614joe

So my Speedometer & Odometer both went out. Hopped in the car this morning and neither of them worked on the way to school. Speedo stayed at 0 and Odo stayed at the same milage.

I seen a thread on here talking about it, and thats great, but I have NO idea where to look for the cable to see if it is broke. Can someone help me out? I am totally clueless when it comes to cars.

Also, the person with the same problem in the other thread didn't seem to fix it, or failed to say they did. It says they had an issue trying to get it in or something.

Thanks.

R.S.LOGAN

Thought that year / model of car would have a speed sensor on the gearbox rather than a cable . If so check wiring at speed sensor first as it can give problems , but may need new sensor .

614joe

I was googling and it said speed sensors are in the the later 95's + and the earlier have a cable.

I wouldn't know which this has, again I don't know about cars. Where would the speed sensor or cable be located?

R.S.LOGAN

Apparently on a 1999 ford contour with a 2.5L engine it's on the lower rear of transaxle, with three wires and either a rectangle or triangle shaped plug. If it has a cable it should be in same area and going up through bulkhead /firewall into speedo .

614joe

Pretty sure mines is a cable. Finally had time to lift the hood and I can see a cable coming straight from the firewall in the speedo area. The cable looks fine in that area, but it curves and goes straight down under all that crap in the engine and I can't see where it leads to and if there is a problem with it down there or not. Can't even fit my hand down there and I have pretty small hands.

Can JUST that gage go out in the dash? The gas & temp gage work fine, its just the odo/speedo part not working. Not trying to have a friend or mechanic shop take stuff appart under the hood to get to the cable just to find out its fine.

I'll check and see if I can find the cable under the steering wheel to see if it may be messed up or came out of the odo/speedo gage itself.

R.S.LOGAN

Disconnect the cable from the head and jack up car and spin wheel to see if it's turning or not . You could also push car on flat for short distance and see if it turns .Could just be broken cable , if not could be speedo drive in box .Also make sure head is not seized .If cable turning o.k must be fault in head .