Intermittent Speed Sensor Issue
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Member
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 97
Intermittent Speed Sensor Issue
Hi All! I thought I'd share a fix to a longstanding, annoying, tough to diagnose issue...
I have a 2008 Hummer H3 Alpha, 5.3L V8 A/T, 145,000km, and was having an intermittent issue with the speed sensor/ spedometer/ upshifting after a stop.
It was a random intermittent problem where after driving fine, I'd come to a stop at a traffic signal, and after acceleration from the stop, the speedometer stayed stuck at zero and transmission would not shift out of first gear. The car moved forward at a low speed (with high RPM), and the speedometer stayed stuck at zero. If the truck was pulled over and I came to a full stop, the next acceleration was fine, the speedometer worked as normal, and the truck drove as normal. The issue may or may not have happened again that trip, but never happened right after a first occurrence. The issue was been present for about 10 months, but occurred far more intermittently earlier and was noticeably more active during the hot summer months. It occured about once every 1-3 trips, often in live traffic with cars behind. No check engine lights or DTC’s were present, so it was difficult to “keep” car in trouble state as a stop “fixes” the issue.
On live diagnostic tool, when the issue occured the vehicle registerred ZERO as the speed (even when moving appx. 10-15km/h).
SPOLIER ALERT (if you don't want to read everything below: it was the SPEED SENSOR WIRING/ CONNECTOR, and the SPEED SENSOR ITSELF).
I brought it to the GM dealer, and dealt with the service manager directly. He thought it was an easy fix: replace the output vehicle speed sensor, so a new manufacturer speed sensor was installed. That didn't fix it, and in fact, only made it worse.
I thought it might have been a voltage issue, so I replaced my battery (it was due for a replacing anyways), but, no success.
So, I brought it back to the dealer and he Inspected the rear driveshaft: he checked the reluctor on output shaft and output shaft end play, all was told to be ok. So he proceeded to replace the wiring to the speed sensor: 2 new external wires for the output speed sensor were installed. This didn't fix it. So, he tried installing and programming a new TCM: this also did not fix the issue, so the old TCM was put back into the vehicle. He suggested that for the next step, the transfer case might need to be removed for further diagnostic.
But, that being a costly fix, I asked took it elsewhere and had the transmission inspected: the pan was removed, and all mechanical parts were told to be looking great. There were also no transmission codes present.
I had another GM dealer even tell me they were "sure" it was a $1400 repair to replace a snap ring on the output shaft inside the transfer case, a $5 part that would cost $1400 to replace! Another mechanic said he was "sure" it was the stepper motor in the cluster, and that was the problem!
So, I brought it back to the dealer and asked him to look at anything else electrical before going the route of the transfer case. Because the vehicle was registerring zero speed, I figured something was going on there.
He changed the harness (connector) to the speed sensor, and this still didn't fix it. At his wit's end, for "fun" he decided to take a speed sensor off a Canyon on the hoist one over and plug it in....and....miraculously, it was fine. So, he ordered another new speed sensor and put it on, and it fixed it. Been a week now and hasn't happened once.
He figured the wiring might have been bad and shorted the new replacement speed sensor, so even though he installed new wiring after initially putting that one on, the wiring/ connector may have made the first one bad. So after replacing both of those, and THEN putting on a new speed sensor, all was fixed.
He was a good guy, didn't charge me the actual diagnostic time....ran me about $500 all in all to get this fixed.
If anyone else out there is experiencing the same issue....its the SPEED SENSOR! Check/ replace the wiring and harness first, then put a new one on...if a direct replacement of the speed sensor doesnt fix your issue in the first place!
I have a 2008 Hummer H3 Alpha, 5.3L V8 A/T, 145,000km, and was having an intermittent issue with the speed sensor/ spedometer/ upshifting after a stop.
It was a random intermittent problem where after driving fine, I'd come to a stop at a traffic signal, and after acceleration from the stop, the speedometer stayed stuck at zero and transmission would not shift out of first gear. The car moved forward at a low speed (with high RPM), and the speedometer stayed stuck at zero. If the truck was pulled over and I came to a full stop, the next acceleration was fine, the speedometer worked as normal, and the truck drove as normal. The issue may or may not have happened again that trip, but never happened right after a first occurrence. The issue was been present for about 10 months, but occurred far more intermittently earlier and was noticeably more active during the hot summer months. It occured about once every 1-3 trips, often in live traffic with cars behind. No check engine lights or DTC’s were present, so it was difficult to “keep” car in trouble state as a stop “fixes” the issue.
On live diagnostic tool, when the issue occured the vehicle registerred ZERO as the speed (even when moving appx. 10-15km/h).
SPOLIER ALERT (if you don't want to read everything below: it was the SPEED SENSOR WIRING/ CONNECTOR, and the SPEED SENSOR ITSELF).
I brought it to the GM dealer, and dealt with the service manager directly. He thought it was an easy fix: replace the output vehicle speed sensor, so a new manufacturer speed sensor was installed. That didn't fix it, and in fact, only made it worse.
I thought it might have been a voltage issue, so I replaced my battery (it was due for a replacing anyways), but, no success.
