Hello everybody, this is Dallas (Parker's girlfriend) and I have a question about his truck.

I know Parker is more active on 1stgen.org but it seems like that site is having problems so I thought I would post over here too. Those over at 1stgen know the situation we are in, and know that he is working all the time now and has no time to work on his truck. That is why I'm posting (he doesn't know, I'm trying to surprise him) and need help as soon as possible.

For a while his truck has been having problems with the speedometer not working which he tells me is the fault of the vss (no idea what that is, but he still tells me ) and when the speedometer goes out his overdrive doesn't work either. He has told me for a while that he is sick of the automatic and had plans in December to change it to a manual (but of course the situation we were in wouldn't warrant it) but since he realized the money involved in parts, he has just been having to deal with an automatic. He has mentioned something about a pentiometer (sp?) and how it is like a little **** you put on or near the dash and you can set when you want overdrive to come on.

My question to all of you is what exactly is this pentiometer thing and how would I hook it up? And if his VSS is out does that mean the pentiometer would like bypass it or would he need another vss too? Basically what I want to know is all the information possible on both the vss and pentiometer. Ideally I'd like to install it myself while he's working (he said it shouldn't be hard, but he knows a lot about these trucks, I don't) so I need to know absolutely everything from a completely new persons standpoint.

Thanks for any of your help,

Dallas

 

round of applause for a nice gal! he is really gonna appreciate what your doing, i know i would haha. sorry i cant help but good luck with fix, if ever he does wanna put a standard in i have a set of manual foot pedals and clutch line if he needs them.

 

Hey Dallas,

I would start here if they don't have what you need they should give you a referral..

http://www.speedometergears.com/

 

There's a member by the name of "DNRcustoms" on here that sells the Potentiometer kit ready to go with instructions.

Here's the link to buy it off his website.
http://www.dnrcustoms.com/zen2/index...roducts_id=175

Basicly a Potentiometer allows you to dial in when you want overdrive to kick in, You can make it where overdrive doesn't come on until 60mph or you can make it where it comes in at 50mph, all by turning the little ****.

It bypasses the factory "Throttle Position Sensor" which cause alot of problems with overdrive, the stupid factory sensor is the black plastic square thing dead smack on top of the injection pump under the hood. It's about $200 to replace.

The Potentiometer plugs in where the factory TPS plugs in...It basicly plugs into the factory wiring under the hood, Then runs back into the cab where you mount the control **** wherever you want. Alot of people mount the control **** in that little square peice that pops out right above the stereo NEXT to the control center (where it says "Cummins Turbo Diesel" and it has all the warning lights.). That little peice of plastic pops out, you can drill a hole in it and put the control **** right there for easy adjustment.

It should be a very easy install. I'm sure you have the mechanical ability to remove the woodgrain dash bezel, which will expose the A/C controls and the gauge cluster and all that, you can run all the Potentiometer wiring right back behind the heater control and through the firewall. The control **** will end up right where you want it next to the information center where all you have to do is make a little hole for the control **** to be fastened into (it has a nut that holds it in once you drill the hole)

The potentiomer however will not fix the Speedo issue. That is solely the VSS like he said, or the guage cluster speedometer itself.

Hope this helps and tell Parker i said hey
Brandon

 

Like brandon sid the potentiometer is an easy install and dnr customs sells a kit. However that will not overcome the problem with the vss. If you install the potentiometer it will still loose overdrive when the speedo quits. The vss is the vehicle speed sensor it is in the back of the trans on the driver side. It has 3 wires coming out of it and could just have a bad connection. If you get some dielectric grease from the parts store you can unplug the vss and clean up the connection real good then put some dielectric grease and plug it back in. That is what I did to mine and it has worked ever since. Nice thing you are doing here btw!!! Let us know if you need more help.

 

Atta girl!! Get the VSS working first as Bill said. The OD and cruise control won't work until the speedo does. The potentiometer isn't the fix. As others have explained, it simply allows you to adjust the shift point of the OD. I'm sure Parker will be happy just having the OD working properly again. The potentiometer can be added later. Maybe a birthday or Christmas present from his awesome girlfriend... wink wink .

Keep us updated!!

 

How AWESOME it would be to have a girlfriend that would do this !

Check the electrial connections first. Sometimes all that becomes loose or you have a bad connection.

Good Luck