Or whatever the things that tell the speedometer how fast you are going are called.

Anyways, I'm assuming that they're located on the rear wheels on FWD cars, and on the front wheels of RWD cars. Correct?

Assumption #2: They work by measuring the amount of time it takes for the wheel they're on to complete a full revolution.

Anyways, I was just wondering what the speedometer would do if you locked the wheels on a RWD car (obviously without ABS).

 

The speed sensor is in the transmission. If you're just sitting there doing a burnout, it will tell you the speed of your driven wheels (how fast you would be doing if you were driving), and at the same time, the odometer will keep counting the miles you haven't driven.

 

I don't think they are ever attached to anything other than the transmission. If you lock or spin, the speedo will read what the wheels/ trans is doing. So if your going 60 and you hit say ice and lock your brakes/tires you are still moving but the speedo will read 0. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Beaten to it again.

 

Ok, that's interesting.

Next time I have to drive in the snow I'll check that out.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pete5990 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ok, that's interesting.

Next time I have to drive in the snow I'll check that out.</TD></TR></TABLE>Post pics of your crash!

 

Not going 60

 

Over the years, Honda has had the VSS in two different areas.

Early cars had the VSS in the speedometer and there was a traditional speedometer cable. The sensor was used by the ECU. If the VSS was damaged, the speedometer would still work, but the ECU wouldn't know how fast you are going.

In latter cars, the VSS was mounted on the transmission and it drives both the ECU and also the speedometer. If the VSS is damaged, both the speedometer and ECU wouldn't know how fast you are going.

In both cases, what is read is the speed of the differential within the transmission. If you are doing a burn-out, the speedometer will think you are going fast.

Wes

 

Vss= vehicle speed sensor
Some manufactuers do it differently , but they are mounted usually on the transmission. This sensor basically acts as a trigger wheel raitoed and programmed to veiw the speed of the vehicle. For the most part they use them on the final drives or further from that in the drivetrain. They can be unaccurate when you change tire or wheel size or anything further from the sensor. In motorcycles a common thing is to change sprokets to give you better accel or change your power band. Sprokets are an iteam after the vss so the sensor is not in calibration at that point and can acually have an incorrect reading on your speedometer. They use to use a cable, but now they are mostly electronic . I hope my post and the other make you understand speed sensors a bit more.

 

This means a couple of miles on your odometer are in burnouts