Speed Sensor problem!

Hi I really need some help regarding the speed sensor on my puma.
After a clutch change, the speedo worked fine. But in the weeks after, the digital mileometer stopped working and then eventually the speedo. It now reads zero whatever speed I am doing.
I have located the speed sensor on top on the gearbox and traced it up to a plug (I had already bought a spare incase it was this part) but tracing the cable further I have found 3 cables with crimped pins on the end which have obviously disconnected from somewere.
I have asked in my local ford dealer about this and their reply was that il need a new full wiring loom!
I was wondering whether anyone could shed any light on this problem and possibly guide me to where these cables should be connected to?
The car has also cut out a couple of times whilst breaking into a roundabout, and the steering briefly goes stiff when this happens. Could this be due to the disconnected speed sensor?
I have cleaned the MAF sensor and Idle control valve as I thought maybe this could be the cause.
Any help would be massively appreciated!

Hi welcome to ProjP k:

I recently had a clutch changed, and had the exact same issues afterwards and it was because the speed sensor wasn't connected properly.
Even the engine cutting out at roundabouts etc it was all related. Ginger Tom (a member on here) reconnected it properly and now all works fine.

Now, because yours was working a couple of weeks after your clutch change, it might mean that it was reconnected properly and it may just have failed on you now. I'm no mechanic/electrician so I couldn't tell you how to resolve the problem. I'm sure someone else will be able to help you with that.

But I just wanted to reassure you its more than likely all related so if you get the speed sensor sorted it should stop cutting out too.

Hi thanks for your reply. Hopefully that is the case. I'm just a bit concerned as to where these cables are supposed to connect into, Ford are trying to say its gonna be an expensive fix!

Ford just want to ring as much money as they can out of you :lol:

They're not earth cables are they?

Yeah I was hoping that was the case.
No they seem to be actual signal cables, I imagine they do go into the loom somewere but I haven't got a clue where.

The speedo sensor wiring is very simple, it has a 12v, a ground, and a signal that splits, one side going to the ECU, the other going to the clocks. If you switch the ignition to position 2, you can check at the plug. If you are getting your 12v & earth, then it's the wire to the clocks, or the clocks themselves could have gone as they decode the signal.

Are you getting issues when coming to a stop? If not then the ECU is probably getting the correct signal so it's the wire from the speedo to the clocks, I can tell you which wire that is tomorrow.

Hi, thanks for your reply, I have since found the basic wiring diagram in the ford fiesta mk4 haynes manual. The problem I've got is that the speed sensor cable coming from the gearbox is fine - that is then plugged into another cable via a triangular plug. That second cable is only connected at one end . From asking different people they seem to think that will plug into a multiplug which will then go back to the ecu. It is that multiplug that i need to find.
I can take a picture of the cable tomorrow and i will try and post it, that explanation is probably a bit confusing sorry.

Oh no, not confusing at all buddy, I know what you mean. I only did mine a few weeks back. I can't remember if it goes into the oval multi plug that sits on the gearbox, or if it goes straight to the fuse box and connects via the green or white plug. I will tell you tomorrow mate (or should I say later today) I have all the wiring configuration in the bat cave!

I believe it goes to the multi plug that sits on top of the gearbox under the top hose outlet from the head

Hi, can you check under the coil pack at the battery end of the engine. Just had a look at some wiring plans and it looks like it plugs in somewhere under there.

Many thanks for all your replies, you've saved me a lot of time... And money!
I will be checking the car again on Sunday when I'm off work, so will let you know then.
Under the coil pack is the only place I didn't look, and with the overall cable length being about 16" from the gearbox, it seems about the right distance away!
Is it a simple enough job to get the cables back into the multiplug? I imagine il have to re-pin the cables? Will I get these from a motor factors or are they specialist parts?
Apologies for all the questions, as you can tell auto electrics aren't my speciality!
Many thanks once again for all your help

The pins should still be in the multi plug, so might just be easier to just solder back on to them. I'm not sure where you would get new pins from. There's a light brown cover in the plug, if you carefully prize that out with a screwdriver, you can get a small screwdriver and push the pin retaining clip back and push the pins out the plug. Then once you've soldered the wires back on, they clip back in. Just make sure you solder the correct wire to the correct pin or you'll have problems.

Unfortunately the pins were still attached to the cables when theyv been pulled out and 2 of the pins are damaged beyond repair. Does anyone know where il get replacement pins?

Also could anyone tell me how many cables actually go into this plug? As it might be worth me buyin a new connector and re pinning the whole lot. Trying to find pins is turning into a nightmare!

It might be worth just buying that bit of loom again, Ian G should be able to give you that for a small sum. This is the part you need



The plug should look like this



The oval plug that its fixed to has 12 holes for pins, but all the pins are not used, i think 9 are used. On the back of the oval plug, there are numbers, but they are quite hard to see, but the speedo wires go to numbers 10, 11, & 12. Ive made you this diagram to make it easier for you to re wire



Thats looking at the back of the oval plug with the wires towards you and the release clip on the top. The bottom right 3 holes should be empty if the pins have come out, so thats how you need to re wire it to get it working again.

Wow! Thank you very much! That is a huge help!
I've bought an AMP 3 pin connector so I'm gonna take the pins out of the existing multiplug, re-pin them with my new ones and and wire them through my new connector as I can't seem to find the pins on their own anywere!
Many thanks once again, that's a massive help!

Hi guys anychance any one know where i could get the piece of wire shown in the picture.

There is a seller on here called Ian G, he will sell you one of those.