Ford Repair: 95 Escort Automatic Transmission Mystery, vehicle speed sensor, raditor

Question
Hi and thanks for trying to help!

The problem is with an LX hatchback with 69000 miles(this vehicle has done a fair amount of sitting). Last night I was on the road for about 30 minutes, driving down a highway when the speedometer suddenly went to zero. From that point on, the car would not get out of 1st gear. I slowly got home and parked it. This morning, I decided to give it a try and started it up. To my amazement, the speedometer was working fine and, as I increased speed, it shifted perfectly, like there was never a problem! I am suspecting something electrical is at fault, but not sure. I did turn my lights today on to try and duplicte the problem, but it did not reoccur during the short test drive. The only recent work to the car was the replacement of the transmission lines to the raditor(they had rusted out and sprand a leek) and the installation of a new CD player.
Any ideas? Thanks!

Answer
Hello and thanks for the question...I'll try to help.
I would have the car's computer checked for fault codes. I think you'll find a VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor) code is stored in memory. This sensor tells the computer what the MPH of the car is .....so it can shift properly. It also controls the speedometer.
Hope this helps,
Erik