Cruise control works fine, so the VSS should be good. Gonna head to Pick a Part and see if I can grab a cluster out of that '94 SL they just got in. Maybe I can get a good speedo board out of it?

 

Bummer, someone already got the cluster. Was a 1998 next to it with the cluster, but it's far different. Oh well, take her apart again and see what's going on...

 

Literally, it took 30 minutes to remove the dash, the cluster, and disassemble it. At first, I couldn't see any burned spots, but then I unhooked the board from the speedo motor and there it is! Cap is shot, the same one the person in the other forum mentioned. I'm gonna hit a local electronics store to see if they have one, if not I'll order online. Fingers crossed!

 

It works! Got basically the same cap, but rated 50v instead of 63v. The rest were too big to fit in the space on the PCB. Soldered it in, put the cluster together, and drove the 3.3 miles I tried yesterday. It registered 3.3 up, and 3.3 back home. Now just have to put the dash back together and hope that's it for a while

 

Admire your dedication....
And thank you for keeping that your write up l-to-date and detailed for the next person who comes along.

 

Nice job indeed! Derf, you might want to sticky this entire thread. I think it could help a lot of people out.

 

I searched so many short zombie threads, most 10 -14 years old, here and elsewhere, describing the same problem after replacing the gears, but most never came back with a solution. One reply was that replacing the speedo board did it, then I found an old thread where the guy popped in years after the last response, and said this specific cap caused the problem several times on his Saturns, but no responses after that.

Maybe when the gears fail the stepper motor gets stuck, causing that cap to overheat? Obviously that cap is feeding the voltage to the odometer, so it failing would not affect the speedometer.

 

A sticky it is.

Anything else to add?
I will come back in a week or so and close it to keep inane followup questions about 2008 Vue transmissions from diluting the logical observant troubleshooting approach and what good things may come of it.

 

As far as the main issues I began with, it's all done. Drove a few more known distances today, and it's all working well. Hope it helps others down the line. I know I sure appreciate the bits and pieces left behind on the various old forum threads, and great videos like Richpin's, that all helped me!

 

I added an edit to the bottom of post number 20 of something that I forgot to document. In fact let me accentuate that you need to be very careful when removing and replacing the modules from the faceplate. I was nervous putting the tachometer board back on, and later the speedometer board, because after 25 years those plastic mounts are very easy to crack, as I found out with the odo. Might be a good idea to put a little lithium grease on the screws, and tighten them very slowly.