Speedo and odometer not working

[PrestonH22]

I was driving my 71 914 today and suddenly both the speedometer and odometer stopped working. Any ideas of what I can check ?

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The cable. It may have gotten unplugged from the back of the speedo, the cable may have broken, the cable may have come adrift from the angle drive on the transmission, the angle drive may have failed, or there might be something else going on inside the transmission.

--DD

[PrestonH22]

I disconnected the cable from the transmission. I put the car in gear and the angle drive isn’t spinning so I have a replacement on the way to see if this will fix it. Can I replace the angle drive without replacing trans fluid?

[Piech]

Yes, but you may get some spillage. Just plug the gaps...
...and, when was the last time it was changed? Might want to do it anyway??

[wagonicfolding]

On earlier 4Runners this problem was also caused by the ABS/Traction Control computer completely failing, and could only be fixed by replacing the $1500+ computer. I'd try replacing the VSS first.

Apparently you can also start hacking in to your wire harness to disable the ABS computer.

The VSS is the vehicle speed sensor. The wiring harness hacking would be to permanently disable the ABS and TCS modules (which will likely necessitate a call to your insurance about the now permanently disabled safety features), but should return speedometer and odometer function.