So, I brought it back to the dealer and he Inspected the rear driveshaft: he checked the reluctor on output shaft and output shaft end play, all was told to be ok. So he proceeded to replace the wiring to the speed sensor: 2 new external wires for the output speed sensor were installed. This didn't fix it. So, he tried installing and programming a new TCM: this also did not fix the issue, so the old TCM was put back into the vehicle. He suggested that for the next step, the transfer case might need to be removed for further diagnostic.
But, that being a costly fix, I asked took it elsewhere and had the transmission inspected: the pan was removed, and all mechanical parts were told to be looking great. There were also no transmission codes present.
I had another GM dealer even tell me they were "sure" it was a $1400 repair to replace a snap ring on the output shaft inside the transfer case, a $5 part that would cost $1400 to replace! Another mechanic said he was "sure" it was the stepper motor in the cluster, and that was the problem!
So, I brought it back to the dealer and asked him to look at anything else electrical before going the route of the transfer case. Because the vehicle was registerring zero speed, I figured something was going on there.
He changed the harness (connector) to the speed sensor, and this still didn't fix it. At his wit's end, for "fun" he decided to take a speed sensor off a Canyon on the hoist one over and plug it in....and....miraculously, it was fine. So, he ordered another new speed sensor and put it on, and it fixed it. Been a week now and hasn't happened once.
He figured the wiring might have been bad and shorted the new replacement speed sensor, so even though he installed new wiring after initially putting that one on, the wiring/ connector may have made the first one bad. So after replacing both of those, and THEN putting on a new speed sensor, all was fixed.
He was a good guy, didn't charge me the actual diagnostic time....ran me about $500 all in all to get this fixed.
If anyone else out there is experiencing the same issue....its the SPEED SENSOR! Check/ replace the wiring and harness first, then put a new one on...if a direct replacement of the speed sensor doesnt fix your issue in the first place!
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 794
From: SoCal
-----
Glad you got it fixed and that your dealer was an upfront kinda guy. It's also possible that the first new sensor was bad right out of the box, rather than being shorted out by the wiring. While relatively rare, new parts are sometimes defective.
Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 1
Hi All! I thought I'd share a fix to a longstanding, annoying, tough to diagnose issue...
I have a 2008 Hummer H3 Alpha, 5.3L V8 A/T, 145,000km, and was having an intermittent issue with the speed sensor/ spedometer/ upshifting after a stop.
It was a random intermittent problem where after driving fine, I'd come to a stop at a traffic signal, and after acceleration from the stop, the speedometer stayed stuck at zero and transmission would not shift out of first gear. The car moved forward at a low speed (with high RPM), and the speedometer stayed stuck at zero. If the truck was pulled over and I came to a full stop, the next acceleration was fine, the speedometer worked as normal, and the truck drove as normal. The issue may or may not have happened again that trip, but never happened right after a first occurrence. The issue was been present for about 10 months, but occurred far more intermittently earlier and was noticeably more active during the hot summer months. It occured about once every 1-3 trips, often in live traffic with cars behind. No check engine lights or DTC’s were present, so it was difficult to “keep” car in trouble state as a stop “fixes” the issue.
On live diagnostic tool, when the issue occured the vehicle registerred ZERO as the speed (even when moving appx. 10-15km/h).
SPOLIER ALERT (if you don't want to read everything below: it was the SPEED SENSOR WIRING/ CONNECTOR, and the SPEED SENSOR ITSELF).
I brought it to the GM dealer, and dealt with the service manager directly. He thought it was an easy fix: replace the output vehicle speed sensor, so a new manufacturer speed sensor was installed. That didn't fix it, and in fact, only made it worse.
I thought it might have been a voltage issue, so I replaced my battery (it was due for a replacing anyways), but, no success.
So, I brought it back to the dealer and he Inspected the rear driveshaft: he checked the reluctor on output shaft and output shaft end play, all was told to be ok. So he proceeded to replace the wiring to the speed sensor: 2 new external wires for the output speed sensor were installed. This didn't fix it. So, he tried installing and programming a new TCM: this also did not fix the issue, so the old TCM was put back into the vehicle. He suggested that for the next step, the transfer case might need to be removed for further diagnostic.
But, that being a costly fix, I asked took it elsewhere and had the transmission inspected: the pan was removed, and all mechanical parts were told to be looking great. There were also no transmission codes present.
I had another GM dealer even tell me they were "sure" it was a $1400 repair to replace a snap ring on the output shaft inside the transfer case, a $5 part that would cost $1400 to replace! Another mechanic said he was "sure" it was the stepper motor in the cluster, and that was the problem!
So, I brought it back to the dealer and asked him to look at anything else electrical before going the route of the transfer case. Because the vehicle was registerring zero speed, I figured something was going on there.
He changed the harness (connector) to the speed sensor, and this still didn't fix it. At his wit's end, for "fun" he decided to take a speed sensor off a Canyon on the hoist one over and plug it in....and....miraculously, it was fine. So, he ordered another new speed sensor and put it on, and it fixed it. Been a week now and hasn't happened once.
