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I’m about to buy a 95 Taurus for $500 (65,000 original miles, one owner!) It’s in pretty great shape except for the speedometer, which bounces around somewhere within 10-15 miles of the actual speed. My insurance rates already went up for speeding, and next time I might even have my licence suspended, so I gotta fix it. Anyone have tips for a quick diagnosis procedure using basic tools? Is the speed sensor accessible in a Ford? Everything’s packed so tight in there, I can’t even see the back 3 cylinders! (V-6 3.0L engine, I think. Thank you!
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One thing to say is that you really want to ensure what the problem truly is… It could be the speedometer itself instead of the speed sensor.
If your car was OBD II a scanner will let you know what the speed the computer is being told… If it is correct when driving then the problem may be in your speedometer itself.
OBD II became mandated by law (United States) in 1996, but you may be lucky as some car manufacturers started installing it in 1995… Worth a look with a scanner…
Good luck..
-Karl
I think the 95’s still had speedometer cables in the Taurus. Probably all you have to do is lubricate the cable.
I agree that this may have a speedometer cable, since this is an older model… Look at the firewall, you should see a thick cable going through it toward the dashboard… Follow this cable down to the trans and you will find where it is plugged in…
If you pull the speedometer, you will have to unclip the cable from the back… this sometimes can be a PITA, but I am truly not a Ford guy, so can’t say for sure…
The problem indeed could be the cable needing lube, but it also may be in the plastic speedo gears in the trans or the speedo (not trying to make this harder than it needs to be) but letting you know what you may see…
Best of luck…
-Karl
THANK YOU! Now I know where to start. I called a shop and asked how much it would cost to diagnose the speedometer and the A/C and he said “over a hundred bucks.” Screw that, man. I appreciate your help!
It’s been a long time since I worked on a ’95, but I remember a lot of speedometer needles jumping on the Ford’s during those years. I remember now,the speedometer shops said there was a brass brushing that was not lubricated and wore out in the speedometer head.
Also I think the speedometer cable splits in half and separates in the middle of the firewall on that vehicle….but you have to remove the speedometer cluster to get the upper cable out.
It appears the instrument cluster has to be removed for diagnosis. I would talk to a speedometer repair shop and ask them how much a repair would be on the bushing (if needed) while the cluster is out, inspect and lubricate the speedometer cable.
Hopefully this will help on removal and replacement:
http://www.justanswer.com/ford/1jlzc-remove-replace-1994-taurus-speedometer-cable.html
http://www.taurusclub.com/forum/98-solutions-common-problems-how-articles/100332-removing-swapping-90-95-cluster.htmlThose links are absolutely perfect, JTF. I love knowing exactly which tools I’ll need before I start! And the one thread is about how to replace the whole instrument panel because the original has no tachometer. I have the same problem–plus the speedometer. Maybe I’ll just replace the whole thing. Thanks again!
If you take it to a speedo shop they should be able to repair the one you have which would cost much less than replacement I would think.
Good luck and keep us posted.
It’s been a long time since I worked on a ’95, but I remember a lot of speedometer needles jumping on the Ford’s during those years. I remember now,the speedometer shops said there was a brass brushing that was not lubricated and wore out in the speedometer head
+1
I have a 97 Cougar with the same problem, though it’s a OBDII car with electronic speed sensors. In my case, it’s so intermittent it doesn’t bother me..it works >99% of the time. I have learned it’s the speedometer itself (it can be resolved by tapping the dash, lol). Apparently, the lubricant in the speedometer does goes bad over the years.
Good luck!
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