Speedo quit working 00 Ranger

[Jameson]

2000 Ford Ranger 4.0 auto 4x4 138,000

My speedometer and odometer quit working today. All other gages are working. No check engine light. I noticed the speedo not working immediately after driving up and down a 1/3 mile unplowed driveway with drifts. Shoveling was needed around the tires a few times. Also forward and back driving to compact the snow to get better traction a few times. I never had to reach under the truck with the shovel to dig out snow. So I didn't hit anything with the shovel, but of course their is plenty of snow packed in to some places on the bottom side of the truck. The only time I had to accelerate to highway speeds since the speedo quit working the truck shifted very funny. It got up to 4k rpms while shifting and I drive slow. It normally shifts much lower.

I'm not sure if it's related, but the abs light has been on for most of the past 9 months. I had a mechanic friend run the codes for it and he said, "something in the rear. Either the sensor or the wiring to it." I replaced the senser on top of the rear differential and noticed no change.

Is their anything I can check myself before bringing it in to a shop to get the speedometer and odometer working again?

Thanks

[highlife4me]

Your speed sensor went out. They are around $25 - $30 and can be changed yourself in 10 minutes or less. Look it up in the interlink and you will find detailed instructions to change it.

[blakeb]

highlife is right, simple fix

[nonteepical]

some ford speedos work off the rear differential, look for 2 wires leading into the rear of the differential. it may be cracked or broke. this happened to me on a f150, the needle would intermitently bounce up and down and then it quit working altogether and it was the wire leading into the back side of the pumpkin i just spliced it back together.

[fishfeeder]

the wires for the rear abs sensor running from the speed sensor to the frame often break. as far as the speed sensor on the trans goes they are held in by a 10 or 11 milimeter bolt.

[Jameson]

Well today, er yesterday, I drove the truck to the fishhouse and the speedo worked. A couple of days ago I moved it in the driveway to plow snow off the driveway and didn't notice the speedo working at that time. Otherwise the truck has been parked with no work done on it since the day I made this thread.

Thoughts?