He figured the wiring might have been bad and shorted the new replacement speed sensor, so even though he installed new wiring after initially putting that one on, the wiring/ connector may have made the first one bad. So after replacing both of those, and THEN putting on a new speed sensor, all was fixed.
He was a good guy, didn't charge me the actual diagnostic time....ran me about $500 all in all to get this fixed.
If anyone else out there is experiencing the same issue....its the SPEED SENSOR! Check/ replace the wiring and harness first, then put a new one on...if a direct replacement of the speed sensor doesnt fix your issue in the first place!
I have a 2008 Hummer H3 Alpha, 5.3L V8 A/T, 145,000km, and was having an intermittent issue with the speed sensor/ spedometer/ upshifting after a stop.
It was a random intermittent problem where after driving fine, I'd come to a stop at a traffic signal, and after acceleration from the stop, the speedometer stayed stuck at zero and transmission would not shift out of first gear. The car moved forward at a low speed (with high RPM), and the speedometer stayed stuck at zero. If the truck was pulled over and I came to a full stop, the next acceleration was fine, the speedometer worked as normal, and the truck drove as normal. The issue may or may not have happened again that trip, but never happened right after a first occurrence. The issue was been present for about 10 months, but occurred far more intermittently earlier and was noticeably more active during the hot summer months. It occured about once every 1-3 trips, often in live traffic with cars behind. No check engine lights or DTC’s were present, so it was difficult to “keep” car in trouble state as a stop “fixes” the issue.
On live diagnostic tool, when the issue occured the vehicle registerred ZERO as the speed (even when moving appx. 10-15km/h).
SPOLIER ALERT (if you don't want to read everything below: it was the SPEED SENSOR WIRING/ CONNECTOR, and the SPEED SENSOR ITSELF).
I brought it to the GM dealer, and dealt with the service manager directly. He thought it was an easy fix: replace the output vehicle speed sensor, so a new manufacturer speed sensor was installed. That didn't fix it, and in fact, only made it worse.
I thought it might have been a voltage issue, so I replaced my battery (it was due for a replacing anyways), but, no success.
So, I brought it back to the dealer and he Inspected the rear driveshaft: he checked the reluctor on output shaft and output shaft end play, all was told to be ok. So he proceeded to replace the wiring to the speed sensor: 2 new external wires for the output speed sensor were installed. This didn't fix it. So, he tried installing and programming a new TCM: this also did not fix the issue, so the old TCM was put back into the vehicle. He suggested that for the next step, the transfer case might need to be removed for further diagnostic.
But, that being a costly fix, I asked took it elsewhere and had the transmission inspected: the pan was removed, and all mechanical parts were told to be looking great. There were also no transmission codes present.
I had another GM dealer even tell me they were "sure" it was a $1400 repair to replace a snap ring on the output shaft inside the transfer case, a $5 part that would cost $1400 to replace! Another mechanic said he was "sure" it was the stepper motor in the cluster, and that was the problem!
So, I brought it back to the dealer and asked him to look at anything else electrical before going the route of the transfer case. Because the vehicle was registerring zero speed, I figured something was going on there.
He changed the harness (connector) to the speed sensor, and this still didn't fix it. At his wit's end, for "fun" he decided to take a speed sensor off a Canyon on the hoist one over and plug it in....and....miraculously, it was fine. So, he ordered another new speed sensor and put it on, and it fixed it. Been a week now and hasn't happened once.
He figured the wiring might have been bad and shorted the new replacement speed sensor, so even though he installed new wiring after initially putting that one on, the wiring/ connector may have made the first one bad. So after replacing both of those, and THEN putting on a new speed sensor, all was fixed.
He was a good guy, didn't charge me the actual diagnostic time....ran me about $500 all in all to get this fixed.
If anyone else out there is experiencing the same issue....its the SPEED SENSOR! Check/ replace the wiring and harness first, then put a new one on...if a direct replacement of the speed sensor doesnt fix your issue in the first place!
Thread Starter
|
Member
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 97
There is just one vehicle speed sensor (the output speed sensor). I got the part from GM dealer, but looking on RockAuto.com, for the 5.3L or 3.5L engine its NTK VB0037 as an aftermarket option, or 2134336 as the AC DELCO OEM replacement. Cheap, they're about $40CAD. I'd start with that, and if not, check the wiring (they ended up replacing my wiring before the sensor...waste of money, it was just the sensor).
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2021
Posts: 2
There is just one vehicle speed sensor (the output speed sensor). I got the part from GM dealer, but looking on RockAuto.com, for the 5.3L or 3.5L engine its NTK VB0037 as an aftermarket option, or 2134336 as the AC DELCO OEM replacement. Cheap, they're about $40CAD. I'd start with that, and if not, check the wiring (they ended up replacing my wiring before the sensor...waste of money, it was just the sensor).
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2021
Posts: 2
There is just one vehicle speed sensor (the output speed sensor). I got the part from GM dealer, but looking on RockAuto.com, for the 5.3L or 3.5L engine its NTK VB0037 as an aftermarket option, or 2134336 as the AC DELCO OEM replacement. Cheap, they're about $40CAD. I'd start with that, and if not, check the wiring (they ended up replacing my wiring before the sensor...waste of money, it was just the sensor).
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