96 escort speedometer probs

Anywhere over 35 -40 mph the speedometer on my 1996 Escort bounces all over the place and makes a horrible hissing sound. I replaced the speed sensor thinking that was the problem but it still is not working properly. My odometer seems to work fine though... Any ideas???

I had the identical problem on my daughters 93 escort lx (post is elsewhere on this forum). Once you were at any speed above 15MPH it jumped back and forth, and made a high pitched buzzing sound, but the odometer worked just fine.

To make a long story short, this past weekend I replaced the speedometer with one I picked up from the salvage yard for $20, and it works fine now.............. Obviously you would have to deal with the different mileage issue.

Also, there are some places that will repair them, but the website URLs escape me at the moment. If I locate them I will post them here (I think there are elsewhere on this forum too).

i too am having this problem, though the speed isnt the same every time, and sometimes it gradually lets me get to higher speeds without freaking on me (sometimes it happens at 30mph, sometimes not till 60, and if i drive long enough below the point at which it starts jumping, it very gradually lets me go higher speeds without the problem)

i have thought about getting a new speedometer but im not going to do it until i learn how to do it myself... its not that big a deal, just annoying

forr3st:

I was unsure of doing it myself, but since we only paid $500 for the car, I figured, why not?. It took me a little less than an hour, start to finish, to swap it out.

The most trouble I encountered was removing the defroster switch and the power mirror switch (93 escort lx). The haynes manual said to pop them out of the dash facing and then remove the wiring harness. I could not find a way to do this without cracking the switch or the facing. However, I did discover that there is enough wiring that allows you to pull the facing out to reach behind it and remove the wiring harness, without ever having to remove the switches.

The only other problem I ran in to was on installation. I was able to get the speedometer cable back in to the transmission, but I had a heck of a time getting the clip back in to hold it in place! I had to bend it straight, feed it into the opening, and then take a pair of needle nose pliers and bend the ends back around.

Taking everything I had to do in to consideration, and as a comparison, I think it was probably easier than when I had to change the timing belt on my 95 escort wagon, or even when I had to put new brake shoes on the rear.

I have the same problem with my 95 but when I called Ford and started to explain my problem he finished describing the problem to me. He said it was a common problem and the only way to fix it was to replace the speedometer head. I asked him if this is such a common problem was there a recall in place. To which he replied, "Naw, it ain't a safety issue or anything like that." Said he'd sell me a new one for $265.00 I said "Naw", laughed at him and hung up.

I had the same problem. I took out the gauges and cleaned some dust accumulation. Put it together and and it worked fine for awhile, then started jumping again. Eventually the thing self healed and its ben fine ever since. Ford quality is job one!

I'm having the same problem in my tracer... some times it works fine all the way up to eighty mph but most of the time It just bounces around, I'll probably pull it out and put a new one in at some point or fix it... but not till it gets warm I hate working on cars in the winter