hi folks,

i recently bought a focus 1999 1.4lx 16v for my daughter. after a few days the speedometer, rev gauge, petrol gauge all started flapping from low to high while out driving, the trip milege clock also reset at zero. i am hoping its something easy to sort out .

please help THANKS

It will more than likely need a new VSS (vehicle speed sensor). It can be a PITA to remove though if planning on changing yourself. The part is cheap enough from ford about £30 in your money. Don't waste money on plugging in code scanners etc.

It will more than likely need a new VSS (vehicle speed sensor). It can be a PITA to remove though if planning on changing yourself. The part is cheap enough from ford about £30 in your money. Don't waste money on plugging in code scanners etc.

thanks for the info, she tells me this morning it has not happened for 2 days. it only happens for about 5 seconds and stops is this normal and do you think it will get worse or is it dangerous

thanks for the info, she tells me this morning it has not happened for 2 days. it only happens for about 5 seconds and stops is this normal and do you think it will get worse or is it dangerous

thats not the vss that will cause the speedo to drop and pick up what you have is the dials are going into diagnostic mode most likely culprit is the car has the wrong battery must be silver calcium lead calcium battery not a lead acid battery if its lead acid its being overcharged likely has a faulty cell in it the correct battery will solve the issue any garage will likely test it for freeif the battery checks out okay then ide go for the vss sensor but its usually the battery

thats not the vss that will cause the speedo to drop and pick up what you have is the dials are going into diagnostic mode most likely culprit is the car has the wrong battery must be silver calcium lead calcium battery not a lead acid battery if its lead acid its being overcharged likely has a faulty cell in it the correct battery will solve the issue any garage will likely test it for freeif the battery checks out okay then ide go for the vss sensor but its usually the battery

i think i will head to the garage.

Thanks for your knowledge

speed sensor, mine was exactly the same a few weeks ago.. mines a 1.8 but still the same problem, before it was fixed the problem did get worse.. the car started to cut out..

once new speed sensor though it was perfect and all those problems stopped

We had a similar problem in our 1.4CL. It was just the speedo and mileage counter that would reset. Initially it was only for a short time but after a year it was pretty much every journey. I learned how to tell the speed from the rev counter and what gear I was in!

I changed the VSS myself and I'll second the previous poster that it was a PITA to get out. Fixed all the problems and the car drives a lot better now, although I did change the spark plugs at the same time so that may be the reason for the improved performance!