I have a question. What was the year the the Camaro actually went to an electronic speedo, meaning no cable??? I was under the gauge cluster today having a look-see, and low and behold, I have this black cable running from the back of the speedometer down to the firewall and out of the passenger compartment. i thought they went to electric speedo and VSS in '87. Maybe I'm wrong, but man, I thought that was weird.

 

I think, and i could be wrong, that the camaro got the electric speedo a couple years later than the firebird.

I believe the firebird got it in 87, and the camaro in 89-90.

Can anyone verify that?

 

My 1985 Firebird has the cable & VSS for the torque convertor lock up feature.
When I have the chance, I'm getting a new speedo cable. I heard it's very difficult to clear out the wrong grease I use & then relube with White Grease.

 

yeah, it might be the firebird that i heard of having it in '87. i have a speedo cable and VSS as well, but i think my VSS is used mainly for the cruise control and for computer diagnostics. i know when my throttle spring went bad and the plate wouldn't close all the way by itself, the computer threw the VSS code to say that idle was high without VSS signal.

 

I have an 87 an I have electronic guages. 87 was the changer over for Birds, although some early 87 models may have still had the mechanical guages.

 

My 88 TBI car I *think* came with VSS stock.. tis the only way I can explain the VSS connector hanging in the transmission tunnel. Cable now, though.. *shrug*

 

I took my gauges out yesterday and had to disconnect the speedometer cable, the car is an 89 RS. is it possible to upgrade to electronic? would a 91-92 gauge cluster fit and work in an 89?

 

yes it is possible to switch to the electronic speedo, there is also a tech article on this site about doing the swap. I've got a 140mph speedo from a T/A i'm thinking of swapping in, although in the future a 4th gen dash swap is in the works, so i don't know which'll be more worth the effort. Change now, and change again later, or wait now, and change later...plus i could sell that 140mph speedo for some good cash (kinda rare) and use that to help on the dash project.

 

hey, I'm doing a 4th gen swap too, not dash though I will be putting in a cluster gausge from an 88 Bird, full VSS on it. Gonna be fun matching up the back connectors, but you gotta do what you gotta do.