First off, I'd like to say Hi and that I appreciate this board SO much. I've learned a LOT about my new (old) truck and that so far I love my Cummins! You guys all seem so awesome and helpful.

Ok, I've been reading every speedometer/odometer/OD problem I can find on here. So far some are pretty close to what I'm experiencing, but none are exact and I'm getting pretty frustrated with this. Bought the truck 3 weeks ago, it had a rear main seal leak (fixed), stopped up Condenser on the Air (fixed with the howto), and needed filters and such (all done). The only other real problems the truck has are these:

Odometer hasn't worked for like 40,000 miles, and not at ALL since I got the truck.
Cruise had a blown fuse which I replaced, and it still does nothing at all...broken so far.
The Speedometer WORKS about 70% of the time, and DOESN'T jump around, BUT, it goes dead...sometimes for like 20 minutes, sometimes for a few hours, then (usually, but not always after shutdown and re-start) comes back to life and works fine again for a while. As I said, sometimes it comes back on while driving, but more often after shutdown and re-start.
When the speedo goes, and ONLY when the speedo goes, the OD goes with it. Absolutely no overdrive, and then as soon as the speedo is back, the OD is back fine and dandy.

Now, the previous owner changed the dash (not sure if they meant the WHOLE dash or just the instruments, or just some part, since the lady said her BF punched it [assume passenger side here] and "messed it up") and so they assume it to be the problem, but from my readings, it seems the speedo cluster is still the same since it's stopped at the last known milage. SO FAR, I'm assuming if it works FINE most times, it isn't the speedo itself and is probably the Speed Sensor. What has me confuzigated is that the odometer doesn't work while the speedometer DOES, and the CRUISE is the same. I would figure that when the speedo is fine, the cruise and odometer would be working as well. Not sure how these problems are interlinked or not and wonder what folks here would recommend?

I'm assuming the first recommendation would be the speed sensor on the transmission (Automagic Trans)?

How does the one on the pumpkin relate here?

How does he PCM relate?

I've also heard the buttons on the steering column for the cruise can wear out pretty easily, true?

Anyway, I appreciate any help in advance, and mostly where I'm scratching my head (well, the whole thing is a bit of a puzzle for me) is the odometer not working even when the speedometer is running fine.

James

1992 D350 Dually, Automatic.

 

You have at least two problems. A speedo shop can get the odometer working again, that's a problem within the speedometer itself.

The most common problem with the VSS (the reason the speedo and OD keep dropping out) is a stripped drive hex on the VSS drive.

Not sure on the cruise, not many of these trucks had factory cruise so not a lot of info floating around for me to absorb.

 

So not the actual VSS, but the little gearbox thingy. Do I need a new one, or can something useful actually be fudged to make it work?

James