More VSS information

[gwagensteve]

I was hanging out a Suziworld the other day tgrabbing anothger 1.0 dash cluster to use to build a Vehicle Speed Sensor (VSS) into Hedgepig, and I came across some interesting tech.

Obviously, we need to sort out a VSS for Michael's Trolley Tug. Being a 1.3 sierra, the speedo/cluster has provision for a VSS, but in carby sierras it wasn't fitted.

I was aware the EFI Vitara's have the "correct" VSS in the speedo (and have done this conversion), but wasn't aware if any other suzuki had the right part in the dashboard. When I was ferreting around a suzi world I spied a cluster that had a VSS in it.

It turns out that all older swifts have the same speedo unit as a sierra and they all seem to have a VSS in them. This may have been used on carby cars to control fuel cut/egr, similar to the 5th gear switch in sierras. I grabbed a cluster from an ancient "SA" swift (no tacho) as it was "the right price"

I will confirm later if it has the same signal, but I think it will - even current jimny's use the same pulse for the VSS as the old dash mounted units from vitaras. Every suzuki I have come across also has the same speedo drive ratio - 637rev/km. Differences in "0" point and sweep take care of higher speeds, like the 200kph speedo in the baleno.

Anyway - it's a cheap and easy way to get hold of a VSS speedo for those looking at EFI conversions.

PS as an aside, Mick at Suziworld had no idea what the VSS looked like or where it's connections were, which was why Gallagags had had trouble getting Mick to find a VSS dash for him. He's aware of this now, so he should be able to help anyone else looking for a VSS to go into a Sierra dash. He's got lots of swift clusters in stock.

Hope this helps someone doing a conversion.

Steve.

[mightymouse]

Go to love "backwards compatibility"...

Another thing that surprised is that speedo cables seem to frequently use the same gearbox end fittings.
Certainly the case for Vit to Feroza and apparently Toyota etc. Worth keeping in mind if your mod needs longer or shorter cables.

[gwagensteve]

Another interesting update...

I fitted the VSS into the Sierra cluster yesterday. I'd anticipated just swapping the whole speedo unit over, but I wasn't paying attention when I chose the cluster and the SA Swift one I grabbed had no trip meter in it.

Anyway, I have discovered that there are two screws that separate the front 1/2 and the back 1/2 of the speedo drive unit. The back 1/2 contains the VSS and the front 1/2 has the odometer/trip meter, so now the speedo is made up of SA swift drive unit, WT sierra odometer/trip meter and baleno face.

The SA swift VSS does use the same signal as the later vitaras etc.

Yes, after all that, the speedo does work It will be interesting to see with a GPS how the calibration works out though.

Yet more backwards compatibility

Steve.