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I have a 1998 Contour GL 4 cyl. with automatic. As I was driving yesterday, the speedometer, odometer and fuel gauge all suddenly stopped working. The dash lights and all other electrical components seem to be OK. Anyone have any idea of what the problem could be?
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Originally posted by Big Wet Rat:
I have a 1998 Contour GL 4 cyl. with automatic. As I was driving yesterday, the speedometer, odometer and fuel gauge all suddenly stopped working. The dash lights and all other electrical components seem to be OK. Anyone have any idea of what the problem could be?
I've got a Mercury Mystique 98 with the same problem. I don't have the money yet to have this repaired.
At first when I had this problem the fuel light would turn off for no reason and the speed would drop down to zero. After a few weeks of doing this it stopped moving and the fuel light never came back on again. It also does not count miles.
I've wiggled every wire and can't find a short.
Looking at the backside of the guages the fuel light shares a connection with the guage used for the speedo and such.
At first I thought maybe this was a senser problem. However if it was the VSS we would still have a working tach or fuel light.
If I banged on top of the dash board the fuel light would start to come back. At this point however that trick no longer works for me. So my guess is that the whole cluster that controls the speed/tech/odo ect... are at fualt.
If only I knew what part to check and replace without having to buy a whole new guage just for testing. 140$:(
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If you get this problem fixed please let me know what was bad.  If I recall right there have been others in this forum with the same problem. However no one has posted what the final problem and fix was.
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Since no one ever posts a reply about a fix I'm taking the car to someone next week. And I'll be back. 
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I have had this problem in the past. A firm, open handed whack on the dash above the instrument panel worked like a charm for me. And no, my name is not Arthur Fonzarelli.
98 Silver Frost SVT
97 BMW 540I Sport, six speed
"Blue is for sky, black is for soil, and white is for simplicity, purity and hope for the future"
"A coveted car should never stunt your life, but should make it more rich and interesting."
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Originally posted by Phil Rohtla:
I have had this problem in the past. A firm, open handed whack on the dash above the instrument panel worked like a charm for me. And no, my name is not Arthur Fonzarelli.
Hmmm.. need a little more this time than a monkey with set of metric hammers. 
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Hello,
This problem has plagued me for many months. I have a 98 Mondeo wagon which has done 320000kms. I would be hurtling down the motorway and speedo would collapse to the closest end-peg, and fuel gauge would stop moving. As I have a 110km commute each way I have had lots of time to watch this.
The firm flat hand did not help me at all. The local Ford grease monkey told me that I had to have the car in gear and get the RPM to above 5500 and all would be sorted. This only worked once for me, second time nothing, apart from lots of noise :-)
Eventually the fuel pump died (while I was out the country) and other-half took the car into our local (non-ford affiliated) expert. He found instrument cluster had deceased and replaced it (2nd hand) and fuel pump (new). All OK, except fuel gauge now reads backwards and not accurately at that. (Joke around work is E=Enough and F=Finished).
Any hints would go a long way here. Expert had the car for 3 weeks while I was away and has admitted defeat on the gauge.
Chris
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Originally posted by chrisc:
Hello,
This problem has plagued me for many months. I have a 98 Mondeo wagon which has done 320000kms. I would be hurtling down the motorway and speedo would collapse to the closest end-peg, and fuel gauge would stop moving. As I have a 110km commute each way I have had lots of time to watch this.
The firm flat hand did not help me at all. The local Ford grease monkey told me that I had to have the car in gear and get the RPM to above 5500 and all would be sorted. This only worked once for me, second time nothing, apart from lots of noise :-)
Eventually the fuel pump died (while I was out the country) and other-half took the car into our local (non-ford affiliated) expert. He found instrument cluster had deceased and replaced it (2nd hand) and fuel pump (new). All OK, except fuel gauge now reads backwards and not accurately at that. (Joke around work is E=Enough and F=Finished).
Any hints would go a long way here. Expert had the car for 3 weeks while I was away and has admitted defeat on the gauge.
Chris
The fuel guage got stuck last weeks and almost ran out of gas at around 1/4 of a tank. Then when I filled it full it was stuck again at 3/4 for a while. I don't know if this is related to the guage problem. My floater might have got stuck?
I'm thinking the whole guage cluster just needs to be replaced. It's going to be a real pain in the ars taking this car to the shop when it's my only car.
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I've got her in the shop. The guy said I had a code for the Fuel sender, but it's working fine. He also said that the guages are workiing fine and there was no problems. Sigh... He told me again that there could be a engine wire harnes problem. He is going to keep it over night and check it later and see if he can get it to fail again. He didn't do anything and it just started working. 
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Sounds like a loose ground connection under the dash. Could be a loose bolt at a common ground point. Its not a short or a fuse would blow.
jeff
have you fixed your ford lately?
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