legacycentral bbs

Hello all. I finally got my newest legacy running (1990 L awd, automatic). The speedo and odometer do not function. I've read that it's possibly a broken speedo cable or speedo gear. How do I diagnose the problem? Does the black cover on the speedo cable just slide off? If I've got a spare 92 legacy, will the speedo cable from it swap right over? Thanks in advance

My recommendation would be to check the base piece that screws into the automatic transmission before doing anything else. It's a common failure point.

Here's a picture of it.

http://main.experiencetherave.com/subar ... lebase.jpg

If you follow the cable from the fire wall to the trans you'll see that piece. Remove the cable, and with the car on jack stands, start the engine, put the trans in D, and let the engine idle turn the wheels. You should see the inards of that base piece turning. If not, remove the base piece. Make sure you get the rubber piece and bottom washer out. You'll probably find that the shaft inside is busted.

Took your advice and it is definitely that piece that is failing. Does it just screw right out? Should be able to just swap over the working one from my spare 93 legacy auto right?

Removed that piece and it actually seems to work properly. I used a screwdriver to turn the small metal piece that the shaft of the speedo cable would be turned by, and it spins freely. Does this mean that the gear inside the tranny is stripped? Tranny pull required?

I have the same issue, I think mine is the speedo itself because my cable looks intact, but I've yet to pull the cluster and check it.

You need to remove the part in the tranny and attach it to the cable. Remove the cluster from inside the dash and have someone rotate the flat part that sticks out of the part that's screwed into the tranny and see if the other end of the cable that attaches to your cluster is moving. If it is, grab it and see if it can still turn with resistance. I doubt the gear in the tranny is broken. I've never heard of anyone having that problem but it could be possible. Usually it's because the cable broke (happened to me, it turned out to be the lower section of cable that broke and it was brand new!) or the part in the trans broke or someone did not get the cable seated all the way into the cluster and it came out.

I've seen a couple people with stripped drive gears in the tranny, but Kimo is right that you need to check all the easy stuff before you jump to the worst possible conclusion.

The base piece will unscrew from the trans, and would be my first trecommendation to check. It's pretty easy to replace, and really doesn't cost much.