How well do you know your car?

I have driven this Jeep Grand Wagoner for over 200 thousand miles. Me and this ride have one soul. So when the speedometer quit working, I had no problem estimating how fast we were traveling; backroads or highway, I had a handle on my speed. This went on for two months. No harm. No foul.

Recently, the engine felt a little rough. Then the transmission didn’t want to shift into high gear. I sighed the resignation sigh. Things on this car are aging and are living-out their useful life. Major engine and transmission work are a BIG DEAL on a 23 year-old struggle buggy.

Just before I left on vacation I had the transmission looked at. The issue was a $60 sensor. OUTSTANDING!

What I didn’t know was that sensor was related to the rough running engine. Replacing it got me back to high gear, but it did NOT smooth-out the engine.

That is where the speedometer enters the picture. The speedometer tells the speed sensor on the transmission what gear to shift into. The transmission interplays (through an onboard computer) with the engine’s RPMs. Without a speedometer all of these parts are guessing what to do … and they don’t seem to estimate the Jeep’s speed as well as I think I do. Over a period of weeks the sensor burns itself out while trying to lead a chorus that doesn’t know the tune.

While I was on vacation Keary at Precision Transmission Center troubleshot the problem. When he replaced the instrument cluster … everything sang-out in harmony. My 1993 Jeep now runs like it did when I first bought it. And now I know a little bit more about a ride of which I thought I knew everything.