2005 Speedo Readings Randomly Changing

[Spinner]

~150k miles, 2005, stock, nothing has changed since the error began.

Out of the blue, the speedometer started reading around 10-11% low. It's consistent. Confirmed the error with the speedbox phone app and a friendly poiice officer (I asked him to track me, and he was kind enough to do so without a citation).

In the middle of all this, I "think" I noted it reading higher than normal on a short errand run, with it showing about 8 mph while stopped. I may have been confused, as it's now back to reading low.

A search has only shown total speedo failures related to the speed sensor, not this kind of error. It seems almost like a zero/calibration error. Have any of you had this issue? Guidance? I stopped at the local dealer to inquire if there was a reset sequence, and was told "the speedo cable is broken, you'll have to schedule a service call." Really?

Appreciate any guidance!

 

[03_4x4Runner]

My 03 has a problem that after several hours use the speedometer will read off. As you stated when you come to a stop the speedometer will still read 5 or 10 or worse depending on how long I drove. When I turn the engine off it will go back to zero and then work ok for a while. On longer trips I use my garmin gps to track the speed. On short trips mine still works fine. There was a post awhile back about a similar problem someone else had and the dealer wanted like $2500 to replace the speedometer assembly. I am content to just use my gps for speed since my 4runner sees little use anymore. Between that and my $2500 transfer case leak the 2 repairs would almost be the value of my 4runner. These things are going to get expensive as they age. Mine started at about 60k miles and has 70k now. The odometer has always worked correctly, just the speedometer acts up.

 

[cabowally]

Get the FSM (people!!! it's a sticky on the first page. It tells you how to do almost everything).

Look under the "Instrument Panel, Gauges and Warning Indicators" section and then "Testing and Inspection » Symptom Related Diagnostic Procedures » Problem Symptoms Table"


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[Spinner]

Get the FSM (people!!! it's a sticky on the first page. It tells you how to do almost everything).

Look under the "Instrument Panel, Gauges and Warning Indicators" section and then "Testing and Inspection » Symptom Related Diagnostic Procedures » Problem Symptoms Table"


.

Ok...I looked at the sticky, found a 2006 repair manual, looked at it, only had an "instrument Panel" section that only had the Instrument Panel Safety Pad folder. Nothing else. What file am I supposed to be looking in. I opened the other links, and found nothing similar to what you describe. Got a link that you are looking at?

Please be gentle here, I already have an issue with my car, I don't need another.

 

[cabowally]

My office machine has my manual on it so I can't help there. I did just check alldata and pulled screenshots.

Is the odometer still clocking? When driving, if you reset to Avg MPH on the computer does it recalculate a new value after a few seconds?

I doubt it will do anything but you might want to try disconnecting the battery for 10 mins and see if that has an effect.

 

[Spinner]

Yes, the odo is clocking, which I would expect since I am getting a speedo reading.

Where are you are pulling the info saved in the screenshots?

 

[cabowally]

alldatadiy.com $25/year for the first car and $16 additional vehicles.

I prefer it over the pdf mess.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

All Data (also known colloquially by mechnics as "No Data"), Mitchell OnDemand, and similar websites are great sources of information for the average mechanic and/or DYI guy. Unfortunately they do not always provide ALL the information for the vehicle. Luckily All Data is pretty good with Toyota and often just copy/pastes our .pdf's though I have had a few times where I get diagrams but no legends to accompany those diagrams and I have to use TIS.

To give you an example, I had a '08 BMW with a brake fluid level sensor issue (least I am 95% sure it was...) but All Data did not have the testing procedure, wiring diagrams or information on the 2 wire sensor other than price to replace. The sensor tested good in comparision to the other on/off style switches I worked on before; but without information I could not determine if the sensor was faulty (out of range, improper resistance reading, ect.) or the ABS/Trac/VSC system was not recieving the proper signal. In the end we threw a sensor at it and got lucky so far.

My point is not to knock All Data or Mitchell, just to warn you that just because you pay them, does not mean they will have ALL the factory information and that it is accurate (we've run into instances where wiring diagrams don't match up to vehicles and/or component locations are wrong.) The nice thing is though that All Data will fax you a copy of a TSB if you provide them a reference number if it isn't on their website. We use it on a regular basis to repair all our non-Toyota vehicles.

 

[cabowally]

All data has no BMW manuals. Don't think they ever have.

http://www.alldatadiy.com/buy/current_coverage.html


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[BlackWorksInc]

Hmm, they have diagrams and such for BMW, but its hit and miss mostly; I find most of my info for work off forums and enthusiast sites like T4R.org than ALLData for a lot of the European cars we get. All Data is still a good way to get a hold of service info, its just not 100% accurate is all.