speedometer given up at last, been

[Dafydd Jones]

Hello. speedometer not working, water ingress has corroded the wiring block by drivers side kick panel at least one of the  white has broken off  from the white connector block probably an easy repair if you have the know how? trouble is it won't pass the MOT test without a working speedo, initially the code reader led me to believe that it was the VSS sensor on the transmission was at fault which i had my doubt , and  changing the VSS with a good used one made no difference 'just as i thought' the speedo is still dead, any suggestions os advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Bper]

Hi Dave,Since water damage has corroded the wiring block by the driver’s side kick panel,and you already swapped the VSS, so the problem likely lies in the connection between the sensor and the speedometer.

One option is to repair the broken white wire and any others that look damaged. If there’s enough slack, you could try splicing in new wire or re-soldering it back to the connector, making sure the connection is clean and free of corrosion as it could keep from making proper contact.

If you can get hold of a wiring diagram specific to the RAV4's speedometer circuit that would be helpful. You would know exactly then which wire carries the speed signal if you do not know already, so you would have a clear idea of which connections are essential.

Once you have made the repair, it would be an idea to seal the connector block and surrounding area with something waterproof, like a compound or heat shrink, to help prevent this problem from recurring.You might want to check the voltage in the repaired wire with a multimeter to make sure the speed signal is getting from the VSS to the speedometer. Since the speedometer is needed for the MOT, sorting out the wiring should hopefully solve the problem.👍