After researching a bit, I thought the issue was the speed sensor. 

After hearing so many war stories about getting the blasted pin out of the sensor, I gave it a go myself thinking I might be the lucky one. Unfortunately, after breaking the clip off the pin and the plastic near the pin, I gave up.

I spoke to a mechanic to find out how much the garage he works for would charge to replace the sensor. It was a lot with no guarantees!

I explained the symptoms of the issue to him but he believed it wasn't the speed sensor at fault but the solder cluster behind the instrument panel.

The reason why he thought this was because I mentioned that I can tell at low speed without looking at the panel itself that the speedometer needle has dropped to zero, because the car starts jolting.

He explained (from what I remember and understood) that the jolting is caused by a lack of fuel and that's because the ECU isn't getting a correct reading which is because of the soldering behind the panel. If it was the speed sensor then the Focus wouldn't jolt as it has nothing to do with the distribution of the fuel.

So what happens is that (becoming more frequent now) my speedometer often drops to zero no matter what speed I'm doing, but when I'm travelling say less than 10mph, the car starts jolting until the speed is increased, then it's fine apart from not knowing how fast I'm going! Also, when the needle drops to zero the digital milometer often but not always just displays dashes. Then all of a sudden it all comes back to life and all is well again.

The mechanic said you should be able to tell if it's the panel by banging on the top of the dashboard to see if it comes back to life. I've tried it a few times but it only worked once so I'm not sure if it was just a coincidence.

I found someone online that can repair the cluster panel for about £60 but it would be nice if I could be sure it wasn't the speed sensor first.

Thanks very much and hope you can help.

13 minutes ago, Groot said:

I found someone online that can repair the cluster panel for about £60 but it would be nice if I could be sure it wasn't the speed sensor first.

No one can be sure, remotely, if that is the fault but certainly the symptoms you describe do fall in the parameters of needing an instrument cluster re-solder repair. There is a member on here who is highly thought of in such repairs...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314393033915

 

 

Thanks very much for that.

I've looked at the link and the fault seems to be prone with models from 2005, mine was manufactured in 2004.

That said, can you or anyone else confirm if it's accurate to say you would never get the jolting at low speed if it was the speed sensor?

If so, I think that would certainly be a definitive fact that it's not the speed sensor at fault.....unless they're both are faulty.

I'm going to research on how easy it is to take out the panel, I'm sure there will be no stubborn pins holding it in!

Thank you again, I really appreciate it.

@rd457 is the member for clusters.

I didn't think the Mk1's were affected, but perhaps they did change the solder for the very last Mk1s.

Road speed is used by the engine ECU to provide the correct amount of fuel to the engine, so a faulty speed sensor can cause running issues if it goes through the ECU.  On older cars (roughly pre-2000s) the sensor just went directly to the clocks so it couldn't affect engine running on those.

Right, so that means a faulty speed sensor on my Focus can affect the amount of fuel to the engine? 

The actual manufacture date of my 1.6LX is 2004.

Thanks very much.

1 hour ago, Groot said:

I've looked at the link and the fault seems to be prone with models from 2005, mine was manufactured in 2004.

There's a reason an accurate profile helps problem diagnosis...

Yes, when I joined and was more greener, I thought the manufactured date was 2005 because my VRN has 05.

Since then I found out it was 2004 and my model is an unofficial MK1.5, which makes find parts a bit frustrating and confusing!

I'll try to change it.

Thanks.

On 8/14/2025 at 1:38 PM, TomsFocus said:

@rd457 is the member for clusters.

I didn't think the Mk1's were affected, but perhaps they did change the solder for the very last Mk1s.

Road speed is used by the engine ECU to provide the correct amount of fuel to the engine, so a faulty speed sensor can cause running issues if it goes through the ECU.  On older cars (roughly pre-2000s) the sensor just went directly to the clocks so it couldn't affect engine running on those.

I'm really sorry, I know I'm being thick, but I'm still confused with which component is most likely at fault?

I went to the garage where I get my MOT done and asked a mechanic there who said it was not the speed sensor because that has nothing to do with the regulation of the fuel and if I'm not careful the engine could just cut out at a moment's notice. It's never done that but as stated previously, it does jolt at low speed while the speedo stays at zero. It's not a Ford garage and he quoted me £180 to have the instrument cluster repaired!

