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Speedometer gone crazy

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thecoolnessrune

thecoolnessrune

Diamond Member
More issues with this stupid car.

1997 Mercury Tracer LS
133k Miles

Noticed yesterday while driving that all of a sudden the speedometer flatlined and the odometer held still. Did that for about 10 minutes before starting to flop all over the place and after another 10 minutes it worked again. Now today I notice its doing the same thing. Rockauto shows a speedo cable, but if the cable was the issue I doubt the speedo would be flopping around like it is (I would assume it would just quit working).

What say you knowledgeable ATG?

PS, now the idiot light came on. Goodee! More frackin repairs! *kicks fender*
 
Could be a error on the speedometer cable. Not sure if it has one or not, I would have to see in person.

But your car does have a speed sensor. I would replace that as a bad speedometer cable should not cause a engine light to come on unless it ran to something other then the speedometer on the dash.

The speed sensor is around $40 at rockauto.com, but I would also check out AZ/Advance and if within $15 or so get it so you can get the car going sooner.
Easy to replace on most and yours comes with the gear so that should fix it. But also have the parts store pull the code. I bet its says something about the speed sensor.

EDIT
Just looked at the speed sensor and it looks like the speedometer cable pulgs into it. So it could be a bad speed sensor jamming up or a bad cable jamming the sensor up. I would replace both, and I bet will fix your issue 100%.
 
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Yeah, I'm just about to leave the house for Autozone now. I have no idea how to swap one of those speed sensors out nor do I know how to get to it. I heard its typically on the back of the transmission but on a transverse engine that sounds like a huge pain in the ass. (I'm only used to working on big trucks).

FWIW, the car does NOT have cruise control (as in this car was never built with it.)
 
Code came back as insufficient airflow to EGR sensor. A new problem. Frikken great.. It didnt have any code available for the speedo so Im still nowhere in that department as well. Obviously the problem could be as simple as a frayed wire somewhere in the car. Im giving myself an ulcer..
 
When the speedo on my old Accord randomly stopped working, the mechanic replaced the speed sensor and it fixed the problem. Good luck!
 
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