Over the weekend I was driving along at 60 mph in my 95 Contour.The speedometer stopped working and then the overdrive disengaged.Afterward there was harsh and irratic shifting especially from 1st to second.Also when the shifter is placed in the 1st position it is actually in second.I started to look for the problem and noticed the speedometer is electronic.I can see reason for the overdrive and shifting problems resulting from speedometer failure but what would this have to do with the incorrect gear selecton mentioned? Where is the sending unit for the speedometer located? Is there a simple cure? Could I open up the dash unit and tape the speedometer needle in the 55 mph position for a temporary cure? Just a thought. Do I need to take out a bank loan? Should I look into trading it off? My Contour has 130,000 plus miles on it.So far the only expense has been for a timing belt.
