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Car Forum / Ford / Ford Focus / March 2007electrical problem with 2002 ford focus
I need help and I hope someone out there can help: Last week I bought a Late 2002 Focus ( Newer Shape ). However after driving it for a week I have discovered that after driving for a bit (20 mins or more) The needle on the speedo will suddenly "sweep" up the dial, the volume on the stereo goes up and then it all goes back to normal. sometimes this happens more than once and sometimes it doesn't happen at all. However it is becoming more regular. I talked to the riginal owner and he said he had been back and forth to the local ford dealership and they kept telling him there was nothing wrong with the car. I have noticed today that after the car has this power surge thing you can see, if you look really closely, that the lights on the dash and the main lights pulse very slightly after this power surge thing. I have read alot about the speed senser being the cause of a fault very similar to this one however the fault that needs the speed senser seems to be the reverse of my fault. they have a lose of power and I seem to be getting to much ! I would love some help > I need help and I hope someone out there can help: > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > I would love some help Different symptoms, but probably the same cause. If it was my focus I would check / remake the earth, and if this didnt solve it I would swap out the speed sensor. Not a fun job I am told - had mine done under warranty ;) >> I need help and I hope someone out there can help: >> [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > out the speed sensor. Not a fun job I am told - had mine done under > warranty ;) Very unlikely to be the VSS; if so, it's no big deal. 25UKP and 20 minutes under the car or 100UKP to a dealer. Chris  SignatureRemove prejudice to reply. > >> I need help and I hope someone out there can help: > >> [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > Very unlikely to be the VSS; if so, it's no big deal. 25UKP and 20 > minutes under the car or 100UKP to a dealer. They arent the common symptoms of a VSS fault, but given the VSS is used to generate the control level for the Automatic Volume Control as well as for the speedo I would still be prepared to put 5 quid on it ;) >> >> I need help and I hope someone out there can help: >> >> [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > used to generate the control level for the Automatic Volume Control as > well as for the speedo I would still be prepared to put 5 quid on it ;) I would have agreed with you had the OP not said that after the error occurs, the dash lights and main lights (whatever that means) pulse. The VSS problem is mainly related to earlier cars. The fault with the sensor is that the connection between the pins of the connector, and the internals of the sensor fail. Later ones are improved. It has also been to a dealer, where one would hope they would have changed the VSS by now if it was suspect. If that hasn't been done it would be worth the OP changing it if only as part of the process of elimination, but my 5 quid is on an earth fault ;-) Chris SignatureRemove prejudice to reply. > It has also been to a dealer, where one would hope they would have changed > the VSS by now if it was suspect. If that hasn't been done it would be > worth the OP changing it if only as part of the process of elimination, but > my 5 quid is on an earth fault ;-) Great - all we need is for Ross to spend a hundred quid or so swapping the VSS to settle the bet ;) Good news, The fault is fixed, I got tired guessing and went and bought a VSS. All the problems have stopped and the car is running like a dream, However twenty minutes is a wee bit far fetched, it took me and a qualified mechanice an hour and a half, tricky little bugger would not come out. many thanks one and all. so after all that betting am I owed money ? > Good news, The fault is fixed, I got tired guessing and went and > bought a VSS. All the problems have stopped and the car is running > like a dream, However twenty minutes is a wee bit far fetched, it took > me and a qualified mechanice an hour and a half, tricky little bugger > would not come out. many thanks one and all. so after all that > betting am I owed money ? I think its me owed a fiver rather than you ;) Glad your car is running well - problems like this are a real drag... > Good news, The fault is fixed, I got tired guessing and went and > bought a VSS. All the problems have stopped and the car is running > like a dream, However twenty minutes is a wee bit far fetched, it took > me and a qualified mechanice an hour and a half, tricky little bugger > would not come out. many thanks one and all. so after all that > betting am I owed money ? Glad you got it sorted. I can promise you it can be done in 20 minutes; I did it myself on my own car. Has it also solved the problem with the lights pulsing? I'm guessing not, and that was a bit of a red herring. The Focus tends to do that a bit anyway, because of the way the alternator regulation works. I've never heard of a failing VSS making the speedo reading go *higher* and the radio louder. I can't think what failure mode would make that happen. What usually happens is that a poor internal connection in the sensor means the ECU misses pulses, can't see what is going on and assumes the vehicle is stationary. When that has happened for more than a few seconds, the trip meter displays four dashes. For the fault you were experiencing the sensor would have to give out extra pulses. WRT replacing the VSS, was the problem in removing the securing pin, or in pulling the sensor out? If you Google in this NG, there is a description of how to overcome both of those difficulties. I know of garages that have broken the sensor trying to remove it; they have then removed the gearbox to get the remains of it out! I'm afraid I don't recall you being involved in the betting; I think it's Richard I owe the fiver to! Chris SignatureRemove prejudice to reply. > Has it also solved the problem with the lights pulsing? I'm guessing not, > and that was a bit of a red herring. The Focus tends to do that a bit > anyway, because of the way the alternator regulation works. Yeah - mine did it on the standard headlights... not so much on the discharge ones. > I've never heard of a failing VSS making the speedo reading go *higher* > and [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > meter displays four dashes. For the fault you were experiencing the sensor > would have to give out extra pulses. See, that's where I cheated a bit because I had heard of them doing it ;) > WRT replacing the VSS, was the problem in removing the securing pin, or in > pulling the sensor out? If you Google in this NG, there is a description [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > I'm afraid I don't recall you being involved in the betting; I think it's > Richard I owe the fiver to! Stick it in an NSPCC box next time you see one ;) |
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