I had an issue with my speedometer and odometer for a while and finally decided to replace the VSS. Reading the forum it seemed pretty obvious it was the VSS the issues I saw were:

1. The check light engine comes on after a while
2. cruise control doesn't work

I finally ordered my part and replaced it but still no luck with the speedometer and odometer working. The next thing I think it could be is the VSS is not getting a good connection from the cable. How do I test the cable to make sure the VSS is getting power?

 

A multimeter is what you need to test the actual cabling. I'll have to see if I can dig up the thread where the guy posted his testing results.

If you've reset the ECU, the CEL is gone, and cruise control now works - it's possible the odometer/speedo were/are damaged and need fixing (which is the other common problem)

 

Well after replacing the VSS I am getting the same results I was getting before I replaced it. Engine light coming on and cruise control not working which is making me think it is the VSS isn't getting the power it needs.

The weird thing is the speedometer will jump once in a while when I am at a stop light.

 

Okay. I just measured the 3 wires above and got the following results.
Orange - fluctuated ~2.5-4.8V
Yellow - 12V
Black - 3.4 Ohms

I know I need to be testing the continuity of the black wire (GND). Since I am seeing 3.4 Ohms does that mean there is an issue with that wire?

 

You may have a slightly broken ground wire that has high resistance due to only a few strands making contact. The resistance measurement you are getting depends on how far away from the connector terminal you are with the other ohmeter lead. 3.4 seems high, but that may be right if the continuity path is very long. You could try backprobing the terminal with a small paper clip (with the connector attached to the VSS) and grounding with a known good piece of wire. If this fixes it, then the ground portion of the circuit has too high a resistance and needs to be cut out and replaced.

 

Would that be the reason why sometimes I see the speedometer work and sometimes the needle goes up and down in a crazy way?

 

Quite possibly. Since the VSS is an pain to get to, the easiest thing would be to unplug the VSS and insert the backprobe into the connector unless you can get to it with it plugged in. (This is where the wire goes into the terminal and has a rubber seal that seals the wire insulation to the connector), connect a piece of wire to the probe, plug it back in to the VSS, ground the other end of the wire that you added, then jack the front end up and put it in drive to spin the trans. (make sure you hold the brake to stop the wheels before going back into Park. If you feel confident that your wiring job will stay intact while test driving it, test drive it instead. make sure that your probe is touching the actual terminal inside the connector. You can check this by checking the continuity through the probe and the ground terminal inside the connector with the connector unplugged.