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Dead Speedometer

I

IRingTwyce

I ROCK at bumper cars!
Joined
Jul 1, 2003
Messages
5,221
Location
Graham, TX: a place so nice, they rob your house t
When I bought my SVT, the speedometer was dead. The assumption was a faulty VSS. So when cuda06 helped me swap out MTXs, I installed a brand new VSS thinking that would fix the problem.

Not so. So my next guess was that the speedo itself was faulty. Cuda promptly supplied me with a complete replacement instrument cluster. Its taken me about nine months, but I finally got around to swapping things out tonight. I pulled the old cluster, and swapped the replacement speedo into it. After reinstalling the original cluster with the replacement gauge, I went for a test drive. Nothing again. Crap. Thinking it might be something in the cluster itself rather than the gauge, I popped the old gauge into the replacement cluster. Still nothing. How about the replacement speedo in the replacemtent cluster? Nope. Not that either.

So what's wrong? Not the VSS. Not the speedometer. Not the instrument cluster. All the other gauges and lights in both clusters work(ed) just fine.

Any help and/or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
any CELs? its pretty easy to forget to plug in the VSS after doing a trans swap, ive done once before, and its a PITA to crawl under the car and reach up and find it on the engine wiring harness. Crawl under the car, grab the VSS on the back of the trans and find the wire leading from the vss to see if its plugged in, if not... well theres your problem.

the engine computer also promptly had a CEL poped up when the VSS wasnt plugged in, so thats another way to diagnose. You also could have a a short somewhere in the wiring leading on the main engine harness causing no signal to come from the VSS. I would start with the ladder though.
 
got a multimeter? sounds like time to shoot some wires. if both ends are good then it's got to be between :laugh:
 
Yeah, I have a multimeter. What I don't have is any idea which contacts/pins to start checking on the instrument side.

I was hoping that there might be some specific areas that might be prone to trouble (beyond what I've already checked) that I could zero in on. I guess I'm going to have to start at one end and work my way to the other. :(
 
Which harness did you twist tie? Not trying to be a buttinski, but I have a flaky speedometer and fuel gauge. Tach and cruise work fine.

Are you talking about the harness(es) behind the gauge cluster? I had no idea this problem had been discussed in this detail on these boards. I'd given up and was just going to live with it.
 
help

help

I went for a cruise today and my spedo/odo stopped working and my cruise also does not work now . After a stop and go the spedo/odo started trying to work intermittent but the car began bucking VSS:shrug: and are these available from parts store:shrug: 95 2.5 mtx non cable spedo:help:
 
royalblue said:
I went for a cruise today and my spedo/odo stopped working and my cruise also does not work now . After a stop and go the spedo/odo started trying to work intermittent but the car began bucking VSS:shrug: and are these available from parts store:shrug: 95 2.5 mtx non cable spedo:help:
Click to expand...
Yes, but you have to ask for the 1996 VSS. The late 95 uses the same as the 96 and newer electronic VSS.
 
On an ATX, the bucking would make sense, but I haven't heard of any bucking on an MTX before. I have heard of and experienced stalling during a downshift on an MTX, but once in gear, it drives just as normal.
 
Tony2005 said:
Yes, but you have to ask for the 1996 VSS. The late 95 uses the same as the 96 and newer electronic VSS.
Click to expand...
Just an update I found a broken wire at the sensor .No luck at the parts stores so I had the dealer order one not to bad I guess about 45/50 dollars I should have thought to grab one when I was at the you pull it:blackeye:
So how does it come out and what is the little tab that is riveted to the trans case:shrug::help:
CSVT1214 said:
On an ATX, the bucking would make sense, but I haven't heard of any bucking on an MTX before. I have heard of and experienced stalling during a downshift on an MTX, but once in gear, it drives just as normal.
Click to expand...
Don't know but it was sure bucking I did read in my HAYNES book that it also controls the fuel pump on over run whatever that means:shrug:
 
This should help. vehiclespeedsensor

Some instructions on removing the VSS
VSS change by unisys.

"VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor)

I had to change my VSS late this afternoon, so I thought I would walk you guys through the process on my Duratec/CD4E. It's really not all that bad, except unplugging the connector. My symptoms were pretty simple... Bouncing/in-accurate seedo and once that was bad enough, the tranny would not shift properly.

- Secure the vehicle, in the air, safely.

- Remove your air cleaner & tubing.

- Reach down, under the brake booster, and locate the VSS connector. You can actually see it better from the bottom, just no way to actually reach it from there. It will take some serious single handed twisting to disconnect this connection, but don't give up!

- From under the car, use a 5/16" wrench to remove the single bolt from the VSS retainer. * Note that this retainer looks like it is upside down, with a tab resting on the case of the tranny. Don't fret! This is normal, but be sure to replace the retainer in the same way that it was removed.

- Grasp the sensor body and lightly wiggle it out of it's location. Use gently force when wiggling, but apply steady pressure upwards. The sensor body should slide right out. Do not jerk upwards on the sensor, when removing it, or you will run the risk of gear coming off the end of the sensor. This is not a real big deal, since the gear itself is about an inch tall. Along with the added shaft that is part of the gear, the gear assy is probably around 4 inches long. You should be able to grasp it with a pair of crooked needle nose pliers, but it would be one hella tight fit!!

- Once the sensor is out of the case and you have removed the gear assy from the sensor body, use a rag to wrap around the body of the sensor base. This part of the sensor is metal, so we don't want to damage it. Use a pair of pliers and grasp the metal part of the sensor. LIGHTLY! Do Not Squeeze Hard!! Just apply a small amount of pressure here. And use a 1" wrench on the plastic part of the body and seperate the two halfs.

- At this point, you get simply reverse. But something that I should note here... There is a seal on the metal half of the sensor base. Be sure to inspect this seal closely or better yet, just replace it. Also, be sure to clean everything really good and lube everything down with CLEAN ATF before putting it all back together.

Part number of the sensor - F-F5RZ-9E371-BC (correct part number is F5RZ-9E731-AC)

Cost of part - 44.67 + tax = 47.80

Part was purchused from local Ford Dealer

Reason for sensor replacement - Notice about a week ago that when traveling over bumpy roads, that my speedometer would fluctuate +/- 5mph. Monday, of this week, it progressivly got worse (of course) and the speedo would actually stay at 0 when taking off from a stand still, as well as droping to 0 when I let off the gas. In only 60 miles of driving, on that day, it managed to toast the ATF I had in there, which only had about 5K on it. Yes, I have also changed my ATF as well."

From Autozone for VSS change
http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBr...3d801bcbad.jsp

You can also purchase the VSS from www.teamfordparts.com

F5RZ9E731AC CEG Price $28.85
Electrical - Powertrain control - Vehicle speed sensor
VEHICLE SPEED SENSOR, Contour, Mystique, 2.0L, 2.5 L, Automatic Trans., From 2/1/95 1995 - 2000
 
thanks, but that was for an axt mine is mtx :shrug: I have the basic idea but was just wondering about the items I highlighted
 
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OK I was able to finally change my vehicle speed sensor (VSS) fairly simple and so far so good (knocking on wood);) It was a little hard to get started turning but once broke free very easy, went in through the drivers side wheel well with a pair of pliers it does have a 15/16 head on it but no room for a wrench maybe a stubby or crows foot but I didn't have one :mad:
95 2.5 mtx non cable speedo part number F5RZ-9E731-AC MADE IN GERMANY:rolleyes: NOTE BROKEN WIRE
 
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