Progress Thread Nasty Ninety Notch
- Thread starter joetrainer31
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UPDATE:
Whomever worked on this car before I purchased it needs an aware...for BIGGEST hack ever. For some reason they found it necessary to go under the dash, remove wires, break things, and plug connectors into the wrong places. Basically they hacked the interior harness to death. What were they doing under the dash?!
Whoever you are, my tech would like to meet you one day soon and thank you for filling his days with the following...
and...
Well at least the heater core is replaced, the blower motor works again, and the HVAC controls aren't frozen anymore.
Whomever worked on this car before I purchased it needs an aware...for BIGGEST hack ever. For some reason they found it necessary to go under the dash, remove wires, break things, and plug connectors into the wrong places. Basically they hacked the interior harness to death. What were they doing under the dash?!
Whoever you are, my tech would like to meet you one day soon and thank you for filling his days with the following...
and...
Well at least the heater core is replaced, the blower motor works again, and the HVAC controls aren't frozen anymore.
mikestang63
SN Certified Technician
You would have been better off in time and money by having swapped in a new ( used) entire harness from a same year car. Sad to say, that is one of the reasons I recommend buying a stock car and then doing what you want to it vs. most of the mustangs out there that are hacked up.
We are actually still looking for an interior harness. We didn't know this one was so hacked when I bought it. Any suggestions? The interior harness is the one which connects to the fuse block (among other things), and runs through the firewall and into the engine bay.
mikestang63
SN Certified Technician
best bet is to contact MPS, look on EBAY or on the classifieds
squeak93
15 Year Member
Yes. Our tech is really good at this kind of thing, but he's getting fed up with it because everything is so hacked. I still cannot understand what the other guy was trying to accomplish. I don't think he knew what he was trying to accomplish either.
It was the same idea with the brake system on this car. He had put a '93 Cobra master cylinder, but then had all the wrong brake lines and brake line flares. He also had no hardware for the drums. Our tech had to basically reconstruct the brake system and flare all the hard lines properly. Its been ridiculous. I'm going to buy him lots of lunches!
squeak93
15 Year Member
I feel your pain. I have a original 4 cylinder car that 6 months ago had a Turbo LSX/auto drive train in it. Now it's a 5.0 AOD car again. