Ford Focus: Loss of power, drop to zero of speedometer.

ben brugman wrote: 
This is a well-known problem caused by failure of the vehicle
speed sensor (VSS). If you are lucky it may be possible to
correct the problem by removing the connector to to sensor,
cleaning it up and replacing it. Usually the sensor needs replacing.

It is possible to do it yourself if you have some skills. It is a
bit difficult to get to, and there is the remote possibility of
breaking the sensor in the transmission. This would become an
expensive repair!

The sensor costs about 27UKP, and a UK dealer would charge about
100UKP to replace it. Sorry, I can't predict costs where you are.

The problem will get gradually worse until the speedometer stays
at zero for ages. When this happens the display showing distance
travelled will show "----" until the sensor starts working again.
The fault will not cause the vehicle to break down to the point
of needing recovery however. When slowing to a halt whilst the
fault is present, the engine may cut out. It will restart
straight away however. I ran my Focus like this for a year or so
until I got round to fixing it.

New sensors are improved and the fault should not happen again.

There has been much discussion and advice here about this
problem. If you Google in this group you will find all the info
you might need.

HTH

Chris


--
Remove prejudice to reply

ben brugman wrote: 
This is a well-known problem caused by failure of the vehicle
speed sensor (VSS). If you are lucky it may be possible to
correct the problem by removing the connector to the sensor,
cleaning it up and replacing it. Usually the sensor needs replacing.

It is possible to do it yourself if you have some skills. It is a
bit difficult to get to, and there is the remote possibility of
breaking the sensor in the transmission. This would become an
expensive repair!

The sensor costs about 27UKP, and a UK dealer would charge about
100UKP to replace it. Sorry, I can't predict costs where you are.

The problem will get gradually worse until the speedometer stays
at zero for ages. When this happens the display showing distance
travelled will show "----" until the sensor starts working again.
The fault will not cause the vehicle to break down to the point
of needing recovery however. When slowing to a halt whilst the
fault is present, the engine may cut out. It will restart
straight away however. I ran my Focus like this for a year or so
until I got round to fixing it.

New sensors are improved and the fault should not happen again.

There has been much discussion and advice here about this
problem. If you Google in this group you will find all the info
you might need.

HTH

Chris


--
Remove prejudice to reply

First of all thanks for your response and time.

I did Google and by that found this newsgroup.
This morning I confronted the Ford dealer with 'almost'
this specific information and he 'denied' such a general
solution.
I will show your answer and maybe even 'demand' the
sensor begin replaced. This might cost something but
that is no big issue.

I allready googled and your info is more specific than
what I found. Just had another go added the term "vss" to the
search but didn't come with anything relevant.

Question :
The problem with a faulty VSS does this cause a
a power loss as wel ? (Not being able to accelerate or
keep at the same speed) ?

Could you point me out to some search terms
or threads concerning this subject ?

I want to prepare myself for the 'discussion' with the
mechanics !

Thanks for your time and info,
Ben Brugman.

"Chris Whelan" <com> wrote in message
news:net... 
drops 
once a 
frequency. 
not 

 
<top posting fixed>
ben brugman wrote: 

Hi Ben

Yes, a faulty VSS will cause a power loss. If your radio is set
to turn up the volume as you go faster, you will also notice the
radio suddenly going quieter.

The reason is that the VSS signals vehicle speed to the ECU. This
speed information is used for a number of things, including
altering the fuelling. When the signal is lost, the ECU gets
confused and that is why the power is reduced. If you change gear
or stop whilst the fault is present, the engine will cut out.

I would suggest that if your dealer is unable to understand this,
you find another one fast! It is a well known Focus fault.

In the UK it is possible to telephone Ford themselves to make
enquiries about problems such as this. Perhaps you can do the same?

If you Google in alt.autos.ford.focus using the search term
"speed sensor" you will find a lot of old posts on this subject.

Let us know how you get on with the dealer.

Chris

--
Remove prejudice to reply

In message <net>, Chris Whelan
<com> writes 

Its happened to me twice. The first time (about a year ago) I cleaned
the connector and it was fine. The second time was immediately after I
changed the plugs and leads, within a couple of miles of doing the work.

I thought it was odd that the fault had happened right after doing the
plugs and recalled reading a TSB on the subject. I got my Ford TIS CD
out and sure enough there was a TSB about the CHT sensor harness being
too close to the HT leads on the 1.6 engine and giving speedo problems.
I moved the harness as far away from the HT leads as possible and it was
fine.

If the original poster has had any work done in the area of the plugs or
HT leads he might want to check it out.

--
Paul Giverin

British Jet Engine Website http://www.britjet.co.uk

<snip> 

Makes you wonder about the quality of the OP's dealer, does it
not? :-)

Chris

--
Remove prejudice to reply

In message <net>, Chris Whelan
<com> writes 
Nothing surprises me these days.

--
Paul Giverin

British Jet Engine Website http://www.britjet.co.uk