dieselJon

My speedo never worked the 3 months I had this truck. Well today I got the itch to see what made it tick. What I found was not good. I unplugged the vss cable and preceded to take of the gear ratio box (big black box?). Took off the four bolts and pulled it apart. The grease was a dark brown with what seemed like water. Ok i thought, just needs tlc. So I clean it up and add new grease. Thinkin nothin about the one gear being a little too hard to turn since I got it free again. I was about to put it back on to see if it works when I thought to take out the pinion gear(?), ya know the one that is able to be unscrewed from the outside and pull out. It looks fine but before I put it back in I put the box back on it and spin the gear and looked at the output shaft on the box. Nothing!! It didnt spin. So I take off the pinion gear and look at the square input shaft of the box. It was BROKE!!! Look at the pinion output and where the shaft went in, the other half was there but everything above that was rounded out. Called my local Dodge dealer and they said the pinion gear was not made anymore and the box was made by another company. They located a pinion gear for $75 in MO, not including shipping. Now my question is this, do I look for a junked 93 and pray it has everything or do I spend money and get it rebuilt?? I am taking the parts to a well known tranny repair guy next to my part-time bosses place (they are good friends, my boss is a machinist) to see what he says. Any ideas anyone??

dieseljon

wannadiesel

If you need it quick, bite the bullet and buy the parts you need.

dieselJon

thats the problem. I can only get one out of 2 parts...I know through a friend at work, a 1st gen that got backed into by a combine. I will talk to him tomorrow.

dieselJon

Well I got it to work. I took it to the tranny repair tech. He look at it and got the pinion working. BUT the reducer still needed to be replaced. Told me to go to a certain boneyard near here. I got there and they said they dont do that stuff. So I proceded to ask them about a new driver side door. Told them it was a 93 but also check 91-93 years. He told me they didnt have any truck like mine. So as I drive out of there I turn my head and what do I see but a 250 WITH a good door! Needless to say I will not go there again. SO I went to my favorite auto parts store for stuff to do an oil change (Anything but Fram). I ask them about the part and they told me to go to another tranny tech. So I did and he looked at the reducer and said that he didnt have anything but to try this. Pop the VSS sensor right on the pinion gear. He said the reason was dodge try to fine tune every single model and made reducers for every model. he said some didnt need it. So I did what he told and the speedo is maybe +2-4 than what it reads. So now I have a good reason to buy bigger tires! Thanks Dave for your insight

dieseljon

ppiggppenn

Glad to hear it went well, ...if you ever break that little shaft you can mill one out of an Allen key, cut to length and square off one end. I'd LOVE to buy one made perfectly straight and all but can't source one out around here, ...

dieselJon

I cant get that shaft out. Is there a trick to it?? Also I have a part-time job as a machinist so I can get it perfect within .002+- of an inch. thanks for all your input.

dieseljon

robwil

Hello DieselJon,

I was at a speedo shop in Colorado Springs today regarding the speedo in my W250. While I was in the shop I learned that the square shaft in the little gear box is replacable. In fact the shop (Speedometer Service Company) can build new gearboxes at what ever ratio you need for $60-$70. Also they can repair them. I think he said that the square drive just pulls out, but I'm not certain. He did say that they do not do anything with the VSS or pinion drives. Hope this helps.

Chrisreyn

I am surprised that the dealer told you the gear reducer or pinion drive gear are unavailable..
I just purchased one through my dealers parts dept a few months ago, and have gone through 4 pinion drive gears finding the right one( average $6.00 each).....
The VSS itself is available thru NAPA for about 45$, the gear reducer for my 93 D350 with 354's was $105 through the dealer( took 3 days to get in) and the pinion gear was a yellow 30 tooth and took 4 days to get in...

the only things I haven't replaced with new parts in my whole speedo system is the output shaft worm gear( available for 65$, and the wiring harness....