CRUISE CONTROL DIY
1989 Ford Escort speedometer suddenlyt stopped working?
I purchased a little 89′ Escort for the winter and the gas mileage to drive to and from work… yesterday while driving to work the speedometer stopped working. The cruise control didnt stop, it just said I was going 0MPH. Which is scary as hell at 5am and you are the ONLY car on the road…
Trying to remember where my tach gauge sat at different speeds was tough as there weren’t any other cars to drop in behind.
A month ago I was pulled over in it and the officer told me I was going 48mph in a 35 zone, when I had my cruise set at 39. Again last week and ticketed for going 68mph in a 55mph zone w/cruise set at 60. Ive been scared to go the speed limit lately..
Could these tickets be due to a faulty speedometer? Does anyone know how I can fix my speedometer? (DIY) or at least troubleshoot to find which part is bad?
AND on a side note, any chance these tickets can be dismissed with proof of faulty speedometer? (I hadnt had a ticket in over 6 years)
THANKS
If your speedometer was still working and you had it tested at a shop you could have used that invoice and statement about its inaccuracy in a court hearing about the tickets. Now that it has stopped completely you can’t prove that it was reading slow. You might check into a diversion which basically puts a ticket or tickets on “hold” for a length of time like a year or two. If you don’t have any more tickets in that length of time then all is forgiven. But if you get another ticket you get hit with all of them.
You need to find out if your speedometer is cable driven or electronic. If it is cable driven there will be a cable running from your transmission to the back of the speedometer. Sometimes the cables lose their lubrication and break. Usually pretty cheap to replace.
If your speedometer is electronic there is a sensor on your transmission that sends a signal to your speedometer. Either your sensor (called a Vehicle Speed Sensor or VSS) went bad or your speedometer quit working. The sensors are usually inexpensive….the speedometers are NOT! Last one I needed I bought off eBay and purchased one with the lowest miles I could find. If you ever sell the car you have to mark the title that the speedometer is not correct. I usually keep the old speedometer around along with a record of the mileage of the replacement so I can always figure out the cars true mileage if I need to.
Cruise Control Removal
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