3.8, V6 LX needs VSS but which one??

[WindstarMommy]

I forgot to mention that she is a 2000 year model

Hi, every one! Been camping out in the forums trying to find the answer to my question. However I DID come to one conclusion after reading...I am not going to attempt this at all!

Which VSS do I need...the one with the cable or without the cable?

I just want to be sure I have the correct part when I take Big Burgundy to the shop next week.

Thank you!

[wiswind]

I am thinking from the point of my '96, with your 2000 being after the major change year of 1999.
I looked up speed sensor on the Rockauto website for the 2000 3.8L windstar and they seem to agree with my thinking from my '96.
With speedometer cable would be if you have the mechanical speedometer.
Without speedometer cable would be if you have the electronic speedometer.

If you look this part up on rockauto, under electrical - speed sensor, there is another speed sensor down the list that is NOT the VSS.
The VSS has a shaft on it in the pictures...which (on my '96) gets a nylon gear on the end that will turn against another gear in the transmission, the shaft spins and there is a sensor inside the body of the VSS that senses (converts the spinning into a electrical pulse for the computer) how fast the shaft is turning.

At a glance, the w/speedometer cable and w/o speedometer cable ones look the same, but if you click on "info" a picture comes up......with a small arrow in the top right corner.....you click that arrow to get different views.
One view shows a picture looking down into the 2 connectors, and the one with speedometer cable has a spot with a retainer clip to plug the speedometer cable into, the one w/o speedometer cable has a white plug in the spot for the speedometer cable.

The VSS is difficult to change because of its location......on the back side of the transmission, above a catalytic converter.
It would be pretty easy to change otherwise, but the location has you doing the job by feel......as you cannot see what you are doing.....and it is hard to get your fingers in there.
Of course, you would want to let that catalytic converter cool down before trying to do the job.

Further down the list of "speed sensors" in the rockauto website are some other speed sensors, they don't have the shaft that goes down into the transmisssion.....and the electrical connector is at a 90 degree angle as compared to the body of the sensor.
THIS sensor is NOT the VSS......it is the TSS.....Turbine Shaft Sensor, which is much easier to get to as it is located on the side of the transmission housing near the driver's side axle.
This sensor is monitoring the speed of the shaft that comes out of the TORQUE CONVERTER, and is before the gearing of the different gears of the 4 speed transmission.
It is a magnetic pickup type of sensor.

The computer knows the speed of the shaft going into the transmission from the motor RPM, the TSS tells the computer the speed of the shaft coming out of the torque converter.....how much "slip" there is through the torque converter, and then the speed of the output of the whole transmission from the TSS sensor.

[WindstarMommy]

Thanks, wiswind. The TSS did throw me off when I saw the picture. I saw that on RockAuto before I posted my question.

I will order the VSS with cable and take it to the shop in town.

[CnlK]

Replaced the VSS in my 2000 not too long ago. Mine had a pig tail about 7" long. The aftermarket sites tend to list multiple sensors without being to specific. A couple that I called didn't even have the one I needed in stock. Might not be a bad idea to go with the motorcraft on this one. Even that one was on back order, my local dealer had one shipped in from another dealer on the west coast and told me Ford woudn't have any available until early January, that was in December. Ford part #
XF2Z-7H103-AA.
When my sensor started to fail, the speedo would act erratically and the ABS light would immediately trip. Caution, don't use cruise control if this is happening, my van suddenly accelerated. A quick tap of the brakes disengaged the cruise.

[WindstarMommy]

Thanks for that additional info, Cnlk. That is what my van is doing. I took it this morning to the local garage and they told me that I don't need a VSS and that everything is fine... yea right!

I picked up the VSS from Advance Auto today. I got BWD sensor #S8063 with cable. I sure hope it's the right one.

I truly think I do need it replaced so I am going to hold on to it anyway. CEL is not on--just the yellow ABS. I ordered an ABS scan tool and it will be here tomorrow.

[CnlK]

IF it is bad, you should get it replaced. Wiswind had a detailed post explaining that the transmission control relies on input from the VSS, TSS, and engine RPM. If any of those sensors are giving bad information transmission performance and or life could be effected.

[wiswind]

They can go bad and still have the speedometer work perfectly.
The one on my '96 did that......the speedometer cable being a mechanical connecton, the speedometer was working flawlessly.
However, the electronic part was tripping in and out, causing the transmission to blink the O/D light and shift very strangely.

In my case, there was a OBDII code stored that stated that the VSS was defective.

[CnlK]

I tried attaching a photo of a speed sensor that I used on my 2000 3.8l LX windstar. It has a wire pig tail with connector. The photo of the Advance Auto S8063 does not look correct, even though their website says it is compatible.

I got attached photo from the Rock Auto web site, Wells Part# 5S6322, they also listed a dephi that looked similar.

[WindstarMommy]

Originally Posted by CnlK

I tried attaching a photo of a speed sensor that I used on my 2000 3.8l LX windstar. It has a wire pig tail with connector. The photo of the Advance Auto S8063 does not look correct, even though their website says it is compatible.

I got attached photo from the Rock Auto web site, Wells Part# 5S6322, they also listed a dephi that looked similar.

Thanks, cnlk. I saw that part that you show in the photo from Rock Auto after you mentioned it in an earlier post.

The mechanic told me yesterday when I picked my van up that the part that I had from Advance Auto was the wrong part.

Soooo...I had them to replace the ignition wires and now Big Burgundy is running rough as h&##. Now I have to go search the forums and find out WHY this is happening. I should have left well enough alone.

[WindstarMommy]

Originally Posted by wiswind

In my case, there was a OBDII code stored that stated that the VSS was defective.

Ok, help me understand...IF the VSS is bad it will ALWAYS throw a code? So if I have no check engine light on there is nothing wrong, right?

[wiswind]

From what I understand, it is possible to have code(s) stored without having the CEL lit.
Mine was acting up....and the O/D light was flashing....but no CEL right away.
It DID come on the next day.....but when the codes were read, there was also a code for the IMRC.......along with the VSS code.
The IMRC code did not come back.......no action was needed there, but I had the VSS replaced at Lane Transmission outside Tracy City TN........I was on a mission trip with my youth group from church...pulling a trailer....FAR from home......The folks at Lane Transmission were AWESOME and CHEAP (cost of repair).

[CnlK]

When my VSS would act up the ABS light would come on. It didn't set any check engine codes. It may have set an ABS code, I don't know, my generic code reader won't capture those. As wiswind mentioned, some codes may be stored, but may not set the check engine light. This is where the dealer or highend diagnostic equipment would be helpful. You mentioned that your winnie is running rough after a plug wire replacement. Bring it back. Did they change spark plugs? The ford ignition systems can be finicky. Go with double platinums, autolites have worked for me.

[kafkacell]

I read somewhere that VSS is very likely to failure, since it's located very near to exhaust system, And off course it's getting a lot of heat. This will make it to fail sooner or later. Someone already recommended to use heat tape to cover VSS in order to protect it a little. I saw a VSS of a Ford Contour and it was literally burned. I still have issues with mine. But still cannot find lower speedometer cable here.