to start was working and the trans felt like it went to 3rd but no over drive (because no tach) 

 

Safe to say that the sensor I unplugged was bad? It had continuity across pins 1 & 2, but not reversed, i figured a good one should have continuity across both sides. Also my meter fell and broke (new age crapsman) so I was not able to continue to test last night once I parked the truck at my brothers.

 

Now to get this sensor, napa has it for 180, but its two days out, dealer is 350 and 4 days out.

Edit. Ordered 2 sensors, one from amazon, one from napa. Im curious if the 23 dollar ones works! Its not the gas one either. 

Edited February 2, 2020 by The_Jackale

[The_Jackale]

Update. Im headed out in a bit, to the truck to trace wires, printed what I needed. Also picking up a new multi meter since I dropped and broke mine last night. This site is great for info, thanks for having an awesome community. 

[The_Jackale]

We made it back out with the 1995 Cummins (Hildi) and we stopped at the Orileys dist. Center on the way and picked up a ESS. Priced out ball joints (they are really bad!!!!) They had 1 ESS in stock. It was meant to be. 

 

We started by checking the harness, I found 2 wires that were cracked and arching(they were touching with the jacket blackened a bit) by the bend on the block, they were just a tiny bit melted, just enough for the wires to touch, i think this took out the sensor some how. I put the loom back together and fired it up. No tach, no speedometer, no check engine, water in fuel, ect. So no pcm function. Unplugged the speed sensor and I gained back the speedometer, and lights. So I went to work cutting off half my hands with the sawzall so they would fit in between the sensor and fan. I brought mostly standard tools, of course the nuts and bolts were metric.....replaced the sensor using a cigarette pack to set the gap.

 

Fired up the truck, the tach was working, i didn't even test drive it, threw all the tools in the back, said goodbye to my brother and hit the road! Had to be back 85 miles away through Seattle to see my wife at the hospital. The drive back was white knuckle. The steering in this thing takes a champion driver with 3 world cups to drive. It was all over the road. 55 mph all the way back, and 63ish in the 70 zones on the straight aways. At one point we had about 5 Dodges back to back with their engines roaring down the freeway. 

 

We made it all the way back, I pulled in at around 930 waking the neighborhood up with the 4inch straight pipped exhaust (this thing needs to be quieted down!!) So today I'm going to be jacking up the front and making a parts list of all the needed suspension and steering components, bushings ect. 

 

 

I know I'm new to the forum, I try and include the issues, what fixed it, I've seen this on the forums already, but every truck that might have the same issue internally might have a different fix. So I like to post it again so others can find it easier and hopefully track down the issue quicker. 

 

 

Edited February 2, 2020 by The_Jackale

[dripley]

Sounds like quite the journey but happy to see your well on your way to solving yhe problem.

[The_Jackale]

Just now, dripley said:

Sounds like quite the journey but happy to see your well on your way to solving yhe problem.

Dedication and perseverance! Thanks!

 

Going over about 140 pages of info on here for the steering :'( 

[IBMobile]

Look at all the fun you get to have.

 

There's been a lot of discussion here on the best/worst ball joints.  AC Delco, NAPA are good and MOOG, Spicer are not so good is the general consensus.     

[The_Jackale]

2 minutes ago, IBMobile said:

Look at all the fun you get to have.

 

There's been a lot of discussion here on the best/worst ball joints.  AC Delco, NAPA are good and MOOG, Spicer are not so good is the general consensus.     

Looking at the package deals. I have not fully inspected it yet. I am looking where I can post a thread of the restoration of this rig and do a massive photo shoot with all the issues. Lol. Just wait for the photo of the door......