Speed sensor P0500

I'm having a new issue with my '98 Tacoma. Friday my temp gauge started going haywire jumping to hot then back to normal almost as if the gauge was broken. I had my uncle hook up to it and the steady temp was around 197-200 yet the gauge was bouncing all over the place. As I'm driving away accelerating my truck stalls quickly and the CEL comes on. The code read P0500 which is the speed sensor. The speedometer is working fine which has me confused. Anyone else had similar problems?

 

Speed sensor works with your ABS, not your speedometer. Not a cheap part to replace, check salvage yards first.

 

Bout to start searching. I'm going to check the wires first to make sure they're not grounding out causing the problem

 

Your temp guage probably has a loose connection, I have seen a few threads with folks having the same problem as you regarding that.

 

This may be a stupid question, but how would I determine which sensor is causing the problem?

 

You could probably test with a multimeter I would imagine, if a visual inspection doesn't show anything obvious. The speed sensor is pretty easy to get to after you remove the front wheel. It's held on by one bolt if I recall correctly.

 

I was talking to my uncle who pulled the codes. He's telling me the P0500 is related to the speed sensor on the tranny housing, not related to the ABS. I don't have an ABS light showing, just the CEL. I got under the truck while I could still see and saw nothing noticeable other than the connectors looking very old. I'd hate to waste money buying the wrong part.

 

I also noticed a winding sound coming from the ECM the same morning that all this started happening. It wasn't constant but would occur every few minutes