80 series speed senders

[Chris]

All I can say is that I have had similar problems Frank. If I don't experience them anymore with the new sender fitted then we might have a winner. But that may take some time. The CC does seem tied in to all sorts of things. I would hazard a guess that if it detects a fault then it won't set / come on. I have to switch the engine off and re start to get mine to come back on once it trips.

 

[frank rabbets]

Ah now mine works OK if the light comes on. I can be driving along out of CC with light on and the light will flicker then either go off or stay on. Sometimes I can't get the light to come on at all. I've read the workshop manual on the CC under "body electrical" . Can I understand it ????? There is an ecu under the steering wheel area. There is a little click when the green light comes on, then again off after 5 seconds. I'll get the angle grinder out and give to contacts a seeing to. Pleased I bought the speed sensor it's defo is part of the CC system.

 

[Chris]

Yes Frank as I have said several times now, I get EXACTLY the same symptoms. Once it's gone off, it WILL NOT come back on again. I get other symptoms too, but they include those you are getting.

 

[frank rabbets]

Sorry Chris.......got it now. I've cleaned the little contacts and put the old one back to see if it is just dirty contacts. They don't take much current so just a small amount of dirt will stop it working. The workshop manual tells you how to take the plug apart. I had discovered how to do this myself with the similar alternator plug but now I see it's "official". When apart you can see there is a leaf spring inside the metal box contact. I was able to get a sharp point into the front of the leaf spring and bend the spring to give a reconditioned contact. If that fails I'll change the speed sensor.

 

[Chris]

No one else fiddled with their yet?

I admire your enthusiasm Frank. Truly, but for £20 or so, I just fitted mine. If you come up trumps I will service mine and put it in the spares bucket. It's in a vulnerable place after all exposed to spray and heat etc. Plus the small dribble of oil that gets out of the box past the collar.

 

[frank rabbets]

Yes I took that tube off to have a look. The shaft has a spiral groove which I assume feeds oil back up but I did not check which way it span. I've never seen a supply spiral groove only a return one. There is also a rubber seal, but like you, a few drops of oil had got past in to the sensor. The sensor shaft runs in a bronze bush but I had no play. if my sensor turns out to be faulty I shall take it apart and see if oil has got in and also why it's failed.

It begins to worry me that Toyota may stop making parts for the 80 soon and second hand parts have usually done a good mileage.

It only took 5 minutes to take that plug apart. The one on the alternator was worse because the wire was too short to get at it with both hands.

 

[StarCruiser]

When I (unnecessarily) changed my speed sender I replaced the seal in the tube as it was past its best. Good as new for a few pence seal.

 

[frank rabbets]

Was it a Toyota seal?

 

[StarCruiser]

Good question, I think it was! In which case edit my last line to read '…a few pounds seal'.

I must admit I am not entirely sure. I seem to remember ordering it and the drive shaft to the sender (the one that comes with the sender, so I didn't need it) along with the sender from Amayama along with a load of other bits. I dare say an ordinary O ring would suffice as I think that is all it was.

 

[Towpack]

On the subject of CC problems I can't see how a faulty speed sender would prevent the CC from initially switching on (green light on) but it could certainly prevent speed setting. Looking at the diagrams in the FSM the CC appears to be quite a rudimentary belt and braces setup. It has an ECU but none of the computer controlled electronicery of modern devices. I would guess that all it does is look for inputs from numerous switches, brake pedal, handbrake,clutch, OD (if there is one) speed sensor and an input from the engine ECU. The CC ECU obviously counts the pulses from the speed sender so no pulses or infrequent pulses will cause setting problems as the ECU will see an incorrect speed or no speed at all. I'm sure I've read on here that someone (can't remember who) had CC problems with blown brake light bulbs but the CC on mine still works fine with the bulbs removed ( I tried it out of curiosity). With a CC system that won't switch on or keeps switching off I'd be looking for either a bad connection in the power supply wiring or, worst case scenario, a fault in the ECU itself. JMO

 

[Chris]

I fitted LED brake lights and my CC went nuts.

 

[frank rabbets]

When I press the switch to turn the green light on I can hear a very feint click from under the dash where the ecu is. Then there is another click after 5 seconds of turning it off. To me this means there are contacts in the ecu box which may need cleaning.

Since I cleaned the plug on the harness I have not had a faulty cc set/green light. If it does go faulty I'll clean the ecu contacts and if that does not work I'll look for other contacts and then change the speed sensor.

The green light sets OK with the speed sensor disconnected so I would think it's dirty points.

 

[Old Fox]

When I (unnecessarily) changed my speed sender I replaced the seal in the tube as it was past its best. Good as new for a few pence seal.

It would appear that i too have now replaced the speed sender unnecessarily'ish but hey ho onwards and upwards it's only money and time The morning was not a complete waste i changed the exhaust while i was under there.

 

[Old Fox]

If the odometer works but not the needle Nick, you will need to look at the speedo itself rather than the sender unit.

Mine used to 'wake up' a few hundred yards down the road until I fixed it. There's a thread on here if you need it.

Could you point me in the right direction for the thread please.

 

[Old Fox]

Could you point me in the right direction for the thread please.

I stopped being a lazy old fwart and found it myself Nice pictures and hopefully it will help me solve my speedo and rev counter needles almost acting in sync boing boing boing

 

[StarCruiser]

Hmmm, that sounds different Old Fox. The rev counter uses a different circuit to the speedo. I would be looking at what tracks are shared by the two meters and checking for a break in circuit between where they join together and where they next connect. In other words, the likely wire to be common between bit could be the earth so test across from body earth to the meter terminals (which are also the screws that hold them into the cluster) earth, and from any other commoned connections to wherever they are fed from.

 

[Old Fox]

Hmmm, that sounds different Old Fox. The rev counter uses a different circuit to the speedo. I would be looking at what tracks are shared by the two meters and checking for a break in circuit between where they join together and where they next connect. In other words, the likely wire to be common between bit could be the earth so test across from body earth to the meter terminals (which are also the screws that hold them into the cluster) earth, and from any other commoned connections to wherever they are fed from.

Spent today clearing three fallen trees from the back garden so next weekend will probably be when i start taking the dash to bits and testing thanks for the heads up. Elastictrickery isn't my strong point so the nephew will be getting draughted in to help.

 

[Old Fox]

Hmmm, that sounds different Old Fox. The rev counter uses a different circuit to the speedo. I would be looking at what tracks are shared by the two meters and checking for a break in circuit between where they join together and where they next connect. In other words, the likely wire to be common between bit could be the earth so test across from body earth to the meter terminals (which are also the screws that hold them into the cluster) earth, and from any other commoned connections to wherever they are fed from.

Just remembered the lad i bought it off had fitted a parrot hands free system to it and i'm now thinking it's because of dodgy installation of this?? cos the speedo lights keep going off

 

[StarCruiser]

Sounding more like a loose earth connection the more you post. That Parrot could be a great place to start…it may even be an ex parrot shortly.[emoji6]