Hopefully this is the second picture of the back of the speedo and the 5-screws that hold in the speedo

 

Pic of area that needs to soldered

 

Good stuff!

A few comments:

A non-working cruise control can be caused by problems other than a speed sensor. In my son's '99, it was a cracked vacuum hose. Simple, cheap fix. Don't go for the speed sensors first!

The speedometer in my son's '99 was working intermittantly, a clear indication of an electrical issue. He removed the speedo as above, and re-flowed the solder on some questionable joints. It worked more often, but still cut out at times. He then re-flowed every single solder joint on the device, and it has been fine ever since (almost a year now).

I've had problems with solder joints on several vehicles, so the issue is not limited to any one brand, and even expensive brands are not immune. I saved my brother a huge pile of cash by fixing bad solder joints in the climate control unit of his Mercedes-Benz.

 

Pic of area that needs to soldered

Can you describe what, specifically in this photo, was lacking solder or needed fixing?

-Blake

 

Perhaps Doogalbob or ron917 will be able to answer specifically. In my view, I would suspect one of the five joints to the connector, and particular any that actually connects to the speedometer itself. This would be very likely the problem if jiggling the connector, as in the linked thread in your other post (http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=23650&highlight=speedometer) causes the speedo to work and not work depending on the position. Then again, as you also have the CEL light on, this might not be the problem at all, as driveby noted.

ron917's son's approach -- redo all the joints is what I would do as well once I was there. His addition of the jumper wire due to the doubtful trace is also a very good approach. All very simple if you're good with soldering.

 

kudos, doogalbob...

just applied your fix to a '99 with an intermittent speedo. So far so good. I also decided to combine your jumper-wire fix with the "(something)411" guys youtube vid presenting a 'jam-screw' solution to the speedo problem (I think his link is somewhere around here). I figure as long as you've got the beast apart why not apply all available remedies.
However, in spite of forcing nothing in the R&R of the cluster, I seem to have somehow shorted the running light circuit. Now they remain on even with the ignition off and key removed! Tomorrow I will commence the hunt, but if anybody has experienced this problem in relation to the Speedo fix I would greatly appreciate any insight. I will report back after I isolate the bugger.
Thanks Again, DoogalBob, for your clear and generous guidance on the Speedo repair!!!

 

kudos, doogalbob...

just applied your fix to a '99 with an intermittent speedo. So far so good. I also decided to combine your jumper-wire fix with the "(something)411" guys youtube vid presenting a 'jam-screw' solution to the speedo problem (I think his link is somewhere around here). I figure as long as you've got the beast apart why not apply all available remedies.
However, in spite of forcing nothing in the R&R of the cluster, I seem to have somehow shorted the running light circuit. Now they remain on even with the ignition off and key removed! Tomorrow I will commence the hunt, but if anybody has experienced this problem in relation to the Speedo fix I would greatly appreciate any insight. I will report back after I isolate the bugger.
Thanks Again, DoogalBob, for your clear and generous guidance on the Speedo repair!!!

I downloaded a speedometer app for my iPhone that keeps gps coordinates, plays my Apple Music through it, and has a head up display mode, as well as an extremely accurate speedometer that you can set to alert if you are speeding. So far it seems way easier than the repair suggestions. Lol

 

What exactly do you mean by "running light". If that means the parking lights/clearance lights on the outside of the car, but not the interior instrument panel lights, then it's likely the Parking Light switch on the top of the steering column was inadavertently switched on when the speedo assembly was removed. This would leave the exterior lights on even when the key is out.

 

Rule #1 in Public Speaking...

"Make Sure Your Fly is Zipped!"
Yes, I inadvertently flipped the 'parking' light switch. Duh.
Thanks!

 

Just wanted to add these pics for those that haven't done this yet:


IMAGE HOSTING - ImageHosting.gr::Subaru Legacy 1999 speedo problem gallery

 

Sweet, I am going to try that today and let you know how it works for me.

