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95 SE Speedometer Not Working

M

murky024

New CEG'er
Joined
Aug 13, 2006
Messages
27
Location
State College, PA
Alright, so here is the deal. The speedo was working great for about 20 minutes and then all of a sudden I noticed it wasn't working at all. The car is shifting fine, runs fine, and minus not clocking miles on the odometer, trip, and speedo not working the car is great.

It is a 95 SE
With ABS
Build date 1/95
w/ Automatic


I recently had to put a junkyard steering knuckle on the passanger side and I couldnt get the wheel speed sensor bolted down so it is just pressed in there. (Could that be the issue?) I am going to have to drill out the knuckle and put a nut and bolt in it and I just didn't want to do this yesterday because it was late.

Again car shifts and runs fine. Tach works, gas gauge works, temp works, only speedo, trip, and odometer don't work...

TIA
 
elraido said:
VSS (vehicle speed sensor).....search it. enjoy
Click to expand...


Yeah, I was reading on that before I posted. But I thought I read that the auto wouldn't shift correctly if the VSS went...

I just wanted to post and confirm that the VSS was my problem and not a cable as I read that the early 95's had a cable....
 
1995 has a CABLE DRIVEN SPEEDO. I'm not too familiar with it, but I would think removal of the gauge cluster and inspection of the speedo could help you find your problem.
 
zorrex said:
1995 has a CABLE DRIVEN SPEEDO. I'm not too familiar with it, but I would think removal of the gauge cluster and inspection of the speedo could help you find your problem.
Click to expand...

You are only 1/2 correct sir.
EARLY '95s are cable speedo
MY '95 is electronic
 
I had this happen to mine recently. It ended up having a blown fuse under the driver's side dash. Dont know exactly what fuse it was though.
 
PacificTourG said:
I had this happen to mine recently. It ended up having a blown fuse under the driver's side dash. Dont know exactly what fuse it was though.
Click to expand...

I will go check this now... If this isn't the case, does anyone know the cut-off for using a cable vs being electric speedo? Is it the 2/95 that the parts store asked if my car was produced after?

Edit:

Alright, all the fuses are good... I am guessing my car is cable driven as it was made in 1/95 and they said about some cut-off date being 2/95... Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 
Alright, I popped the hood and yup, its a cable and I see the problem. There is a 'quick connect' looking thing on the cable just before it goes into the firewall and its broke there...

Anyone have an idea if I need the cable or what?
 
Good question, I have never heard of that happening before. I would think either Blu Fuz or Tony would have the answer on this one
 
It seems that once the clips are broke that the cable section with the broken end will have to be replaced. I also think the cable speedo was ended 2-95, from what I have read. Your searching skills are pretty awesome BTW!
 
blu_fuz said:
It seems that once the clips are broke that the cable section with the broken end will have to be replaced. I also think the cable speedo was ended 2-95, from what I have read. Your searching skills are pretty awesome BTW!
Click to expand...

Haha, thanks... In spite of my post-count I have been here a while. I think the new fourm layout is so much easier to use and search. Thanks guys for the help.
 
Lucky.

I have an early '95 v6 and in the same place as yours the cable frayed and half broke (too much of a bend there, bad design), I didn't understand the car at the time and just noticed the speedo needle flickering up and down.

When it finally broke it had put so much friction on the VSS that it broke the VSS brown gear inside the transmission, so had to replace both VSS and cable.

Mike
 
Well I got the cable and VSS out after much cussing and yelling and wishing I was dead... Well when I went to put it back together the threaded section of the VSS broke and now I need to get another one...

Ugh, this car has 3 things break for every one item I need to replace...
 
Alright, this morning before work I wanted to check to see if the cable was spinning to see what could be wrong. Well the end of the cable is spinning so that means I should be working.

Does anyone know what exactly the VSS does on the early 95's? I am curious why you would have a VSS and a cable driven speedo. I am not sure what is going on but I guess my next guess is to just hook the cable at the firewall up to a drill and see if I get anything on the gauge cluster.

Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 
I just thought I would let you all know that you should not buy a speedometer cable from Advance, or Pep-Boys or anyone that uses the Dormin part for this. My cable did not fix on the VSS because the colar on the cable wasn't wide enough. I modified the VSS to work with the cable but the sensor was short for the world after that...

I ended up buying a cable from Ford for $20 locally and saved myself a lot of trouble.

Just thought I would share...
 
murky024 said:
I just thought I would let you all know that you should not buy a speedometer cable from Advance, or Pep-Boys or anyone that uses the Dormin part for this. My cable did not fix on the VSS because the colar on the cable wasn't wide enough. I modified the VSS to work with the cable but the sensor was short for the world after that...

I ended up buying a cable from Ford for $20 locally and saved myself a lot of trouble.

Just thought I would share...
Click to expand...

thanks for the update.
 
I just fixed this on my 1995 SE....broke in the same spot. I bought a part from Schucks online for about $25 and it pops right on..mine was the lower cable which is the cheaper of the two. it is obsolete at Ford.
 
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