PINTO CAR CLUB of AMERICA
Shiny is Good! => It's all about the Turbo... => Topic started by: amxtra on August 08, 2013, 04:28:42 PM
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Question for those that have done this, I have an 87 TC harness would I be correct in guessing that all I have to do is start at the PCM connector and peel all related wires from the TC harness ?
Or is there more to it that Im missing ?
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yup . get an la3 pinout and you can diet the harness while your at it. there is a connector for the engine section.
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The 87 and 88 harness sucks! it has way more stuff incorperated into it then earlier years, It can be used (I did a 87 harness), just way more work to make it clean. Do you have the wiring diagrams? you really only need about 15 wires to make things work, if i remember right 21 if you want the CEL, premium fuel switch and diag wire... Just me, but if i did it again, I pay the way over priced $450 for a new harness, or find a Merkur harness...
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I have what I have been able to find for wiring diagrams, I think most if not all of it, but haven't found a terminal pinout.
Since I have the 87 harness and Im .... frugal... going to use it. Trying to keep the price on this project down, well.. for now anyway.
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http://binary.uta.edu/EEC/html/pinout.html
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Look at this thread, it has all the wiring links I used
http://www.fordpinto.com/off-topic-general/turbo-coupe/msg118597/#msg118597
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They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I used the '88 TC harness and steering column. I wanted to retain the fuse box, relay box, charging system, steering column controls etc.. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea. I spent DAYS dissecting out the unnecessary wires. In the end I had about 20 wires I was "unsure" of and they still hang in a coiled bunch (Update, I just removed them today! Most were ride control, oil pan level, washer level, or wires that ran to connector and stopped on the other side). I also had long running issues that I only recently resolved by "wiring around" a problem.
I don't know which way to tell you to go, but I wouldn't necessarily endorse the '87-'88 harness.
Tom
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you took the complicated route by using the whole car harness. if you take the engine portion of the harness from the ecu out and clip every wire but the ones indicated on the pinout diagram you can strip away all the crap and be left with an la3 compatible ( no rewiring of a pe harness to make the la work) engine only harness..
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Well.., I didn't used the WHOLE harness. But yes, I did retain the wiring for the items listed in my post above.
AMXTRA - I'm including a couple of pictures. Yes, I have additional wires (also noted in my post above). Retaining the T/C fuse block is also a significant contributor to the wire count. Plus, the original Pinto harness is wrapped in the plastic wire protector. But, I wanted you to have a general view of what you can possibly be dealing with. Note the abundance of wires and vacuum tree going over the master cylinder. Also, the TFI is not mounted on the distributor, but a heat sink
Perhaps the best approach is to just focus on what you need (as OhSix9 stated) rather than what can be removed (like I did). Each process has an appropriate purpose depending upon the application. Regardless, the intertwining of the wires in the '87-'88 harness will keep you busy either way.
Tom
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Yeah the wiring does look like a nightmare, but it comes back to the old saying.. How do you eat an elephant ?
One bite at a time. I will start by trying to peel the engine harness out.