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2005 Ford Ranger Won't Go Over 55 MPH


Orca

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The wheel sensors don't provide speed information to the ECU. The wheel sensor just pulses to determine if one wheel is going slower than the other indicating a skid to activate the ABS.
Actually, the "wheel sensors" do provide speed information to the ABS (and, hence, to the PCM). That's why the common acronym is "WSS" (Wheel Speed Sensor). ;)

Furthermore, one of my reference sources for a 2005 Ranger mentions this:
Be aware of engine RPM / speed-limiting functions of the PCM (look for incorrect high vehicle speed signal from ABS, VSS, or OSS).
That suggests to me that the PCM may indeed be limiting vehicle speed based on unreliable speed inputs. I know that RonD mentioned speed limiting earlier, but he had suggested that 95 MPH was the most common. Maybe 55 MPH is also used as a limit under other conditions? :unsure:

If it were me, I'd be doing what RonD already suggested above: get an inexpensive OBD2 scantool. I'd add that you should get some smart software to drive it (FORScan for Windows, free, running on a laptop is best, but almost anything is better than nothing) and start looking at speed-related PIDs, including the WSS (Wheel Speed Sensor) values reported by the ABS, and the VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor) reported by the PCM.

If it's just a bad sensor, it should be easy enough to replace (I've replaced a faulty front WSS on my 2004 Ranger -- piece of cake) and you'll save a ton of money compared to the dealership.
 


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Speed sensors can’t be that expensive and they should plug in at a connector mounted on the frame rail in the forward corner of the wheel well. I had to mess with those when I replaced the front, left hub. It wasn’t that big a deal and the only reason I didn’t reuse to old sensor is because the new hub came with one.
 

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I dunno, just saying anytime I've seen exhaust restrictions or fuel restrictions that cause power loss, they don't happen so abruptly and at consistent speeds. :dunno:
I agree. Sounds like maybe a sensor or input is causing it to think 55 is 95 and kicking in the rev limiter.
 

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Going to go pick up the car tomorrow and talk to the representative that I dropped the car off with a little bit more about how they came to that conclusion.
:whistle: Well, it's been over 2 weeks now. Just curious... any progress?
 

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I finally had the time to replace the front wheel speed sensors myself on Friday. Knocked it out in about 2 hours, took for a test drive on the highway, boom at 55 MPH same issue. I'm trying to decide if I want to take it back to the dealership or try to diagnose on my own. I need to buy a car scanner if I am going to try and do it on my own. So far I'm $370 in on this issue. Around $200 for the sensors and $170 for the dealership to look at it
 

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what happens if all wheel speed sensors are disconnected?
 

Orca

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I'm trying to decide if I want to take it back to the dealership or try to diagnose on my own. I need to buy a car scanner if I am going to try and do it on my own.
My vote would be to diagnose it on your own and avoid the dealership. You seem to clearly have the necessary skills, so why not save some money?

Just curious, do you have some aversion to (or questions about) getting an inexpensive scantool and running FORScan? No need to spend a lot. More advice is available if you're interested.

BTW, the problem could be the wiring between the connector end of a wheel speed sensor (WSS) and the ABS. Or, albeit less likely IMHO, you could have gotten a new, bad WSS (making pjtoledo's suggestion well worth trying). Those are more reasons why having a scantool to diagnose is the best solution.
 

emanheeman

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what happens if all wheel speed sensors are disconnected?
That's a great question. I'll try it later today after I get off of work!

My vote would be to diagnose it on your own and avoid the dealership. You seem to clearly have the necessary skills, so why not save some money?

Just curious, do you have some aversion to (or questions about) getting an inexpensive scantool and running FORScan? No need to spend a lot. More advice is available if you're interested.

BTW, the problem could be the wiring between the connector end of a wheel speed sensor (WSS) and the ABS. Or, albeit less likely IMHO, you could have gotten a new, bad WSS (making pjtoledo's suggestion well worth trying). Those are more reasons why having a scantool to diagnose is the best solution.
I 100% agree and am going to pick up a scantool after work. (I actually ordered one from autozone for in store pick up 2-3 weeks ago but was waiting to go pick it up if replacing the speed sensors were to fix the issue.) I'll keep ya'll updated on what I find.
 

