95MPH in Park??!!

[I CORNER]

OK, I need some help / opinions. My SSS was parked in my backyard behind my sturdy fence, when Hurricane Wilma crossed over us (3rd major hurricane eye to cross over in 13 months). No damage, just plenty wet with leaves stuck all over it.

 

I drove my SSS into work at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power plant this AM and truck was running a little rough. I assumed that I got some bad premium gas from the station that I topped-off at before the hurricane.

 

I passed a cop with radar in a 45mph zone and checked my speedo to make sure I was going slow enough. It said 70mph (which it could not be) so I immediately slowed down. But then I realized that I could not have been going that fast. So I eyeballed about a 40mph speed and it stayed at 70mph. I had to slow down from some traffic. When I accelerated, the speedo went to 90mph and eventually 100mph. I timed more than 60 seconds on the odometer with the speedo at 100mph when I was actually doing a guestimated 40mph. I reached work and parked. It still says 95mph in the parking space.

 

Question: Has this ever happened to any of you and do you think it is the speedo or the computer?? Water in computer or coincident speedo failure?

 

Thanks,

Rick R

[Bowtie70SS]

Maybe the VSS Vehicle speed sensor took a dump. Either that or the reluctor wheel that triggers it is loose and spinning on the output shaft. I'm going by the way these things worked 5 or 6 years ago, but the speed sensor provides input to the computer. Did you get a SES (service engine soon) light? Good Luck.

 

Dave

[BmanSS]

short in speedo head

[WisconsinSS]

Mine did something similar and the dealer reflased it with the laptop and it worked again. A week later it died all together and they had to replace it under warentee

[I CORNER]

Thanks. No SES light noted yet. Trans is shifting normally and revs are low at cruising. As noted, odometer appears to be reading close to accurate, but speedo will not drop back down to zero. I was not sure if inputs were separate from computer or not. If speedo input is off, then odometer should be off too (i.e. at 100mph indicated, it would not take me 75 seconds to click off 1 mile on the odometer [when doing approximately 40mph], if both inputs used the 100mph failed sensor reading. So it looks like either a failed speedo or a separate input (if that is how it is dessigned) to the speedo that failed.

 

I know the computer does a lot of functions in newer cars and did not know if I should swap the stock computer back in or if it was clearly the speedo or sensor that failed.

 

The intense horizontal rain and some rough running, which was probably caused by bad gas from the bottom of the gas station tank, have confused the diagnosis some.

 

Rick R

[I CORNER]

Mine did something similar and the dealer reflased it with the laptop and it worked again.  A week later it died all together and they had to replace it under warentee

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

You mean you had to replace the computer or the speedo after it failed altogether?

[fordsareslow]

This all sounds real familiar. Mine did this a while back, and the dealership swapped my cluster out under warrenty. Here is a pic of my speedo when the truck wasn't even on.

 

[ALASKASS]

Yeah its happened to a few of my chevs in the last few years both fixed no charge. There have been some older posts of similar problems with the speedo on here before also.

[SSLink]

My VSS had to be replaced. No 90 mph when stopped but on the highway my speedo would jump all over the place at steady speed and my cruise control and ABS were disabled.

[I CORNER]

Thanks folks. My truck is running better, so that must have been just some bad gas. Odometer is correct based on my knowledge of the distance to work, so it must be the speedo and not computer.

 

It sure has been interesting driving it with the speedo wavering between 90 and 120mph. Since Monday the curfew has been from 7pm to 7am from Hurricane Wilma damage and I work a peak shift at a Nuclear Plant north of Palm Beach. Driving home in the pitch black at midnight past all of the cops and police checkpoints without any assurance that I am not speeding is a little unnerving.

 

Rick

[big hack]

You are probably parking too close to the Nuclear Power Plant...does your truck GLOW in the dark???

[mwalls54]

I am sure if the cops did pull you over they would under stand

[fordsareslow]

I kind of wished I had left it, that way if I got pulled over for speeding, I would have an excuse.