I have a 1995 E150. The speedometer needle jumps mostly above 45mph, coming to a stop or putting it in reverse it stalls. I have already replaced the VSS in the rearend, the tranny fluid and filter (fluid was overdue dark but not burnt) used instrument cluster (thought it was a bad PSOM). It does not stall all the time, I drove it about 90 miles today without stalling but the speedometer needle is still jumping very erratically above 45mph only slightly jumping below that. It seems to run fine I replaced plugs, wires, cap and rotor. It does seem to run a little slow in gear at idle (when it's not stalling) and it has a bit of a strange noise kinda like a card on a bicycle spoke or a piece of paper being sucked in and out. As soon as I give it some gas it sounds normal and it occurs only in reverse or drive. The stalling is much worse in reverse it's really hard to keep it from dieing.

Can a bad or sticking TCC cause the jumping speedometer?
The jumping speedometer is the issue that is making this so hard to diagnose plus that it's intermitent ( by intermitent I mean it will stall one day and not the next or on the way to where I'm heading and not on the way back.)

I thought I had it all figured out with the replacement of the speedometer, it's the one verified thing that would cause both the stalling and the speedometer jump. I'm left with a bad or sticking TCC if that could cause the jumping speedometer. Or a bad sensor ring in the rearend if that could cause the stalling. Anyone got any ideas? Really need help on this one.

 

Colour,

Did this ever get resolved? I have a '95 E350 (motorhome) with the exact same symptoms. The dealer replaced the VSS which didn't help (but, of course, cost me $$) and now I'm waiting on new speedo/instrument cluster (two weeks out) which is delaying my leaving on a long trip and is going to cost more $$$. I'm nervous because you wrote that the speedo change didn't solve the problem. If you have solved this, I'd appreciate knowing what did it. Thanks.

Jesse

 

they must have done something wrong in 1995, mine has the same problem. if any of you get the problem solved, please let me know. by the way, is your ABS working normally??
regards, henk

 

My solution is different from Colour's as my problem WAs in the speedometer. Here's what I have found out, thanks to a very helpful local speedometer repair shop. This guy diagnosed my problem over the phone and talked me through the repair. On the back of the printed circuit board of the speedometer, there is a small yellow diode soldered to the board, in the upper right corner. (It's the only yellow component on the board, as I recall). If this comes loose, it causes the symptoms you describe. If you want to try to re-solder it yourself reply back to this message and I'll relate to you what he told me about doing it. IT'S NOT AS EASY AS JUST RE-SOLDERING, SO DON'T JUST CRANK UP THE OLD SOLDERING IRON AND HAVE A GO AT IT. If you're not really good with a soldering iron, have a low-wattage iron and a good heat sink, I'd recommend taking it to a shop that can do it. But, he was right on the money and it solved my problems completely. The truck ran normally right after I soldered that diode back in place.

My ABS light will come on with braking once in a great while, I don't know why. Then it goes away and doesn't show up again for, say, a thousand miles or so. Curious . . .

Let me know if you're going to try this (or if you do it and the electronic odometer goes blank, write back and I'll tell you how to fix it).

Jesse

 

Hi jesse4

you make me very curius about the soldering and the odometer. can you give me the description of the reset, and on the yellow diode, i am taking the part out today
regards
henk

 

First, what I forgot to mention in my first post is that you should try unplugging the speedometer and see if that solves the problem. If it doesn't, stop right here, there's no point in going further. If it does solve the problem, here's what he told me:

Gingerly pry up on the diode (as I wrote, it's yellow with a stripe on one end; about the size of a stick match head, except it's rectangular, like, say, a little tiny shoebox) and see if it's soldered. Mine wasn't and one end popped right up. He said to take it off (unsolder the other end) and tin both ends as well as the "pads" on the board where it was soldered. But, before doing any soldering, put a heat sink between the ends and the rest of the printed circuit board and use just enough hat to do the job. I put a heat sink on, just barely heated the ends, and went out to try my handiwork. Eureka, the truck started right up, ran smoothly, etc. BUT . . . no odometer reading; it was just blank.

I know this sounds far-fetched, but he said the heat travels along the printed circuit foil to the square integrated circuit chip (black, about one inch square with probably ten leads on each side) and loosens the solder just enough to where it won't make contact. I truly doubted this part, because I was fast and that board never got hot enough to do any damage. Besides, that IC chip is a couple of inches away. There's no way. But he said to fix it I needed to resolder the end leg on each side of the chip (that's eight total). I did two and tried it . . . nothing. Did the next two (the two nearest the diode) and, voila, there was my mileage reading back again. The guy knows his stuff.

