VSS replacement

The speedometer has never worked in my 94 RMW. Not knowing any better, I replaced the gauge cluster thinking that would fix the problem. Nope.
Jacked the car up after ordering a VSS module, thinking it'd be a matter of dropping old unit out, sticking new unit in. Up until now, the newest GM I owned had been a 73 Suburban, and swapping speedo drive gears was pretty easy.
So, what do I find when jacking up the Murder Wagon, is a crossmember big as a cookie sheet covering the entire are from pan to front yoke! Is that VSS hidden underneath that monstrosity? Is there a way to sneak past the driveshaft?
Or would it be easier to unbolt the front seat, peel the carpet back and cut a hole in the tunnel up top?
O'm doing all this in the parking lot of a skilled nursing facility, with hand tools and no electricity...grrr.

Thanks!

Jim Sorenson
"The Murder Wagon" 1994 RMW
Raymond, WA

Does the car shift through the forward gears OK?

Yes, it shifts fine. But it gave me an excuse to dig deep into the FSM and find out more about the layout of the frame and transmission. Nothing a bottle jack, a couple extensions and a BFH couldn't overcome. (A BFH Rubber mallet...)

VSS is in, speedo needle moves, now to show judge.

Jim Sorenson
1994 RMW "Murder Wagon"

91-93s have a tubular crossmember, and are easy to access. 94-96 have the huge crossmember, and it hides everything. Usually about 2 quarts of trans fluid come out when you remove the VSS.

So are you saying you replaced the VSS and now it shifts? If the VSS was bad, the trans wouldn't shift because the PCM would think you aren't moving. If the transmission shifts gears but the speedometer stays on zero, then you had a problem somewhere between the PCM and the speedometer (or the speedometer itself).

Car was parked on a downhill slope, so even with ramps on front, still nosed down. A small amount of ATF came out but fairly minor. Yeah, that crossmember was a beast.
There never was any shifting problem. The problem was always the speedometer..replaced the instrument cluster with no joy, so VSS was next step. Now the speedo seems to work. Only tested about a tenth of a mile.
Now it's fixing the HVAC...used to work, stopped working during numerous removal and re-installs of battery to recharge.I've seen something here but can't seem to find it again on resetting HVAC.

Jim Sorenson
1994 RMW "Murder Wagon"