2001 F350 4WD Crew Cab Auto V10, single rear wheel, 4.30 Limited Slip - here are my symptoms -

I test drove this truck yesterday, everything worked fine. Sales manager drove it to another lot for the paperwork. I did the paperwork and pulled out of the lot, got 1/3 mile down the road and realized the speedo wasn't working. Got on the freeway, no stereo at all, no speedo and no cruise control. All other gauges working.

Today, speedo worked fine up to 30 MPH then slowly dropped back down and was lifeless on the freeway. Cruise control did work with no speedo. Other gauges worked fine. I bought a new VSS (been down this road before with a dodge I had) at the dealership. Put the new VSS in,speedo now worked fine up to 30 MPH, moved up and own appropriately etc. Took it down the road, got up to about 35 MPH, speedo dropped back down and died for good. Cruise control not working any longer. I checked my fuses before I bought the new VSS, they all are fine. Radio still does not work or show any display at all. Other power accessories work fine as well, but the door buzzer did cut off today and the power locks weren't popping the locks all the way up - acting as though the battery was low (after a 2 hr drive - battery gauge was showing to be OK) What am I up against?

 

Ok, I'm not too proud to bump my own post. Todays update - speedo worked in the morning for 1/2 mile and then quit completely. I checked and re-checked fuses. I found out the horn fuse was missing. I put it in and the horn and door chime started sounding continuously. I pulled it back out. I moved the tilt wheel up and realized I can make the door chime go off by moving the wheel up or down until it cuts out (with the door open and engine off).

I pulled the new VSS and found metal shavings on it. I cleaned it off and used a magnet to extract more shavings from inside the differential housing. During this time I unplugged the positive battery cable to try and reset the PCM (I read this in another thread). Plugged it back in and took the truck for a drive. The speedo will move up to just over 30 MPH and then not go any further. It's as though there's invisible resistance or something. When I brake the speedometer needle appears to go down appropriately. When I accelerate it seems to go up a little slow (I mean slower than it should). I unplugged my positive battery cable and will leave it overnight, clean off the VSS again tomorrow and see what happens. Also - there are no breaks in the signal cable from the VSS along the frame - I checked it and it's loomed/shielded. I put diaelectric silicon grease on the terminal as well in case that was the problem.

I find it ironic that I sold my 1992 Dodge cummins with 91K miles on it a few months ago and just now bought a 2001 Ford thinking it would be more reliable. It actually has more problems electrically speaking than my Dodge did. I am certainly second guessing myself at this point.

 

Whats up with the radio? That doesn't check..Sounds like a connection for power. Not the vss. Could be grounds.

Dick

 

I was reading another page regarding ABS lights and VSS problems. One of the suggestions there was to find the ground behind the driver's side headlight and make sure it was good - I did that today and it is solid. I can't tell if there's power to the radio or not - it has marks around the cutout as though it's been pulled out at some point. I can only tell the fuse showed good with a tester - I checked most of the stuff in the power relay boxes under the hood and they checked out too.

I did call the dealership that sold me the truck today - it's been two days since I bought it and none of these things revealed themselves before I bought the truck. As far as I remember everything checked out on the test drive, other than I didn't honk the horn or try the cruise control because we weren't on the highway. The gentleman who owns the dealership has some mechanical skills and said it might by two unrelated problems - something with the VSS and then a short in the steering column - he called it the horn ring, if it's what I'm thinking of I've always known it as a clockspring. I'll check some more stuff out tomorrow between football games and see what develops.

 

Vehicle has to have a working horn in my state before you can sell it. its a safety issue.
As well as speedo because antilock brakes won't work, never mind you won't know what speed you are doing..You might want to get your money back until this truck goes to a dealer and get straightened out IMO

Dick

 

In Oregon there is no right of recission on automobiles. So I am stuck.

 

Well we will help you get it straightened out best we can...

 

Thanks. I'm going to clean off the VSS again tomorrow, check further along the wiring and test drive it again. I've checked Oregon Dept. Of Justice regulations, Oregon DMV dealer regulations and some other resources to see if selling a rig with no working horn and a non functional speedometer is a civil violation - apparently it is not. Oddly enough you can also smoke dope in Oregon, but cannot pump your own fuel.

 

Never had to clean a vss on any of my 5 fords that I currently own. I feel its something else Unless something is way wrong inside the rear end.

 

Check these grounds: one in left kick panel This one G300 grounds half the free world in the cab, and in the upper right corner of the big opening u take off to access fuse panel below steering column......should be two under same bolt G202 & G201 which ground the other half of the free world including some of what u are having probs with. Second one has 8 mm headed bolt in it as I just added a ground under it today in my truck.

 

im interested in what you find as i'm having a speedo/ABS issue on my excursion. the problem just poped up recently. replaced the sensor in the rear diff but didnt do anything..same issue.

 

I would check the GEM it's behind the inside fuse box there known to get wet from water leaking and will cause the speedo not to work, abs light to come on and other problem's it takes 4 bolts and then 2 more and on the connector's to remove and check for water.
I have seen this on many trucks as well as my own truck.

 

Clean the door switches to stop the chimes.

 

I checked the grounds under the dash and they're fine. I haven't checked the GEM yet - I can see what i think is the back side of it and it looks fine. I don't know where the door switches are to clean them - nothing obvious jumps out at me. I did pull the VSS again to check it - no shavings on it any more, just wiped gear oil off it and put it back in. Based on my interactions with the steering wheel and column area I think I have a short in there somewhere - I can make my door chime go off by moving the wheel up or down. I did pull the fuse for the door chime to ease my aggravation. I don't believe the wiring in the column explains speedometer problems, but I'm no expert.

I did check the wiring from the VSS along the chassis to see if there was an area frayed or shorting out and there doesn't appear to be. I believe the steering wheel and column might be coming off next weekend for further inspection. Also I will try and pull the GEM out today or tomorrow and see if it has moisture problems. I do appreciate everyone's suggestions. I think I'm already behind 50 bucks for buying a VSS when I probably didn't need one, it's kind of nice to try and make up ground doing some stuff myself to try and fix the problems.

 

There are several problems, not all related. Cruise control and horn problem was a worn out horn switch plus clockspring problem.That has been fixed, cruise and the horn now work. I am using horn "switch" to describe the flat semi plastic circuit board thingy behind the steering wheel cover - I just saw it briefly when they took it out. I didn't help out too much when I took my truck back to the place I bought it.

The speedometer problem is going to be a bad speed head - not the VSS.Everything up to that point checked out, tried a different VSS as well, same thing happened with that VSS. Just info for folks with a similar problem.

I got a differential fluid change when they pulled the cover to inspect my tone ring. This morning I got up and saw a small puddle of differential fluid on my driveway. There's a trail leading from the bottom of the housing back towards the driveshaft area. I need to crawl under there deeper and see if it's a pinion seal or something in that area. On to the next thing I guess.

On that point - would a switch to 80-90 from 75-150 lead to a leaky seal of some sort? Never heard of that before.