engine swap harness help 2.3 to 5.0 (headlight harness)
08-17-2018, 05:22 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Oregon
Posts: 35
engine swap harness help 2.3 to 5.0 (headlight harness)
How different are the 1989 2.3 vs 5.0 headlight harness. I'm doing a 2.3 to 5.0 engine swap and I'm doing the wiring now. Is it easier to just get a 5.0 harness or can I modify the 2.3 to work? Any links or comparison diagrams would be very helpful. Thanks
08-18-2018, 01:37 AM
#2
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 2,327
You're only telling is 2.3 -vs- 5.0, but are not saying anything about what
year the 5.0 came out of. Still, they're dual element headlamps, lo and
hi, plus driving and signal. Should not be any issue adapting.
year the 5.0 came out of. Still, they're dual element headlamps, lo and
hi, plus driving and signal. Should not be any issue adapting.
08-18-2018, 08:19 AM
#3
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Oregon
Posts: 35
1989 2.3, using a 1989 5.0 Main engine harness. I found a 89 5.0 specific headlight harness for cheap I ended up ordering last night.
It's more so for ease of installation and the alternator connection. Ideally I'd prefer to plug into stock connections and keep the splicing and lengthening/shortening to a minimum.
It's more so for ease of installation and the alternator connection. Ideally I'd prefer to plug into stock connections and keep the splicing and lengthening/shortening to a minimum.
Last edited by Aaron Schulte; 08-18-2018 at 09:26 AM.
08-21-2018, 08:39 AM
#4
This is a rundown of the headlight harness.
Source: NeoMustangs
FRONT HEADLIGHT HARNESS: There were 3 different types of headlight harnesses. 87-89 was the same. 90 was by itself. Finally 91-93 were all the same and the 91-93 harness is easily identified with a "blue" cannon plug near the starter solenoid. The main issue with the interchangability was were the actual harness for front headlight harness plugged into the dash harness by the battery tray box. This is the area of concern. The rest of the harness was mostly the same throughout. 91-93 is easily idenfied because they color coated the cannon plug in question blue. Whereas 87-89 and 90 by itself were both black and easily missed. 87-89 and 1990 did NOT have a blue plug at this location. There was minor differences in the harnesses. Mainly ONE of the 2 cannon plugs found at the end of the harness that runs under the battery tray near the solenoid. There was 2 cannon plugs found at the end of the harness. Plus the spade connector that attached to the solenoid itself for power. One cannon plug was 8 pin and all the harnesses had the same plug. Now the second plug was changed 3 times. 87-89. 90 was by itself. and 91-93. If you were to look at the cannon plugs and had all 3 harnesses in front of you then the 87-89 had a "3pin" cannon plug that plugged in with the dash harness. 1990 had its own headlight harness plug there and it was a "4pin" cannon plug that plugged into dash harness. And finally 91-93 had a blue colored plug there and it was a 2 pin and plugged into dash harness. So you can see right there that the headlight harnesses weren't interchangeable or plug and play. Also one more minor detail. 87-89 had a different style "low coolant" plug for the sensor versus the 90-93 plugs. So those were slightly different too. This is the plug that plugs into the actually sensor on the overflow bottle. no big deal. But felt I would mention that. 2.3 4cyl cars do NOT have the same harness as a 5.0 because the 4cyl cars alternator was mounted on the drivers side of the engine. Same alternator used in both 2.3 and 5.0 however the harness that feeds it power and such is different so this harness WILL NEED changed when converting to a 4cyl car. They should all have 2 ground wires that ground on the core support where the headlight cannon plugs are located. The v8 5.0 light harness plugs to the dash harness and some of the engine harness underneath the battery tray. It runs up the drivers side connecting the 3 lights (corner, mid and inner lights) as well as connecting to the horn itself (has 2 connections for horn. At that point theres also a "fog light" plug in that all light harness's have even if its an LX. Moving on, the harness then grounds at the core support and plugs into the low coolant water bottle sensor. Then it runs across the core support, grounds off again and plugs into 3 lights there and runs up to the alternator and plugs in at the alternator with the D plug and the square plug.
Source: NeoMustangs
FRONT HEADLIGHT HARNESS: There were 3 different types of headlight harnesses. 87-89 was the same. 90 was by itself. Finally 91-93 were all the same and the 91-93 harness is easily identified with a "blue" cannon plug near the starter solenoid. The main issue with the interchangability was were the actual harness for front headlight harness plugged into the dash harness by the battery tray box. This is the area of concern. The rest of the harness was mostly the same throughout. 91-93 is easily idenfied because they color coated the cannon plug in question blue. Whereas 87-89 and 90 by itself were both black and easily missed. 87-89 and 1990 did NOT have a blue plug at this location. There was minor differences in the harnesses. Mainly ONE of the 2 cannon plugs found at the end of the harness that runs under the battery tray near the solenoid. There was 2 cannon plugs found at the end of the harness. Plus the spade connector that attached to the solenoid itself for power. One cannon plug was 8 pin and all the harnesses had the same plug. Now the second plug was changed 3 times. 87-89. 90 was by itself. and 91-93. If you were to look at the cannon plugs and had all 3 harnesses in front of you then the 87-89 had a "3pin" cannon plug that plugged in with the dash harness. 1990 had its own headlight harness plug there and it was a "4pin" cannon plug that plugged into dash harness. And finally 91-93 had a blue colored plug there and it was a 2 pin and plugged into dash harness. So you can see right there that the headlight harnesses weren't interchangeable or plug and play. Also one more minor detail. 87-89 had a different style "low coolant" plug for the sensor versus the 90-93 plugs. So those were slightly different too. This is the plug that plugs into the actually sensor on the overflow bottle. no big deal. But felt I would mention that. 2.3 4cyl cars do NOT have the same harness as a 5.0 because the 4cyl cars alternator was mounted on the drivers side of the engine. Same alternator used in both 2.3 and 5.0 however the harness that feeds it power and such is different so this harness WILL NEED changed when converting to a 4cyl car. They should all have 2 ground wires that ground on the core support where the headlight cannon plugs are located. The v8 5.0 light harness plugs to the dash harness and some of the engine harness underneath the battery tray. It runs up the drivers side connecting the 3 lights (corner, mid and inner lights) as well as connecting to the horn itself (has 2 connections for horn. At that point theres also a "fog light" plug in that all light harness's have even if its an LX. Moving on, the harness then grounds at the core support and plugs into the low coolant water bottle sensor. Then it runs across the core support, grounds off again and plugs into 3 lights there and runs up to the alternator and plugs in at the alternator with the D plug and the square plug.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post