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Okay, so update: I got the scanner, plugged it in, and read the codes C1148 and C1158 Left and Right Front Wheel Speed Sensor Coherency Fault which appears to be saying I have a short somewhere between the sensor and the ABS module. I cleared the codes and drove it around trying to get the codes to pop back up. I hit 55 MPH getting my usual issue and nothing on the code reader. Pulled over shut the car on and off, unplugged and plugged the code reader back in and got no codes to pop up. Drove it around for another 15-20 minutes continuously allowing the car to hit 55 MPH and then be governed. Still no code. Not sure how to interpret that. I tried looking at Live Data while it was happening but got the error "Communication with vehicle lost." Do ya'll think I should inspect the wires from the sensor to the ABS module?

Oh I also unplugged the sensors, drove the car, and got the same issue at 55 mph. Not sure what that tells me
 

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I got the scanner, plugged it in, and read the codes C1148 and C1158 Left and Right Front Wheel Speed Sensor Coherency Fault which appears to be saying I have a short somewhere between the sensor and the ABS module.
Maybe, maybe not...

I had an ABS light and DTC (Diagnostic Trouble Code) 'C1158' ('Left Front Wheel Speed Sensor Coherency Fault') 6 years ago on my 2004 Ranger. I replaced the left front WSS (wheel speed sensor), doing the work myself, and the problem went away and hasn't come back since then. There was no issue with the wiring, just (presumably) a bad WSS.

A few months ago, while messing around with locking up the wheels on a slippery surface, so that the ABS would kick in, I got an ABS light. A quick scan with my USB-cabled scantool showed DTC 'C1148' ('Right Front Wheel Speed Sensor Coherency Fault'). I graphed the output of both of the front wheel speed sensors and could clearly see that the right front WSS was "lagging" compared to the left front WSS. But (IIRC) every time I cycled the key the ABS light went off. So I know that I will probably be replacing the right front WSS sometime soon -- it's just not bad enough to trigger the ABS light unless I'm trying to induce it.

It strikes me as odd that you're getting both wheel speed sensors reporting a problem, especially after replacing them both.

But after I wrote all that, it also occurred to me that maybe the 2 ABS codes you saw were still being reported by the ABS from when the old sensors were installed. So clearing them and having them not come back would be a good thing.

Unplugging the 2 front WSS and having the same 55-mph-governing issue seems like evidence that the problem might be elsewhere.

With that in mind, there should be a "VSS" (Vehicle Speed Sensor) PID (from the PCM) and a rear-wheels (1 sensor for both wheels) speed sensor PID (from the ABS) that you can monitor. If you can safely check those while approaching 55 mph, it might give a clue.
Do ya'll think I should inspect the wires from the sensor to the ABS module?
My vote would be to wait on that until you've assessed the performance of the VSS and rear-wheels WSS.
 

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Mmmm I checked my OBD2 code reader and I couldn't find a sensor for the VSS or rear ABS WSS on the live view. I was thinking I could try disconnecting them one at a time to see if it makes a difference tomorrow
 

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Mmmm I checked my OBD2 code reader and I couldn't find a sensor for the VSS or rear ABS WSS on the live view. I was thinking I could try disconnecting them one at a time to see if it makes a difference tomorrow
VSS is a standard SAE PID, not manufacturer-specific, so virtually every scantool should support it. It's Mode $01, PID $0D, in case that helps.

I don't know where the PCM gets VSS from, though, especially on a manual transmission. But if you can monitor the PID, you should at least be able to see if it's "sane", up to and (eventually) past 55 mph.

Since you cannot monitor the rear-wheels' WSS, then disconnecting it might provide some evidence if it's messing things up, so it's probably worth a try.

P.S. This is why I suggested FORScan -- it can monitor all sorts of useful PIDs from virtually every module on the Ranger, including the ABS and all 3 WSS.
 

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The VSS and rear WSS are the same thing. Computer uses the signal from the VSS mounted on the differential for both speedometer and rear ABS function.
 

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The VSS and rear WSS are the same thing. Computer uses the signal from the VSS mounted on the differential for both speedometer and rear ABS function.
Ah, good to know... thanks!

That being the case, it should be interesting to simply disconnect the rear wheels' speed sensor, then monitor the VSS PID, and see (A) what value does VSS report and (B) if the 'governing' problem is still present at 55 mph.

EDIT: Of course, you should still plan on monitoring VSS with the rear WSS connected, just to see if it's sane up to 55 mph.
 
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emanheeman

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So I tried disconnecting the rear ABS speed sensor and still had the 55 MPH issue. I monitored the VSS from the code scanner and it did not show anything abnormal. I will try disconnecting the VSS soon to see if that makes any difference
 

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