Hi all
I’ve got a 2003 1400 LX Zetec and the speedo has been on the blink for about 3 years (stopped working for a few miles then came back).  Everything else in the inst cluster’s been fine.  It just gave up completely a couple of days ago, so I’ve just replaced the sensor (VSS - 1087548) but still no joy.  This is a non-ABS model and I don’t seem to have had any knock-ons with performance.
Not really sure what to do next.

I’m guessing there might be a break in one of the 3 wires that goes from the sensor connector to the harness, so I’m wondering what the next step is.
Do I go to the back of the instrument cluster (as in picture), find the same colour wires as the ones on the sensor connector and check I get a good resistance reading on all of them with a multi meter as a starting point?.  Anyone know what else might be going on or how to sort this?

Thanks a lot

I have the same issue in my 2004 Fiesta, bought a used inst. cluster and now my car wont start.....funny story

Ouch!  Mate, I wouldn't know where to start.  Hoping mine won't need a new set of clocks.

You could send your cluster to a company for diagnostics,-

http://www.clusterrepairsuk.co.uk/repair/make/ford?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=ford%20focus%20dash%20repair&utm_content=Ford&utm_campaign=CRManufacturerKeywords

As regards to non-starting after a cluster swap- the cluster forms part of the immobiliser system, you will need the cluster programming to the ecu & key chip.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

Thanks Stoney, good tip if it comes to a replacement cluster (useful for Dr Z3RO though).  I was just wondering if anyone knows if the 3 VSS wires run to the cluster so that I can test for continuity, or wondering if this should even be the test that's next on the list.  I'm more of a "clean the points and replace the condenser" guy than CAN busses and ECUs.  I bought an ODBC to USB cable and got some free software but have only used it once in 5 years.  I'd rather get involved and learn from this than take it to a garage, although I'm open to advice...anyone?

Dan62, thanks for the message.  As mentioned (which I didn't at the start) both the speedo and the odometer arent working, with the odo showing - - - - - - - -

Dan has been a legend guiding me on the sensor cable route.  The sensor seems to have a good feed and good earth but I need to get to the PCM connector pins to check continuity between the sensor signal pin and the PCM's pin M18 (where it lands up).  I've drilled out the head of the retaining bolt, but am unsure about how much more drilling I need to do.  I have the bolt head off, so can I now separate the connector, or do I need to keep drilling to get down to the shank of the bolt to remove whatever retains the body of the connector?  Pictures attached.

Cheers

It’s been a while, as I've had loads on, but just to wrap this post up in case anyone has the same issue...  Bought two cobalt drill bits, one as a pilot (3mm), the other 5mm, just less than the bolt’s diameter (6mm) to drill it out.  I found that keeping the drill central was a challenge, constantly re-correcting the drill angle after wandering off-centre.  I kept drilling down and eventually drilled through the remaining bit of shear bolt shank to allow connector removal.  With lots of re-checking and sweating, mission accomplished.  Drilled out bolt - pic.

Checked all VSS wires inc earth through connectors back to the ECU (invaluable diagrams supplied by Dan to guide).  All connections were 100% “0” ohms.

Although I’d swapped in a spanking new VSS, I tested this replacement VSS in circuit, in situ, while turning the offside wheel (the shaft the VSS is on) and found it was working OK, showing about 0-10V (depending on wheel revolution position) between the black/orange (common earth) and the white/blue (signal).  That is, while looking down into the VSS connector looking at the pins, with the locating slot/retaining clip on the left, working from top to bottom GN/RD, WH/BU and BK/OG.

I also checked the output of the VSS on my ancient CRT scope sitting on the air filter box and the output was a nice square waveform although the camera skewed the photo- Scope - pic.

I also tested the 3 VSS sensors I had by then accrued.  This Youtube vid was brilliant as a guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DirjbUJKXE

FYI, I cut down an ATX PSU Molex 4 pin female plug from an old PC then modded it to have 3 pins to make it into a VSS connector to get the voltage readings while using the testing method above –DIY tester - pics .

I found out that not only was my original VSS OK, but so was the replacement one (a Cambiare) and the genuine Ford one I bought at great cost from Bristol Street, in case the new Cambiare one was dodgy.  So defo not the VSS then!

I’ll mention at this point, that what I didn’t post here originally was that I’d experienced about 3 of the “EAC Fail” dash messages over many years causing the car to go into limp mode.  I put this down to random ghosts in the machine as these events were so rare: - )  Well, I’ve subsequently discovered that it’s been mentioned elsewhere, that a bad coil pack can stuff the ECU, which then falsely reports this “EAC fail” message.  As it happens, I’m on my 3^rd coil pack as the first two went bad.  The last (and current) OEM coil pack being of a different design as I remember it, with different connections from the car’s original one.   FYI, I’ve had this car since 2008, so know its full history.  Anyway moving on, although it didn’t appeal…£££, I thought I should start pointing the finger at either the clocks or the ECU.

Bought a Tunnelrat USB Modified ELM327 OBD2, and downloaded ForScan which reported:

U2200-63      Invalid data for Odometer

U2197-63      Invalid data for Vehicle Speed

P0500-F0      Vehicle speed sensor input error - signal implausible or missing

P0460-60      Invalid fuel tank level message from instrument cluster

Attached comments that I sent with ECU as submission form to ecutesting.com.              

I did the instrument cluster self-test.  However, the test showed that where I expected Speedo and Tacho needles performing a full sweep (full scale deflection), the speedo needle moves from "0" to hard left, anticlockwise (into minus area).  Thought this was a bit strange.

Given the reported codes and self-test, I sent the clocks to ecutesting.com (£72) and it came back as “no fault found”.  Huh, OK, so then sent the ECU to them and it came back as “Faulty – Can be rebuilt”.  £258 later, I reinstalled the rebuilt ECU and everything was fine and dandy.  Actually, weirdly it now seems like changing down though the box is more accurate when blipping the throttle before each gear and engine seems a bit zippier.

In summary, if I had to guess, I think it went like this:

I have a feeling the early coil packs needed modding and were prone to issues.  This, and/or excessive damp was partially shorting the HT the leads probably stuffed the coils.  This in turn caused a knock-on effect where a bad coil pack/s screwed the ECU (I won’t pretend to know the technicalities of exactly how, but read about this possibility somewhere).  The ECU itself was therefore damaged which caused it to report the EAC Fail messages (in error).  Ultimately, the speedo issue was down to the ECU that had gone faulty, so culprit found.

The only outstanding thing is the P0460-60 - Invalid fuel tank level message.  Not a clue why ForScan is showing this, as the gauge works fine and I’m not the paranoid type, so will ignore it unless there’s a genius out there that could tell me WTF that’s about.

Thanks for everyone’s help on this, I’ve learnt a fair bit along the way, cheers all.

ECU Testing Ltd - Submission - 07-10-20 - PCM Test.txt