Dead speedo/odometer

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
Lost them both on the way to work this morning. After much searching I found where the damn sensor is. Grabbed a hold of it and can twist it by hand. I'm assuming this is the issue. Sensor does not appear to be broken. Can I just tighten it back up? Is the threaded portion part of the sensor or can you hold the sensor in place and spin the threaded piece back on?
 

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
Tightened it down by hand. Took it for a drive; no dice. Any thoughts?
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
It's broke. I'm assuming we're talking about the sender on the transmission?
Check the conductors first, if they work just get a new VSS.
 

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
Yes. Its on the 5 speed transmission. Assuming I found the right sensor it was in the back in about the center of the transmission. Does that sound right?
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
Did look that up. Its on the transmission, just below the differential portion. Believe the air box will be in the way. The link I posted has a photo of the thing.
 

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
I think I found the right one? One reference said under the airbox another one said right above when the CV axle joins the transmission....i'm a little confused.
 

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
I was able to reach next to the curly q tube from the slave cylinder and get my hands on it. Does that sound like the correct sensor?
 
Last edited:

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
I have no idea. This thread has helpful info, Post #2, I couldn't find a good photo.
Just so you understand what it is, there is a gear in the transmission (let's hope that's not broke) that drives the thing in the sensor.
 

gforce1108

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Location
Newburgh, NY
TDI
04 Jetta GLS BEW, 14 Audi A7 V6 TDI, 13 Porsche Cayenne V6 TDI
Take a peek at this picture. The hole closest to where the stub axle attaches is where the sensor lives. (edited to add an arrow to pic)
 
Last edited:

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
Replaced the sensor, didn’t fix the issue. Do I need to get pinion bearing and gear?
 

joep1234

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2014
Location
NC
TDI
former '04 Beetle TDI, now 2x '15 Audi Q5 TDI's, 2007 Dodge Ram 4x4 6.7
Have you checked all of the fuses and scanned the car?
 

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
Which fuse? I don’t see anything on diagram that controls speedo. Fuel gauge moves around too. Ok to drive like this?
 

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
Hooked sensor up to a drill and gauge works. I’ll be ordering pinion bearing and gear.
 

hyoomen

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 9, 2006
Location
Dallas, TX
TDI
2002 Golf GLS 5-speed; indigo blue; ~180k miles; stock (*WRECKED*). 2002 Jetta 4spd Auto (01M), indigo blue, ~246k mi, stock
Clock still works on dash?
 

gforce1108

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Location
Newburgh, NY
TDI
04 Jetta GLS BEW, 14 Audi A7 V6 TDI, 13 Porsche Cayenne V6 TDI
Hooked sensor up to a drill and gauge works. I’ll be ordering pinion bearing and gear.
That kinda sucks... I just finished making one good trans out of 2 bad and added a LSD. That's a lot of work for a speedometer repair.
 

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
I think the bearing/bushing whatever it is called is just wallowed out and not turning the sensor anymore. Or, who knows, the gear may just be worn out.
 

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
Swapped it yesterday, several teeth in gear were MIA!
 

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
Just to update this....ran the car with new stuff and speedo still dead. I'm going to swap the old sensor back in and see if maybe i just got a bad sensor.
 

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
Swapped in the old sensor and it still doesn't work. What else could've happened??

I get the bucking at lower RPMS does that sensor not getting information put something into open/closed loop mode?
 

Cptcrnch

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2014
Location
FredCo MD
TDI
2004 Jetta TDI wagon; 2014 Golf TDI (buyback 7/26/17)
I had a similar issue last year. Swapped the sensor (it was cheap and the old one was at 265k miles so I figured why not) and it still didn’t work. I pulled out the gauge cluster and found that the wire for the speedo had built up a ton of corrosion and it wasn’t making contact anymore. Cleaned it with electrical contact cleaner and the problem went away. It may not be your issue but it didn’t take me more then 30mins start to finish so it can’t hurt to look.
 

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
I had a similar issue last year. Swapped the sensor (it was cheap and the old one was at 265k miles so I figured why not) and it still didn’t work. I pulled out the gauge cluster and found that the wire for the speedo had built up a ton of corrosion and it wasn’t making contact anymore. Cleaned it with electrical contact cleaner and the problem went away. It may not be your issue but it didn’t take me more then 30mins start to finish so it can’t hurt to look.
I hooked a drill up to the sensor again yesterday and the speedo works. Is it possible the gear inside the transmission has stripped???

Just checked Fuse #7 and it appears to be intact. I'll change it when I get home just to be sure.
 
Last edited:

gforce1108

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Location
Newburgh, NY
TDI
04 Jetta GLS BEW, 14 Audi A7 V6 TDI, 13 Porsche Cayenne V6 TDI
Kinda sounding like the drive gear is the problem... It's a plastic gear shown here
 

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
Is the gear inside the transmission plastic?
 

gforce1108

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Location
Newburgh, NY
TDI
04 Jetta GLS BEW, 14 Audi A7 V6 TDI, 13 Porsche Cayenne V6 TDI

TdiRN

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2015
Location
FL
TDI
2002 VW Jetta, 5 speed, 400k milesish
No I replaced the speedo gear/bushing to feeds down into transmission. I’m assuming interior gear is a joy to get to...
 

joetdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Location
Midwest
TDI
2-2002 Jettas W/Auto
The drive gear on the DIFF is likely your problem. Happens a lot on the auto trans
Breaks and slips on the DIFF
 

gforce1108

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Location
Newburgh, NY
TDI
04 Jetta GLS BEW, 14 Audi A7 V6 TDI, 13 Porsche Cayenne V6 TDI
No I replaced the speedo gear/bushing to feeds down into transmission. I’m assuming interior gear is a joy to get to...
It's not horrible... I found an excellent 02J rebuild manual that I used to make 1 good trans out of 2 broken ones. Of course the trans has to come out first. From there I think it took me a little over an hour to have the trans torn down. Reassembly wasn't bad either - I just got a little hung up on the 5th gear install since it kinda pops all apart and I didn't notice the original orientation. I should have looked in the Bentley manual earlier!!!

If you go in - I'd also replace the diff rivets with the ARP hardware (assuming your trans was a mid-04 or earlier (there is no replacement for the 04.5 up 02J diff rivets). That's what took out my original trans.

Looks like you need to pull off the diff bearing to replace the drive gear. The LSD I installed (after drilling out the rivets on the 05 replacement trans and having no way to replace them) came with the drive gear already installed.
 
Top