How hard is it to install a 2005 GT engine bay wiring harness?

[Spence340]

Looking to pick up a 2005 GT convertible automatic with 104,000 miles, 1ZVHT85H255186025 that was hit from the front. The connectors to the PCM got whacked pretty good so I need to change out the wiring harness. Is it very hard to do and how specific does the harness have to be? Will a 2006 harness work no problem? Does it have to be from a convertible and an automatic car?

 

[skwerl]

I can only relate to halfway removing a harness when I put a new stroked shortblock in my 2009 Bullitt. Everything lays out in line so if it is in the right place, each connector is right next to whatever it connects to. Removing the old harness, start at the front of the engine and work your way back. Pay attention to how it is routed and where it connects. Reverse for installation.

 

[Juice]

Are the wires actually damaged of just the pcm plugs?
Its not hard to repin a new connector.

 

[Spence340]

Just one wire is cut (it's light green/torquoise color) and I think it is out of the middle plug and could be connected or soldered back together. Car will not crank over right now but dash lights come on when you turn the key but it does not look quite right. Repinning would be nice, it doesn't look easy to do, can you just pull them out and reinsert in a good plug?

 

[whitmanink]

the 2005 and 2006 have the same bcm and engine harness plug,, the 07 and up they changed body plugs into the ecu,, im pretty sure the engine harness may be the same, ,, im not %100 on that but is worth looking into,,
as far as the connections once you get a new harness?
as said above, everything falls into place ,, and if you cannot figure one out , just shoot a pic and me or someone will tell you where it goes ,

 

[whitmanink]

you can put them in a new plug,, id suggest a plug pin removal tool to make life easier ,, or solder that broken wire and see what happens,, try the cheapest quickest thing first (repair that wire) , and go from there ,,

 

[Spence340]

OK, I just saw some pin removal kits on ebay which I will order, I have to pull the fenders anyway so I will pull the inside liners as well so I should have plenty of room to work with and be able to see what goes where. Good info on the years so I will stick with '05 and '06, I have a line on a '06 harness and since my car was built 03/05 I should be good. From what I have read I need to get the harness from an automatic car which makes sense, but does it have to come off a convertible car as well? If the I can just do the PMC plugs, I will do that first and see what happens, like you said "cheapest quickest thing first" sounds good to me.

 

[whitmanink]

convertible's ,make no difference in harness style ,, only added weight to the chassis to reinforce no roof

 

[Spence340]

Trying to get this car running and I’m wondering if relays might be blown from when the car was whacked in the front and everything was pushed in six inches. Some things must have shorted out I would assume.

 

[Autokyrios]

How hard is it to change/remove a wiring harness?

You will know pain.
You will know fear.
And then you will want to die...

Okay, in seriousness, there's an engine harness and a separate harness for the transmission (auto and manual have different harnesses). Otherwise I'm fairly certain they're the same as the convertible bits are a separate body harness (would have to crack out the wiring book but the gray cells whisper that, so...)

If you just want to replace the connector, Ford sold a repair kit that was a connector with pigtails you could splice to an existing harness, but I heard a rumor they no longer sell it so if you need the connector you have to source one. Splicing the wires takes forever and you have to be...MUST be...meticulous, but otherwise it's just splicing wires. Anyone with basic solder skills can handle it. If you want to try your hand at re-pinning the wires into a new connector, that's doable, but do yourself a serious favor and buy some proper tools for doing connector pin work. They're dirt cheap and far less likely to leave you wanting to blowtorch your eyeballs out...

 

[Spence340]

The more I look at the harness the more I think it will be OK, there is only one wire that is actually cut completely, and I did not realize that you could de-pin the connector and take out the one bad wire. I went to a junk yard and cut a plug out and left the wires six inches or more so I can de-pin the cut wire and replace it with the junk yard wire so I have some room to work with to reconnect the one wire to the harness. There is a good YouTube video showing how to de-pin a ford plug, I did not know that the red pin cover just pops off so you can get at the pins. I did buy a whole de-pinning kit on ebay that has all kinds of little keys that you use for this, but a really small thin pick or screwdriver would work too.

 

[Autokyrios]

Yeah, most connectors can be re-pinned. The trick is knowing how to get them open. You have to be super careful with some because the parts are very small and fiddly and they're often designed to only be robust when the whole thing is together.
Like I mentioned above, do yourself a favor and jump on Amazon (or whatever you want) and grab a terminal pin removal kit. They're like $10 and will come with virtually every type of pin release tool imaginable. You'll have a much easier time and will do less damage than trying to pick around with something else.

Oh...and take copious amounts of pictures before you do anything.