Seems that none of the parts stores stock the part needed so it is on order. It should be here in a couple of days or so, will know for sure then.

 

Make sure they are looking up the right one as most of there books show the wrong one and they will order the wrong one.
They will want to sell you the old transmission gear driven VSS.

Sometimes you have to ask for the DSS or ABS sensor to get the right VSS sensor.

 

Yeah, I have two on the way. One was found using the part number from the one I removed but it seems to be more for econoline models. The other looks just like it but is referenced for F250 vehicles.

See my post in this thread on 09-25-2008, 08:12 AM

 

ok my bad didnt think about that

 

The ABS light is a seperate problem from the VSS. I totaly removed the ABS from my 96 and it did not affect the speedometer nor the performance of the truck.

 

The ABS and speedometer share the same speed sensor on the rear end of 92-up trucks.

 

This is definitely not true.

It will run worse until the computer learns the ranges of all the sensors. That's how any computer-controlled vehicle works. But it sure isn't going to hurt anything, and as long as you drive the vehicle around for 15 minutes after hooking the battery back up it will run just the way it did before.

I have disconnected many batteries in vehicles before, and never once had any of the problems you describe. In fact, any repair manual says that the first step of almost any vehicle repair is to disconnect the negative terminal of the battery.

Honestly... who does this? Can you name a shop or Ford dealership where they actually bother to do this? I sure couldn't.

I can't ever recall reading any manual that says to use a 9V battery to keep the computer alive.

 

andym,
All I can tell you is that it does set codes on my 95 if you disconnect the battery and everything else I said is right out of the Ford shop manuals.
Yes I do use the 9V battery when disconnecting the battery and I know that the LV KS Ford dealership uses the 9V battery as I got mine from a guy that worked there. It is in the manuals.

I think everything I said was good advice and I am very surprised at you that you did back me up on this.

 

Bill, you know I think you're one of the sharpest most knowledgeable guys on this forum.

I just don't agree that dire warnings about disconnecting the battery are necessary, that's all. You're the first person that I've ever heard of that has ever experienced any kinds of problems as a result.

What codes did your truck set? (just curious, not challenging you)

 

subford, you have often posted this and i did not want to start anything but i have never had a code set and i always reset computer by disconnecting the battery.

which year(s) manual and what page?

could you post the info?

thanks.

 

I always get a code 512 and then clear it normal way by stopping the test when the CM codes start to send.

 

512 EEC battery powered Keep Alive Memory (KAM) test failed.

Yeah, I guess that makes sense.

 

I have read this in a number of manuals but do not remember where off hand so it will take me awhile to find it and post it.
It would have been in "Ford Shop Manuals" or "Ford Fuel Injection & Electronic Engine Control", two volumns by Probst.

The 9 Volt battery thing is sold by snap-on (the one I have) and others.

True the manuals say to disconnect the battery for a lot of operations but I have also read them to say if you are having a problem by doing so will make it a lot harder to fix the problem.

 

From the 1995 Ford Truck Shop Manual:
NOTE:
Do not disconnect battery to clear Continuous Memory. This will erase the Keep Alive Memory (KAM) information which may cause a driveability concern.

and in other places it and a lot of sources say:
Do not clear the codes until the problem is fixed for obvious reasons.
That being other mechanics that may work on it later will not have this information to fix the problem and that will make it a lot harder accomplish.

I have seen on FTE a lot of post that the poster says to first disconnect the battery and see if that fixes the problem without doing anything else.
Then someone tells him to pull the codes and post back.
The he post back that there are no codes (for obvious reasons) as the engine will not start or is now running worse.
This is mainly what I was trying to address.

But do not forget what I was addressing in the first place in this thread was the poster above was trying to tell him to disconnect the battery for the VSS sensor and did not understand the systems at all. But I did not want to come out and tell him that.

Of course there are times when you have to disconnect the battery to clear the KAM. But only after you have replaced all bad sensors as if you lose KAM and have a bad sensor it may not run at all after that.

As the manual also says:
How to Clear Keep Alive Memory (KAM)

The PCM stores information about vehicle operating conditions and uses this information to compensate for component tolerances. When an emission related component is replaced, Keep Alive Memory (KAM) may have to be cleared to erase the information stored by the PCM from the original component.

To clear KAM: Disconnect the negative side of the battery for a minimum of five minutes.

 

I have "Ford Fuel Injection & Electronic Engine Control" by Pabst.

In chapter 10, section 4.9, page 228, there is a section on clearing memory codes. If you're talking about clearing the continuous memory codes or clearing the KAM (keep alive memory) codes.

To clear CM codes, Bill's method of detaching the STI while the codes are being displayed is correct. But to clear the KAM, the book says to disconnect the battery.

There is a warning note that the PCM will need to re-learn the tolerances of various sensors in this case, and this re-learning process can take 10 miles or more.