No Speedometer & Odometer After Using Accel

[BeepBeepInMyJeepJeep]

I have a 2002 Jeep Liberty Limited that I've owned about a month now.

Tonight I set my cruise control for 65 and maintained smooth, even speed for many miles. I then hit the accel button to bump the cruise speed up to 70mph. This is where all the troubles began. Shortly after increasing the speed with the accel button, the speed wasn't being maintained smoothly anymore. The speedometer fluctuated from 65-73mph and the RPMs were fluctuating as well.

I turned off cruise control and all was smooth again, until about 5 minutes later. That's when I noticed the speedometer was reading 40mph when I know I was going at least 70mph. Then it read 0mph. Then it read 35 mph. Etc. Etc. Etc. When I turned the jeep off and back on again, it read 0mph no matter how fast I was going. That's when I noticed the odometer mileage wasn't increasing either.

I searched the forum and found a few things, which I've tried including checking for a code by holding down the trip odometer while turning the Jeep to on (not starting engine). It went through all the dash lights resetting the instrument panel, but no code was given. I drove it around a bit after resetting and the speedometer was working, kinda. When coming to a stop from about 30mph, it takes longer for it to go back down to 0mph. It was just really laggy.

The Jeep seems to be running fine, I just can't tell how fast, or how far I'm going :/

Up until using the accel button with the cruise tonight, I've never had ANY issues with the odometer and speedometer. Anyone else had this or something similar happen before?

 

[tommudd]

Check the wires and plug on the rear diff , thats where you pull the speedo from which in turn affects the cruise
Start there and see what you find

 

[Billwill]

What tommudd said...I had the same problem on my 2002 Export CRD except I do not have Cruise Control.....turned out to be a loose connection on the diff sensor.

There are known problems of the wires going to this sensor being chaffed through to the chassis somewhere or the sensor connector being bad or the sensor itself is faulty.

When I fixed the problem on my 2002 sensor connector....it took about a week of driving for the problem to clear itself.

Holding in the Odometer Trip reset button while turning ON the ignition does not pull codes....it only excercises the various LEDS and gauges which is what you saw.

For future reference on getting codes out on early model KJs this is the procedure:

Rapidly turn the ignition ON/OFF four times without starting the engine.
Leave the ignition ON after the 4th time and the Odometer should display any stored codes in sequence from the oldest....which may no longer be relevant....to the newest.

Not all types of codes are displayed and this does not clear the codes. Also this method sometimes has the habit of transposing the last two digits of the code which confuses things somewhat.

Some owners say it is 3 times or 5 times that you have to turn the ignition ON/OFF...I definitely know on my 2002 Export CRD it is 4 times but it takes a bit of practice to get the timing right!

 

[BeepBeepInMyJeepJeep]

Update: it's not throwing any codes. The strange thing is that as long as I drive under 55 mph, the spedo works fine. Once I hit 55 mph+, like clockwork it stops working, every time. If I let it sit for a while, maybe a few hours to overnight, it works fine again upon start up, until I hit higher speeds.

Could this still be a speed sensor issue?

I plan to have a friend check it in the next few days, and I've given them the tips you all have given me to this point.

 

[LibertyTC]

Inspect the wiring at the rear diff sensor as mentioned. I bet you find your problem.

 

[BeepBeepInMyJeepJeep]

I finally crawled under the Jeep and I think I've located the issue. Does this look bad to you?

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I'm pretty sure this is the frayed wiring causing my speedo to not work...it's hard to take a good picture in the dark, what do you guys think? I mainly want to make sure I'm looking in the right spot.

 

[BeepBeepInMyJeepJeep]

Here are a few more pics from a different angle

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[tommudd]

It will generally be one of two places, right at the plug OR up near the frame rail, have found them bad at both spots before. The repair comes with about 16-18 inches of wire, use it all and run it as far up as you can. My Step Fathers 05 was bad right at the frame rail and too all of the available wire. Easy to replace

 

[Billwill]

Here are a few more pics from a different angle

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Yep that is probably the problem area....adding the section of wire as tommudd states should fix that!