As a recap, my Focus is a MK1.5 manufactured in 2004. My instrument panel looks the same as a MK1 but is it only the MK2 that has this issue?

Is the only way to find out is for me to send the instrument cluster off to be repaired (seems to be the cheapest option if I take it out myself), and if that doesn't work, have the speed sensor replaced?

Thanks very much and apologies again for my thickyness.

Is your MOT tester an older guy?  Speed sensors have been used for fuelling since the late 90's.

I really don't know whether any Mk1 clusters were affected unfortunately.

@rd457 will know, and will fix your cluster more cheaply if required, but I haven't seen him online much lately.

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

Is your MOT tester an older guy?  

No, I'd say he's in his early thirties.

I've seen quite a few folks online now offering the cluster fix and as far as I can tell, none of them mention the MK1 panel.

That said and as you mentioned before, even though my panel looks like the MK1, they could've used the same solder as the MK2.

I think I'd rather prefer it was the cluster if the panel is easy to take out because I already tried taking the pin out the speed sensor. That was when I didn't know about the cluster issue.....but I failed 😞 It's stuck in there like an Alabama tik. I need to find a mechanic who can remove it at a reasonable price because it seems my MOT tester charges too much especially as I'm going against his own advice 😬

Thanks very much again for your advice.

Can you leave the plug off the speed sensor and take it for a short drive?  That should show whether it affects fuelling or not.  I'd expect it to be slower than normal, but still driveable.

If it drives exactly the same with full power then road speed will be taken from the ABS wheel sensors instead, if your car has ABS fitted.

Older cars only had a speed sensor.  Newer cars only have ABS sensors.  But an early 2000s car will often have both during the crossover period.

The MK1.5 instrument clusters did have conventional solder containing lead.

The MK1.5 instrument cluster however did suffer from corrosion of the circuit board. This usually results in warning lights being illuminated without any reason. The brake and ABS warning lights being illuminated is a well-known MK1.5 problem.

The Focus MK1.5 however only has one way communication from the PCM to the instrument cluster. An instrument cluster fault does not affect the engine in any way.


The vehicle speed sensor however is a well-known problem on the Focus MK1/MK1.5. If the speed signal (temporarily) disappears the PCM assumes that the vehicle is stationary and reduces engine power. In some cases the engine can even stall completely.

If the vehicle still has the original audio system the speed signal disappearing can often be verified by setting the speed dependent AVC (Automatic Volume Control) of the audio system to the maximum level. Once the speed signal disappears while the vehicle is moving at speed the radio volume will be reduced because of the missing signal.

Wow, thank you so much for the explanation.

Luckily, my MK1.5 doesn't suffer from any illuminated warning lights...yet 😬

30 minutes ago, JW1982 said:

The Focus MK1.5 however only has one way communication from the PCM to the instrument cluster. An instrument cluster fault does not affect the engine in any way.

That sounds like it's the speed sensor at fault and the mechanic was perhaps showing his young age 😐

I have heard about the audio connection before but mine didn't do that, that said I didn't realise I had to have used this AVC first so I'll look into that.

It's really annoying because it should be so easy and cheap to test the speed sensor by simply replacing it, if it was not for the evil pin. I couldn't even pull out sensor itself despite removing its plastic around the pin. I just can't get any leverage as it's too awkwardly positioned...for me anyway 😞 

Thank you again.

Just to give you an update.

I posted on the local community noticeboard where I live to ask if anyone knew of a very reasonably priced mechanic that could extract the evil pin.

A guy responded stating he could come round and do it for me for about £40.

He turned up in a company van that had nothing to do with the trade which made me hesitant.

I told him about the symptoms and whether it could be the instrument cluster instead, but he immediately said it would be the speed sensor because of the age of the car. He certainly knew his stuff.

Long story short, he finally got the pin out, and the sensor which was a sod as well apparently.  He said it was the worst one he's done.

I gave him £50 instead, took the car around the block afterwards, seems fine but time will tell.

Really nice chap as well, so hopefully that's one job ticked.

Next I've got a guy coming round on Saturday to give the air con a test to find out why it's not working after having it regassed at Kwik Fit so that's another £40. Then later in the afternoon it's off to Auto Glass to have the windscreen replaced for a £60 excess on the insurance.

All pretty reasonable so far 😬

Anyway, thanks for all your help with this issue I really appreciate it, and learnt a bit too 😄