While Mrs. Mini had my 98 Forester the other day, it started running rough. She shut it off, restarted, and it's been fine since, except the speedometer(and odometer) stopped working. Is there a speed sensor somewhere that powers it? I swapped out the cluster with a friends, and it still didn't work. Both of them worked fine in his car. Any ideas?
No MIL illuminated? Vehicle speed sensor, probably still in the transmission where a speedo cable would have come from in pre-electronic days.
Voltage issue? I'd check the output at the alternator, I'm fairly certain that's a semi-common symptom of a bum unit.
EDIT: Oops, read this as 'dead guage cluster', not dead speedo/odo. Belay my order, this has nothing to do with voltage, I should know better than to post when tired.
one of the five yes five speed sensors in the trans is gone. Happened to my wife's a few years back $200 at the dealer fixed it.
AT or MT? On a 98 AT the speed sensor #2 drives the speedo/odo. It is on the bell housing/passenger side near the front diff dipstick. It is an electronic unit that threads into the top of the diff case and has a 2 wire harness going to the ECU.
Use a 17mm wrench to turn the sensor out of the case. You can rig something up to spin the sensor with a drill. Or try to use a straight screwdriver into the drive slot on the diff. If you turn one direction it should push out. If you turn the other direction, you shouldn't be able to turn.
I should have mentioned it's a 5 speed. the CEL came back on, but I haven't had time to get it read yet. The CEL has been on since the headgaskets went last summer and dumped antifreeze into the cat. I reset it, dump in a can of Guaranteed To Pass and it stays out for 500-600 miles. It was throwing a code for the cat, but this time I'm expecting/hoping it shows a P500.
OK, on the 5 speed there is one speed sensor. It is actually the same speed sensor I mentioned but a little more difficult to get access to. You'll have to get under the car to access it. It is on the passenger side about the center of the trans.
Here is a pic of a 5 speed. You can see the hole where the speed sensor goes a few inches above the white plug in the middle. 
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