Vehicle Speed Sensor Replacement

[HOTLNC]

Well, the wife’s been complaining that her speedometer goes nuts every once and awhile. It also shifts strange at the same time. The cruise control also is spastic when you hold your mouth right. The cheapest component ($20) to all of these problems is the VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor.)

Getting to that sensor is another thing. According to the BOOK, you have to drop the Y pipe. That means four bolts on each manifold and two bolts connecting the rest of the exhaust system to the rear plumbing. I put the car on the lift and squirted the bolts with Liquid Wrench. I’ll let it soak a few days, giving them a refresh shot every evening or so.

Hopefully, by the time I can get around to dropping that y-pipe, the bolts will be loose enough to where I’ll have at least a little skin left on my arms. <sigh>

 

[sleeper]

There's a good chance you can reach that sensor without dropping the exhaust. It's right on the tailshaft of the trans, and it connects with 1 bolt. Give it a try before dropping the exhaust.

Edit: oops, i didn't notice this was the continental section. Good luck with the y-pipe.

 

[HOTLNC]

Yeah, on her Conti, you can't even SEE it. There is a heat shield over it. And there is no way you can even touch that single bolt without the Y pipe off. Bummer.

 

[HOTLNC]

Well, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I did the speed sensor replacement last night. Yes, it was very tight for certain nuts – especially those holding the rear flange of the Y pipe to the “right” manifold. But using an 12 inch extension, gave access to even those tight nuts. I was very glad that I pre-treated the manifold nuts with Liquid Wrench. Everything was fairly loose after almost 24 hours of “soaking.” I pulled the Y pipe off without having to remove the O2 sensors.

Once the Y pipe was off, the heat shield around the speed sensor was very visible. It clips on to the speed sensor. The top and side of the transaxle case showed signs of the speed sensor allowing tranny fluid to weep past it.

It was a little difficult getting the 10mm bolt holding the speed sensor out. Thanks goodness for Gear Wrench. It was slow but I was able to loosen it enough to get the bolt out using finger pressure.

Assembly went faster. It was just a little tricky getting the y pipe back on. You have to insert the front (left) end in first and then rotate the rear (right) into place while you also feed the manifold bolts into the holes at both ends. Once in place, I had enough wiggle room to feed a nut on each stud a couple of treads. I used the lower bracket to loosely hold up the Y pipe while I jiggled the two ends into place. That was the hardest part. Once all huts were in place, I was able to tighten the lower bolt and the torque down the nuts to 20 foot-pounds, as per the BOOK.

Hopefully I guessed right. If the new speed senor does not cure the transaxle problems, we may have to make some hard decisions on wheather to keep the Conti or not.

We’ll test drive tonight.

 

[HOTLNC]

"It made it worse." That is a direct quote.

So, according to the BOOK, you are supposed to drive the car above 8 MPH. If the Odometer increments and the speed sucks, replace the EIC (Electronic Instrument Custer.) The only place to get those nowadays is from "Auto Recyclers."

Does anybody know if the EIC supplies speed information to the tranny??

<sigh>

 

[sleeper]

I replaced a cluster on a neon and it fixed a shifting problem.

 

[HOTLNC]

Well, I just found a cluster at a yard. The middle speedo section looks like it has sun damage -- the plastic is very crinkled there. Hopefully it will work. $40, plus tax.

The same place had a 95 Mark VIII. He had the motor in the shed and it has 96K miles written on it. He said he wanted 650 for it. For the matching tranny he said he'd take 500 for it.

Another place that was willing to sell me a EIC for 80 bucks, but could not find one of the two shown on the computer has a "bunch" of Mark trannys. He said he would take only 350 for one.