 

That did it!
First time in months I haven't had to keep a conversion map in my head to calculate my speed by gear/rpm...

Saved me $80 for a used one or way more than that for a new one.

 

vehix 411 youtube link.....it works

 

Thanks for this, guys! Never had trouble with it before this week, but my speedometer cut out four times yesterday... so out it comes!
While I have the cluster open, is there any chance of a fix for the low-gas light, too?

 

I know this thread has been dead for a little bit but I figured I'd share my apparent success. I too soldered a jumper wire to the old circuit. I only did it today but so far it seems to have solved my problem. I'll update you guys if anything changes.

Out of all of the different methods, this is the only one that has seemed to work. It's very simple and easy enough to do on your own. Worth giving it a shot. Even if you have to buy the soldering tools, it's cheaper than taking it to a shop. Just make sure you buy CONDUCTIVE solder. Not all solder is conductive and I've seen people make this mistake before.

Edit: 2 days later and it's working without fail. This has been the only solution to work so far for me.

 

the real fix

I've had 3 of these speedometers go intermittent. I own two 99 legacy's. I bought both used with intermittent speedos. The first time I spent $200 for a new speedo, when changing it, I saw that it was just a bad solder joint on the board, but put the new one in anyway. The 2nd car, I looked for the problem, and found the bad solder joint in the same place, and fixed it. The 3rd failure, was actually the new speedometer I bought for the 1st car. It was now 6 years old. It failed in the same location.

Doogalbob has the right idea, but is doing more than needed. The vehix 411 fix, is an absolutely terrible idea. They are bending the circuit board to fix it, which might work, but might cause other issues later, such as other broken solder joints due to the extra stress. They already have the instrument cluster out, why not just re-solder it while it's out?

All you need to do is re-solder the one joint shown below(this is the same joint Doogalbob runs a wire to, but on the other side). You have to have very good eyes, but if you have the board in hand, you can actually see a hairline crack forming a circle on the solder. This hairline crack opens and closes, which is why the problem is intermittent, and not a complete failure. I showed the board to two people, and they couldn’t see the crack, so it may not be obviously unless you really can see extremely well.

Take a soldering iron, put a little solder on the tip, and touch it to the joint. 10 seconds, and you're done. Don't ever buy a new one, as it is just a short term fix. It is manufactured the same way, and will fail the same way. Subaru's sub-contractor just didn't use enought solder in the joint. The solder is so thin that it breaks easily.

 

WOO HOO!!

So glad I found this thread, and thank you so much for the great info. My wife's 1999 Outback has had an intermittent speedometer for a long time, and for the past few months it has not worked at all. We had a few mechanics look at it and the various proposed solutions were always a stupid amount of money because none of them had a clue what was wrong.

All you need to do is re-solder the one joint shown below(this is the same joint Doogalbob runs a wire to, but on the other side). You have to have very good eyes, but if you have the board in hand, you can actually see a hairline crack forming a circle on the solder. This hairline crack opens and closes, which is why the problem is intermittent, and not a complete failure. I showed the board to two people, and they couldn’t see the crack, so it may not be obviously unless you really can see extremely well.

Take a soldering iron, put a little solder on the tip, and touch it to the joint. 10 seconds, and you're done. Don't ever buy a new one, as it is just a short term fix. It is manufactured the same way, and will fail the same way. Subaru's sub-contractor just didn't use enought solder in the joint. The solder is so thin that it breaks easily.

This is what I did, just touched up the one solder joint. Under a magnifying glass I could see the crack in the solder. Put it back in and it is working. I'll see over the next few days if it is holding up and not just an intermittent working thing.

I found it a bit easier to get the instrument cluster out when I removed the top half of the cover around the steering column.

 

Real fix indeed!

