turboZ87.300

So I've looked for this and found nothing... I have no Speedo...

Car: 87 300zx turbo
Tranny: 85 Turbo Borg Warner
Speed sensor: 87? (not cable)

I need to get it working for my trip next week... Thanks from turboZ87.300

NismoPick

The Z31 should still have a speedo cable... especially if you are using an 85 B/W T5. Check the speedo cable.

turboZ87.300

I know th B/W tranny out of the 85 used a cable, but the car (87) doesn't use a cable...
Can I put the speedo sensor in the 85 B/W tranny??? & work???

AZ-ZBum

No. You need to use the 87's original speed sensor or your dash won't work. Why it isn't working is questionable. Is everything connected?

NismoPick: no. they don't. The 87-89 models with analog dashes do not have a speedometer cable.

turboZ87.300

As far as I know, I do have the original 1987 speed sensor (came with the car) that I put in the B/W tranny. It's hard to say, I got the car with no tranny, so I had to pulled a B/W from the junk yard out of a 85 turbo, put it in the car, put the speed sensor in, and no speedo... I found a 87 auto I could pull the speed sensor from, if that might work/ help???...

AZ-ZBum

Well... The speed sensor is an electrical device that attaches to the speedometer pinion assembly. No B/W transmission came with a speed sensor. But the speedometer pinion assembly will work just fine in any manual transmission. I'm fairly certain the speed sensor itself can be swapped from auto to manuals and vice versa. I do know the pinion gear assembly will not work.

When you do get it working, the speedometer will be off since the number of teeth on the pinion gear will be different because the differential gear ratios are different between the different year turbos.

turboZ87.300

Is this at the end of the tranny, or on the rear end(diff)??? I thought I read that the 87-90 z's had a sensor on the diff...??? I'll take a look at the book...

AZ-ZBum

It's on the rear of the transmission.
You read wrong or you remember wrong.
At this point, it might be more beneficial to look at the car. Take a picture if you can.

leb85zxt

The 85 turbo with digital dash had a cable and speed sensor. The sensor is located on the passenger side near the strut.

turboZ87.300

Okay, but my car is a 87 300zx turbo with out cable, and the tranny is out of a 85 turbo with cable... ??? Soooo, I need to know if the speed sensor will work on a B/W tranny... or if I could test the sensor to see if it works, that way I could move on to the next thing... The bad thing now is I have no time to fix it as I need to pack up the house to move...

AZ-ZBum

I already answered that.