Fiesta WQ (3dr) 2005 Speed Sensor (a dodgy how-to)

[DDevine]

I was having trouble with the speedo dropping out constantly, and searching around people were saying that they fixed this by changing the vehicle speed sensor.

Everything I found suggested people were doing this by accessing the sensor from the top, which means removing the battery, battery mount, lots of cabling, etc... However this is wrong for the 2005 WQ (2DR) because unlike other Ford models the VSS is not located on the right hand side under the battery and whatnot. It is located more towards the back of the engine bay, practically in the centre (well, slightly towards the passenger's side) and is not accessible from the top, or at least would be *extremely* difficult.

From the top:


Behind the engine:


Too hard from the top. Screw that.

So what you want to do instead, is access the VSS from beneath the car! Lift up the car (I used ramps - they're cheap and safe) and remove the heat shield for the exhaust sensor cable near the VSS to give yourself room to work, it's only a single bolt.

This is the gold you've been looking for... (underneath the car).


I managed to wrestle out the VSS pin using a screw driver. It wasn't too hard but will take some patience and effort. If you have some thin fencing wire you could probably hook it, make a loop and pull it out.

The hardest part is getting the VSS itself to pop out. It took some persuading with a screw driver and a hammer forcing the VSS upwards and out (I know that's bad! Sorry!).

Once you have the old sensor out, just detach it from the cable, attach the new one and shove it in. Get the sensor far enough down that the VSS pin hole lines up properly (it can go a bit further, but then you can't get in the pin in) and it will take a bit of work to get the pin back in... You might need some gentle(!) persuasion with a screw driver and hammer.