I have a 1998 2nd gen Laramie w/t 5.2 318 and 4 speed auto trans and about and month and a half ago my ABS light and parking brake light came on and stayed on. shortly after my speedometer stopped working and my odometer stopped tracking my mileage.

My check engine light come on after all this and read a P0500 Code for "VEHICLE SPEED SENSOR A" after this i ended up replacing the rwabs sensor that's right on the top of the rear diff and that did nothing. later i found out there was a second speed sensor in the driver side of the transmission. i replaced that one too, but nothing started working again. im not good with wires at all so i don't know if its a wiring issue or not. and after replacing both sensors on the truck, it still throws the P0500 code for the speed sensor A

ive been so lost on what to do, ive asked so many people and they've been no help so I'm hoping maybe someone here may possibly know of what the cause is or how to fix it. I appreciate is so much guys, thank you in advance

 

Need to see if you are getting 5 volts to the sensor on the rear diff. That one is indeed the vehicle speed sensor. It's also possible you simply got a bad sensor. Wouldn't be the first time I got a bad part right out of the box.

 

how do i test to see if the sensor is working/ getting 5 volts, can i just use a multimeter? (also thank you so much for the reply!)

 

Well, apparently, it isn't. Now you need to find out why. Check voltage back there, to see if it is even getting power. If you have a scanner that can read live data, see what the PCM thinks rear wheel speed is.... If it says 0, well, that's gonna be a problem.

 

From what I understand the sensor is a simple inductive design so the only thing you can check is resistance or continuity across it. Check at the sensor plug, then all the way at the ABS module a.k.a. CAB.

 

+1 on that, especially if it’s an aftermarket part.
Wherever possible, I use original sensors (Mopar part, or the OE manufacturer supplying Mopar)... the price difference doesn’t compare to the PitA of redoing the job a second or third time... and even if you do get one that works first off, it could be short lived.
I learned my lesson the hard was with the TPS.

 

Did you clear the code?