Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Speedometer cable help needed badly!

The nutshell:
I believe that the shaft from my speedometer cable that goes into the vehicle speed sensor (VSS) has broken off inside the VSS. I have searched around and not found much information other than using super glue. The problem is I am not 100% sure that what I am looking at should really come out.

The long of it:
A few weeks ago, I had the wiring harness replaced on my contour, while I was on vacation. When I returned and picked up my car, it was working fine, but the speedometer cable was going crazy, vibratingup to +- 5 mph. After a day, it dies completely. I opened up my hood and saw the lower part of the cable completely shorn off, with little curly wires everywhere. I decided to fix it myself. I ordered the part, which took a couple weeks to get. Once I got the cable, I put my car on ramps, found the cable connected to the VSS, but could not get it out. A couple weeks passed by and I realized that I need to get this fixed to pass inspection this month. I finally had to remove the VSS with the cable attached, then remove the cable from the VSS. When I did this, I noticed that the old cable does not have a long shaft, like the new one. At the end of the new one, there is a nut and a brass protrusion, that looks like a pencil in a cup. The old one, however, just has a little rounded knub. I looked at the VSS and saw what I can only describe as something that looked like a tiny manhole coved in a tiny manhole. It is a round flat piece of metal in the round hole at the top of the VSS. When I turn the brass shaft of the VSS at the bottom of the VSS, it turn this top piece. I believe that this piece may have broken off from the old cable. The only problem is that the new cable does not have anything that looks like it. Regardless, I tried to take it out with tweezers and an eye-glass screw driver, but I cannot get a good hold of it (there is a tiny ammount of space between the round piece and the round hole). As I stated above, the only thing I can thing of is super glue. This makes me very nervous, using on moving, automotive parts, especially when I am not sure that that piece really is supposed to come out. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

you could go buy a new vss and see if it looks the same as the old one, and if the new one does not have the piece your old one has, or just replace it so as not to take a chance that it will break again

My speedo cable broke off in the VSS about a year ago. The end that remained in the VSS was too short to grab with tweezers or anything else. I ended up taking it to a local shop where the guy spent several hours taking part of my transmission apart so he could get to the back of the VSS and push the broken cable out. He only charged me $150 although he spent a lot more time in shop labor.

About a month later I read where someone else used either the Super Glue trick or epoxy to attach a thin shaft onto the broken cable and managed to pull it out.

I'd try the glue trick if it happens to me again. Just put a tiny amount on the end so it will not run down the VSS and be sure the broken cable end is clean of any dirt and oil before you try to glue it.

OK, I tried the super glue for about two hours last night and it did not work. I waited until the glue really stuck, but that little piece did not budge in the least and I would just pull the piece I glued onto it off. I am starting to think that piece did not break off, but is supposed to be there. I first tried a little piece of metal, then tried gluing the old cable on; neither worked. I did notice, however, that when I connected the old cable to the VSS, I could turn the shaft of the VSS when I turned the cable. Does anyone know if they made two differenty types of VSS/Speedometer cable connections for the 95 Contour ATX 6 Cylinder? (i.e. one with a 1" shaft, and one with a little knub, about 1/16") Again, any help would be appreciated.

Also, is it possible that I have the wrong cable? I have checked the part number many times, but I cannot imagine it would be the first time Ford screwed up.

My early model 95 mystique (I believe the build date was around September of 94, or something like that) has a cable with about a 1 inch shaft. I don't know of a shorter one. About halfway through the 95 model year, I believe Ford switched to an electronic speedometer, and did away with the cable all together, so I doubt that there would have been two sizes.

You have the manual vss, early production. The later one is all electronic. yes the top piece turns when you turn the bottom and is not part of your cable. The cable has the screw on nut that screws to the top of the vss and a small protrusion that pushes down into the slot in the vss and then you tighten the nut. Maybe you have a peice of the protrusion stuck in the bottom preventing you from pushing it in and secureing the nut. You may have to replace the vss if you can't get it out.

Hello All,
thank you for all of your help! This was, by far, the biggest pain in the butt that I have encountered since I have started working on my car the last couple years. The needle was, indeed, broken off inside of the VSS. I had to cut the VSS up so that I could reach in with needle nose pliers to remove the needle, but once I did, I felt the best feeling in the world, know that I had saved myself a couple hundred dollars... and it only took about fifteen hours of bloody knuckles, cramped back and arm muscles, two ruined t-shirts (oil), and more cursing than most sailors could think of in a day. It is a truly a great feeling. I will post pictures and a more detailed explaination of how I got the needle out in the next day or so, for posterity's sake.