Just driven and noticed speedo wasn't working, rev counter was working. it drove ok but decided to turn back home to investigate. Ran a diagnostic mode test with gauge sweep etc, turned car over again and drove again and all back to normal. Anyone had similar??

it could be the speed sensor starting to play up or the wiring and connection to it, or it could be one of those lets play up once and get the owner worried moments that cars do only to never happen again.

Thanks, yeah thats what I thought, it worked fine travelling to work today. About 4 months ago while driving 50mph the needle dropped to zero and within few seconds returned to normal so like u say it cud be a bad connection/signal. Will have to keep eye on it. Car seems to drive as normal, have read other posts where engine has cut out, hopefully wont happen to me! Part looks cheap enough to buy but looks a bugger to replace ,notably the removal of a pin. Dont even know where its located to be honest? Maybe underneath battery?

I had the pleasure of the VSS packing up on my MK1 and it was intermittent at first and got gradually worse until it would cause a loss of power and stalling too.

On the MK1 the VSS was on the top of the gearbox housing so i'd hazzard a guess that it's the same on later models.

I have seen listed an ABS speed sensor which is on the wheel but not sure if this the same thing as a VSS.

well......3 weeks on and the speedo stopped working again today and Odometer displayed _ _ _ _ _ _ _

not sure if related but after about 5 miles and turning right around a roundabout in 3^rd gear the speedo and odo started working again!

I know the VSS sensor is located in the gear box- It’s been very wet and damp recently so maybe could be causing a bad signal to sensor. Going to get mechanic to look at it -

Also when the speedo and odo are not working the Rev counter and all other dash symbols work fine on cluster – therefore hopefully its a bad sensor and not faulty cluster!

By the way when I perform the dash trick the dials only flicker slightly and don’t sweep right and then back left like they do on my focus mk2.5 (this has always been the case with my fiesta not just recent)– is this correct?

You should get a full sweep.

I'd say VSS.

May also be worth checking the back of the dash unit for condensation too seeing as it's happening when wet.

Thanks stoney, is the instrument cluster easy to remove do you know please? Also just been out and done the dash trick and its displaying dtc E197 & E200, Followed by dtc "none" I dont think these are fault codes! I have googled this and says something about invalid speed & odometer data.

Definitely VSS

Removal of the instrument cluster is easy. Grab the pod that they sit in and pull it up and back towards you. It'll come out really easily.

Then the speedo unit is held in by two philips head screws at the top. Undo that and lift the speed unit out, simples!

The VSS is at the back of the gearbox. If you look down the back of the engine where the gearbox meets the engine, you'll see the 2/3 wires going to the VSS (normally protected by foil insulation)

The pin goes in from the drivers wheel side (so obviously comes out towards the drivers wheel. It's an absolute sh*tter to get out because the retaining clip will break off and the pin is usially left stuck in the hole with a tiny bit sticking out to grab with mole grips. I bruised the hell out of my right hand/arm/biceps trying to wiggle the damn thing out with a pair of mini mole grips.

The ABS speed sensor is on the wheel, but only on models with ABS (obviously). 'Tis different to the non ABS VSS...