So, if you're going to try this, do what you can to limit that heat to the diode, but if the odomete goes blank, resolder the end legs of the IC, starting with the ones nearest the diode. They're not easy to solder, as they are tiny and close together, so do two and then try it. Patience and a steady hand are necessary. Good luck. If this is confusing, send questions and I'll try to clarify, but my experience is limited to one! Good luck.

 

I am writing here to say a big thank you to Jesse4 who had an answer to the problem that has been driving me nuts for a while.
I have a 95 E150 Club Wagon and my speedometer kept bouncing around the true speed (bouncing a lot at high speeds) and my engine tended to stall or even stalled at low speeds going either in forward or reverse.
I first thought that a speed sensor is the issue but i have replaced the whole rear axle (because the old one was broken in two) and i was still having the issue. Also, my ABS worked fine during the issue. I thought it might be a transmission issue but the engine tended to stall even in neutral, if the car was moving a little bit.
So, following Jesse4's advice, i have taken my dashboard off, and unpluged the spedometer...and voila...the issue is completely gone, no more stalling or hesitation. So i noticed the problem is in the speedometer. I think the problem was that when the spedometer kept bouncing it was detecting sharp decelerations and probably was cutting the gas (either to help the abs or just for fuel economy while decelerating).
I have taken the spedometer out ( it was quite some work to get to it) and i have found the part that Jesse4 was talking about: It is the only yellow part on the board and it actually is located in the upper left corner when you are looking at the board. I would like to say that the part in question is actually a capacitor and without it, the speed signal is not filtered and that's where all the bouncing came from. That capacitor acta the same like a capacitor in a ac to dc converter, it cuts the spikes and smoothens the output.
I had to use a sottering iron (not a sottering gun , those are too hot) and i resottered the capacitor to the board and everything worked from the first try. Now there is no more hesitation and the spedometer does not bounce at all anymore. It's awesome.
I have taken some pictures but i don't know how to post them here.
If anyone needs a picture, don't hesitate, send me a message and i will email you the two pictures i have showing exactly what needs to be done.
The reason the capacitor came off is because humidity was allowed to enter in the cluster area. I think in Jesse4's case, the reason the ic pins had to be resottered is because they were almost loose (also because of humidity) and they came completely loose when handling the board. Heat wil definately not travel throguh the board for a few inches, at least not enough to make a sottering come lose.
On the side, my advice to you all 95 E150 owners, get a spray of wd40 and spray all the electrical contacts around the dash (hazard switch, windshield wiper/washer switch) and you will not have any more issues with humidity, at least not for a while.
Once again, Thanks Jesse4 for your saving idea.

 

hello odoboy,
can you send me the picture's, I am one of the unlucky 95 e150 and the bouncing is driving me and the gearbox crazy. did you also have the problem that your cruise control and gearbox were reacting to the bouncing signal?? mine do
greetings from holland
henk

 

My cruise control was really working wild, because the speed reading was bouncing all over and the transmission was also sometimes shifting up and down with no reason, because of the same issue.

My e mail address is odoleanalin at yahoo.com. Send me an e-mail there and i'll reply with the pictures.

 

This is a very helpful thread. I have a 95 e350 with the bouncing speedometer issue just like others above. I changed the VSS thinking that would fix my issues, no such luck. I have now taken my cluster out and am not finding the yellow piece that needs to be soldered. Is the culprit on the back of the cluster or on the little circuit board that snaps in the side. I see two yellow pieces on the little circuit board. I would really appreciatte any help on where to go from here. I have pictures but cannot seem to get them loaded. If anyone has pictures please help.

 

deleted pic that had nothing to do with this thread

 

ok heres the back of the entire cluster

 

Pappashine, I'm afraid I can't be much help, mostly because it's been almost ten years since I looked at this. Neither of those boards looks like what I remember mine being. Mine had a large IC chip in the middle. (I mean large, probably about two inches square with many legs coming out of each side.) I don't remember where the board was in the cluster. If you can send any more photos, I might be able to help. Sorry I'm not of much help.

 

I'm gonna bump this and possibly pull my cluster this weekend. Mine only works when it rains...? Am doing a bumper to bumper PM/D.O.T. on it, while the weather is decent.

Gotta get it ready for this...

 

The first photo above is of the anti-slosh module for the fuel gauge.
The second photo above is of the back of the cluster.
The PSOM borad is inside of the cluster.

Here is a photo of the PSOM board they were talking about with the diode at the top right corner.


PSOM mounted on the back of the speedometer head:


PSOM Location:
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