I performed the "jumper" fix in original post and it worked, for a while, then speedo went back to intermittent, mostly not working. A year or so later I decided I was tired of using GPS and wanted my speedo back and visited this thread again. Thankfully chris came along and posted the real solution to the problem, no offense to Doogalbo, he/she was on the right track. Perhaps the jumper fix continues to work for some, but I can tell you from experience that it did not for me and the simple dab of solder on the point pictured above is the easy, end all fix. My speedo has not missed a beat in 2 months and I put on approx 1,400 miles/month. Thanks to everybody for the hard work, research, and trial and error.

 

btw, mine is a 99 Legacy Outback 30th Anniversary 5 sp

 

Chris_Columbia. Thank you for posting the photo. I want to try this fix ASAP and I'm a very visual person. I did the vehix411 fix and it didn't work, but gave me the courage to pull the Speedo out of my dash. I will follow Doogalbob's instructions on how to get to the circuit board. Someone else mentioned using conductive soldier. Is this all I need to know? My sister has done some soldiering and will do the actual repair and I will try to get to the circuit board. Any help would be great. Thanks, lauroge

 

Real Fix, I think!

I have a 99 Subaru Outback Legacy 30th Anniversary edition with a speedometer that has worked intermittently for some time now. Cruise control works and no O2 sensor light. I have wanted to fix speedo for some time but read on different forums that replacing speedo and speed sensors didn't usually work. Tried vehix411 fix. It didn't work. Looked over this forum several times, but was confused by the wiring language and scared to do the soldering. Went ahead and tried it today. I printed the instructions and photo from Doogalbob's post to pull speedometer and prepare circuit board. I used photo from Chris Columbia and instructions from him to do the solder portion.



So far it's working. I'll repost.

Here are the instructions I followed....
from Doogalbob...


Disconnect the negative terminal of the battery. (I disconnect the battery because you should when working on electrical things, however MOST importantly so you do not trip the air bag by accident. )



Lower your steering column-lever by your left knee.


Remove Speedo/tach cluster trim ring - two screws at knee cap level and two in the arched part of the trim ring - you will enjoy having a short screw driver for these two. You will need to undo the multi-wire plugs for the cruise, rear defroster and fog lights - there is a tab on the passengers side of the plug that needs to be pushed to get it out.

Remove Speedo/tach cluster - Use a magnatized screwdriver for these. If you drop a screw it may never be seen again. 4 screws- 2 overhead and two at the base of the clear bezel.

To get the cluster out you will need to wiggle carefully a lot here. You should not need to force anything. Try to get the top leaned forward. There are three 13-16 wire plugs that will need to be removed. 2 over the tach and one over the speedo. There is a little tab/latch near the middle of each one that has to be lifted out and then you can pry them up and out. There is still one more wire plugging in to the back of the speedo - careful this is the input wire for the speedo.
Again there is a tab on one side that needs to be pushed to get it out.

I took the cluster out on the right side of the wheel. It is tight but will come out with out breaking things.

Take it to the bench and remove the two screws on top that hold down some metal connector straps. You need to carefully pry off the curved part from the back. There are a number of tabs holding the clear bezel and the black casing down. Push them in and then up.

Once that is off you can remove the 5 screws that secure the speedo.
Do not forget the screw just below the blue plug for the last wire you pulled out.
(Look at "photo of screws holding circuit board" for this part)

This is the part I used from Chris_Columbia on soldering...

All you need to do is re-solder the one joint shown below. You have to have very good eyes, but if you have the board in hand, you can actually see a hairline crack forming a circle on the solder. This hairline crack opens and closes, which is why the problem is intermittent, and not a complete failure. I showed the board to two people, and they couldn’t see the crack, so it may not be obviously unless you really can see extremely well.

Take a soldering iron, put a little solder on the tip, and touch it to the joint. 10 seconds, and you're done. Don't ever buy a new one, as it is just a short term fix. It is manufactured the same way, and will fail the same way. Subaru's sub-contractor just didn't use enought solder in the joint. The solder is so thin that it breaks easily.


see photo in Chris_Columbia post or the copy I attached to this post called, "solder spot".

