Don - Thank you THANK YOU for your time, knowledge, effort & energy to make this video!!! Yes, this is a huge & very common issue with 1999 Subarus... practically no '98's or 2000's... but yes, a high % of '99 models. I have a '99 Legacy L wagon & the speedo/odometer has been out for years. It's an extra car in the family & not driven much at all... but I started researching this years ago. I used a shop manual back then and learned how to take everything apart, but also recently, used all the forums and vids to learn more & more. THIS VIDEO is awesome... & people really need to learn all the details (from this & other places). But in the end, the only actual repair I did, was due to this video and the 'jumper wire'. I have a friend who knows a bit about soldering... and we put in the 'jumper wire' shown in this vid from 7:37 to 8:25. And my speedo - odometer has been perfect since then, 3 months ago. I've driven about 1000 mi... including a weekend trip... daily commuting... some snow driving... & some very bumpy roads. Haha, so happy... thank you VERY much:)
@@DonTheBrit - Update: I was so excited, that simply adding the 'jumper wire' fixed the problem. Yes, I went from a non-functioning speedo/odo... to perfectly functioning (for 3 months) & that's WHY I wrote the long appreciative post :) But a few weeks after I posted, the speedo/odom became intermittent. It's working about half the time :( I'm so bummed about this. I don't know what to do. Don, you talked about 're-flowing'... I wonder if that's what I have to do. It sounds very difficult & time consuming... especially for those who aren't experienced with soldering...
I had never soldered before, but my father in law helped me out on this job and we finished it in about an hour total! The speedo is now working like a champ! Many thanks Don!
Thank you SO much for posting this video. I have hassled with an intermittent speedo on my 98 SLO for over a decade, and nobody was able to fix the problem. I used the referenced video on removing the instrument cluster for a smooth removal. I re-flowed the pin terminals, added the jumper to J8, as well as a jumper to J9, as I have a 2-wire plug. The pointer on having the pins in the plugs for re-flowing was spot-on. So far, so good. Taping the plugs up was nice advice as well. My new Weller pin-point soldering iron was paid for by the money saved on a new instrument cluster. Edit: After six months i have never had another problem with the car. Second EDIT: And almost a year in now, and never another problem. THIRD EDIT: Going on three years now, Fix is STILL working perfectly. (11/22)
I had the same problem on a 1999 Legacy SW. After several attempts to fix, it came down to this: the green wire that leads into the blue speedometer plug in the back does not connect well with the five pins on the back of the cluster. I tried the screw in the side of the female blue connector and agree it is a bad idea. I played around with this problem sporadically over 2 years. So in the end I hard wired the green wire directly to the point "J8" on the back of the cluster. Just soldered a 2 foot long piece of thin coated wire to the green wire and the J8 connection on the cluster. Easy fix.
This was a great video for me. Bought an instrument panel from a local pick a part yard that was in much better shape than mine. I installed it to find the speedometer, odometer and trip-omiter didn't work. I also noted the difference in the mileage. I didn't have to solder anything, but this video showed me how to swap the mechanisms out for the correct mileage, and now my speedometer, odometer and trip-omiter work! Thanks, for the detailed video!
Just did this like an hour ago. So far so good, but I will have to drive it around for a while to make sure it stays. Either way, thanks so much for posting. Found it very helpful.
hey! this did fix it! I was unconfident about my soldering so I went really slow and ended up having to do it 3 times because I didn't melt it down enough till the third one. Then I hit it with a contact cleaner that i bought from lowes. I did not do the red wire, but that was going to be next on my list of things to try. Good luck :) It's really not as hard as I thought when I started it.
I just got my subaru outback 1999 last week and it has the same problem. Fun fact: Most the time it doesn't work for the first couple kilometers but once the car heated up it cuts in suddenly and works. I also figured out that if you push or pull the reset button for your driven kilometers it works for the amount of time you hold the button. So it seems like it has something to do with the circuit board. I'm not feeling comfortable in soldering so any ideas what I could do?
Gonna try this myself as well, not going to reflow everything, but I will use a wire to jump the connection. I will let everyone know if it fixes the problem.
really great video.. I tried this fix on my 98 legacy sedan alas, it didnt solve the issue.. I have a check engine light with a code saying to replace the Vehicle Speed Sensor.. cruise, odometer and trip odometer are all not functioning.. were your original symptoms similar?
Hi Ian No I did not have any codes in my case. Sounds like you need to do what is says on the tin and replace the sensor or find a way of tracing the fault that is being reported there. My experience is that the issue is likely to be the sensor rather than in the wiring harness. And all 3 instruments rely on that sensor so it is all co sisters. Good luck!
thanks for the reply, yep it was the sensor, swapped it out and its running great! thanks for your documentation of this fix though, invaluable for subaru owners!@@DonTheBrit
Hi - I have had no issues with either of those systems. I suggest check and use contact cleaner on the harness connectors when you re-assemble the cluster if you are having issues. I expect those connections will go through another part of the assembly - away from the speedo mechanism.
Don - Thank you THANK YOU for your time, knowledge, effort & energy to make this video!!! Yes, this is a huge & very common issue with 1999 Subarus... practically no '98's or 2000's... but yes, a high % of '99 models. I have a '99 Legacy L wagon & the speedo/odometer has been out for years. It's an extra car in the family & not driven much at all... but I started researching this years ago. I used a shop manual back then and learned how to take everything apart, but also recently, used all the forums and vids to learn more & more. THIS VIDEO is awesome... & people really need to learn all the details (from this & other places). But in the end, the only actual repair I did, was due to this video and the 'jumper wire'. I have a friend who knows a bit about soldering... and we put in the 'jumper wire' shown in this vid from 7:37 to 8:25. And my speedo - odometer has been perfect since then, 3 months ago. I've driven about 1000 mi... including a weekend trip... daily commuting... some snow driving... & some very bumpy roads. Haha, so happy... thank you VERY much:)
You are so welcome! Very happy that it helped you out!
