Questions and Answers

Celica Speedometer Cable Q. While driving on the freeway the other day my speedometer and odometer both gave out. I got on the internet yesterday and read up on some of the suggestions you've given past readers and crossed my fingers that it's just the cable. Well I tried out the cruise control on the way to work this morning and it IS functioning.

This makes me twinge a bit because I'm thinking that it means that it's speedometer unit that's not working and not just a bad cable.

I spoke with a Toyota tech yesterday and he said that my cable comes in two pieces and is joined by an adapter outside the firewall. The car still has a mechanical, and not electrical, cable for the speedometer. Is it possible that the cruise control hooks in at the adapter and then the problem may be the piece of cable that goes into the speedometer directly? Or does the cruise control generally plug in at the speedometer, in which case it's probably the speedometer unit that's bad. Any help on diagnosing the problem would be much appreciated!

1987 Toyota Celica GT-S
4 cylinder with double overhead cam
manual transmission
165,000 miles
fuel injection
no ABS
P/S, A/C, cruise control

Thanks.
Sincerely,
Ky

A. He's right, it is a two piece cable that meets somewhere near the fire wall. The cruise gets a signal from a Vehicle Speed Sensor in the back of the speedometer. Since the cruise is working it's getting the signal and since it's sending a signal, that means the speedometer cables are okay. So the problem is very likely a bad speedometer head.

It easy enough to check, you can disconnect the cable at the transmission and from the instrument cluster. Chuck the transmission end in a reversible drill and spin it. If the other end turns, then the cable is okay.