Doogalbob also suggests:

Make sure you do not do extra soldering while you are in there.
Replace any lights that are not working while the thing is out. The solder job was not hard. The only advice i'd give is to make sure you don't connect the signal pin with ground.

Good luck!:29:

 

It's been a month and the speedometer has worked since the fix! Yay! Thank you chris_columbia and Doogalbob. Didn't do the jumper wire, but did the soldering from PDF that chris_columbia posted. Couldn't have done it without the straight-forward instructions on getting to the circuit board. You both rock!

 

I find this all VERY FRUSTRATING!

Why isn't Subaru accepting this speedometer cluster flaw?!? If so many owners are having the same issue and so many are fixing the problem themselves (or paying to have it fixed), isn't it clearly a problem Subaru fixes?

I unfortunately do not have the financial means to try numerous fixes in order to get my car inspected. My brother did the 'screw in the board' fix it worked at first but now it only works sometimes.

I am so saddened, frustrated and discouraged that my Subaru is not abled to pass state inspection because of this problem! I feel Subaru should fix the problem at no cost. I will be careless due to this issue that is clearly a design flaw.

 

This should be pretty easy since you know someone who has already taken the cluster out, you have free labor on what is a really easy repair. The "screw" fix is quite honestly a really desperate attempt, I would'nt waste my time.

1. it should be properly diagnosed - what if it's just the speed sensor that's failed and no the cluster?

2. do the soldering repair - or print out the online directions and have a shop do it - takes 10 minutes if you have someone wiling to remove the cluster for you (it's really easy) and just take the cluster and directions to a shop. all you need is a soldering iron, which are cheap. buy one from Harbor Freight if you have to.

3. buy a used cluster with the same miles for cheap Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market and swap it out. again - it appears you have free labor so this is no big deal. i've done this before - very easy.

Why isn't Subaru accepting this speedometer cluster flaw?!?

An encyclopedia could be written about all the various items prone to fail in various manufacturers, not just Subaru's. This happens all the time, a particular item tends to fail often in a given manufacturers vehicle, it changes by year/make/model. A company could not stay in business if they repaired every single item in a category like this unfortunately.

You can get what you want - buy a new car with warranty. Of course that's expensive, but so is what you're asking - free repairs of every "common" issue on a vehicle. All vehicles have common weak points.

 

For that matter...if you're desperate - post a thread on here and see if someone is willing to solder it for you for free - mail it to them.

You can drive the car without the instrument cluster in place (while it's being repaired) - i've done it before. It's very weird and unnerving, i imagine some people wouldn't like it, but it runs and drives fine, it's just a display.

 

Quick question:
Does the "CHECK ENGINE" light come on if only the soldering point on the speedo is the problem?
Because I have the same problem, but am thinking that it is rather the vehicle speed sensor, as I get the error codes 12, 24 and 33.

 

Tried & True

Put up with the intermittent speedo/odo for months and just did the solder repair recommended by Dooglebob/Chris_Columbia today. Two thumbs up! Couple of addenda: my '99 OBW had a security Light & connector to the left of the fog lights mentioned by Dooglebob that I was unable to undo. Manipulated the panel around over the steering wheel and just let it hang off to the left while doing the rest. Also, after unscrewing the speedo from the mount, the integrated circuit can just be lifted off the back of the speedo to assess both sides. It's just a friction fit with multiple pins holding it on. Thanks to everyone who spent their time to help the rest of us with these repairs. Much obliged.
Keltonga

 

Speedometer is intermittent. Check engine light is NOT on, cruse control never works, even when the speedometer is working (light in cruise control switch always works, but consol cruise control active light does not illuminate when attempting to engage cruise control). Is it more likely a speed sensor? If so, which one?
Thanks