@@DonTheBrit - Update: I was so excited, that simply adding the 'jumper wire' fixed the problem. Yes, I went from a non-functioning speedo/odo... to perfectly functioning (for 3 months) & that's WHY I wrote the long appreciative post :) But a few weeks after I posted, the speedo/odom became intermittent. It's working about half the time :( I'm so bummed about this. I don't know what to do. Don, you talked about 're-flowing'... I wonder if that's what I have to do. It sounds very difficult & time consuming... especially for those who aren't experienced with soldering...
I had never soldered before, but my father in law helped me out on this job and we finished it in about an hour total! The speedo is now working like a champ! Many thanks Don!
Thank you SO much for posting this video. I have hassled with an intermittent speedo on my 98 SLO for over a decade, and nobody was able to fix the problem. I used the referenced video on removing the instrument cluster for a smooth removal. I re-flowed the pin terminals, added the jumper to J8, as well as a jumper to J9, as I have a 2-wire plug. The pointer on having the pins in the plugs for re-flowing was spot-on. So far, so good. Taping the plugs up was nice advice as well. My new Weller pin-point soldering iron was paid for by the money saved on a new instrument cluster. Edit: After six months i have never had another problem with the car. Second EDIT: And almost a year in now, and never another problem. THIRD EDIT: Going on three years now, Fix is STILL working perfectly. (11/22)
I soldered in the jumper and the speedo works perfectly. THANK YOU for posting this vid. 6 year vids matter :)
I had the same problem on a 1999 Legacy SW. After several attempts to fix, it came down to this: the green wire that leads into the blue speedometer plug in the back does not connect well with the five pins on the back of the cluster. I tried the screw in the side of the female blue connector and agree it is a bad idea. I played around with this problem sporadically over 2 years. So in the end I hard wired the green wire directly to the point "J8" on the back of the cluster. Just soldered a 2 foot long piece of thin coated wire to the green wire and the J8 connection on the cluster. Easy fix.
This was a great video for me. Bought an instrument panel from a local pick a part yard that was in much better shape than mine. I installed it to find the speedometer, odometer and trip-omiter didn't work. I also noted the difference in the mileage. I didn't have to solder anything, but this video showed me how to swap the mechanisms out for the correct mileage, and now my speedometer, odometer and trip-omiter work! Thanks, for the detailed video!
Just did this on a 1999 Outback... Worked like new
Great video man thank you. Yeah i seen a video where someone put a screw in and i was like naw that aint it. So glad came across this
Worked perfect that jumper wire fixed it in two solders
Thanks so much! This worked great and made me love driving my car again!
Just did this like an hour ago. So far so good, but I will have to drive it around for a while to make sure it stays. Either way, thanks so much for posting. Found it very helpful.
Did this fix it? and did you do like he did with the red wire?
hey! this did fix it! I was unconfident about my soldering so I went really slow and ended up having to do it 3 times because I didn't melt it down enough till the third one. Then I hit it with a contact cleaner that i bought from lowes. I did not do the red wire, but that was going to be next on my list of things to try. Good luck :)
It's really not as hard as I thought when I started it.
mathench thank you for the reply . I'll work on this soon
Did this without the wire and it works perfectly thank you
Very interesting, need to try same way for fixing of the same issue.
Tanks for sharing u experience with your outback I just did mine and it works. Tanks again.
well I'm going to have try this now thanks for the video
Very nice presentation, Im going to give it a go next week, hope to tell alls good.
Thank you this was exactly what i was looking for, and an amazing demonstration thank you.
Save yourself some troubles and take the two metal pieces off the dash cluster before taking it past the steering wheel.
Thanks for the video. Btw, the outback in that color looks awesome...
I just got my subaru outback 1999 last week and it has the same problem. Fun fact: Most the time it doesn't work for the first couple kilometers but once the car heated up it cuts in suddenly and works. I also figured out that if you push or pull the reset button for your driven kilometers it works for the amount of time you hold the button. So it seems like it has something to do with the circuit board. I'm not feeling comfortable in soldering so any ideas what I could do?
Gonna try this myself as well, not going to reflow everything, but I will use a wire to jump the connection. I will let everyone know if it fixes the problem.
Mike Turner hope it goes well for you.
really great video.. I tried this fix on my 98 legacy sedan alas, it didnt solve the issue.. I have a check engine light with a code saying to replace the Vehicle Speed Sensor.. cruise, odometer and trip odometer are all not functioning.. were your original symptoms similar?
Hi Ian
No I did not have any codes in my case. Sounds like you need to do what is says on the tin and replace the sensor or find a way of tracing the fault that is being reported there. My experience is that the issue is likely to be the sensor rather than in the wiring harness. And all 3 instruments rely on that sensor so it is all co sisters. Good luck!
thanks for the reply, yep it was the sensor, swapped it out and its running great! thanks for your documentation of this fix though, invaluable for subaru owners!@@DonTheBrit
Thanks for posting this video. I did this last Saturday, now my speedometer works fine.
thnx, had this problem on a car my gf just got. will be fixing soon #hewletpackardsolderguy
So does the gas gauge and Temp gauge stop working after this repair?
Or does it wake up after you get new gas?
Hi - I have had no issues with either of those systems. I suggest check and use contact cleaner on the harness connectors when you re-assemble the cluster if you are having issues. I expect those connections will go through another part of the assembly - away from the speedo mechanism.
Speedometer repairing I am Chahte Hain