Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Whats going on with the Speedometer

I have done a search but am still not sure the vehicle speed sensor is the problem. In the mornings when the car is cold (OK I am in So. Cal-it's not as cold as other places!) the speedometer does not work. However, when the car warms up, or after I shut it off and the day gets warmer and I restart the car, the speedometer will work again. I have heard there are two speed sensors, one on the firewall, and one in the tranny. Is this correct? The car is a '98 SE w/v6 and auto tranny. And of course, when the speedometer isn't working, neither is the odometer.

I NEED HELP!!!!!!

Mine was like that for a few months, then it just stopped. My fuel light would flick on and the speedometer would die.

Thats good if that odometer doesnt work then, for you at least, when you sell it will have fewer miles than it actually does.

get a veh. check engine light and see if you get any codes.. eventhough the check eng. light is not on, the trouble code for a speed sensor it stored in the computer.. that way you will know if its the cable or the VSS, vehicle speed sensor....you do have a cable on your car with a plain old fashioned dial or do you have a digital speed dial?? it digital you might have a second sensor that is located in the dash???? but if its an old type kind the cable that goes into the VSS on the transmssion delivers the cable turning into the back of the speedometer.. hope this helps.

I know this is going to sound stupid, but check your ATX fluid level. The level of the fluid will differ depending on the temp of the tranny. It might just be that you are running a little low. You should go ahead and change it while you at it, unless you have changed it recently. Then again, you can never have good enough fluid in there.

I agree on getting codes pulled, just to see. But the VSS is not all that exspensive though.

More likely a bad electrical connection, probably in dash, than VSS(Vehicle Speed Sensor) problem since you don't report any atx shift problems. Firm fist to top of dash sometimes helps in such cases, otherwise difficult to pinpoint.

There is no 2nd speed sensor on firewall and your car is equipped with an electric speedo not a cable driven one (only early '95s have cable).

Actually, My son who is driving the car is reporting poor shifting in the morning when the car is cold and the speedometer is not working. So this leads me to believe that it MAY BE the vehicle speed sensor. The cost of the part is $36.00 from buy fordpartsonline. Does anybody know what the labor charge/ or how many hours this takes? Can I do it myself?

THANKS GUYS!!!

chuck i use to have a 97 tour GL ATX and in the mornings my speedometer didnt work and that would mean that my transmission wouldnt shift at all. if i were you for now till you get it fixed let the car warm up for 10 mins this will help it shift better and the speedometer will work for some odd strange reason. this is what you want to do get some TRANS X in auto zone or any parts store and add that to your transmission oil you have to drive the car a certain of miles it will say on the botle or can. then you hjave to drain the transmission fluid and add new transmission fluid. hope this helps and good luck! if you have any questions im me on aim contourfreak if you have aol or send me a pm on the ceg site

Mine acts stupid sometimes when it gets cold around here. It will be reading OK then jump to over 100mph for a second. Few times it climbed to over 100 slowly (I was only going 40 at the time) then settle down. Couple of times it was a zero. At first I thought it finally cratered but when I bumped the trip Odo reset it started to work. When is wazzes out I just tap or press the reset button and it goes back to normal. I figure it's a cold solder joint in the board or a goofy mechanical glitch.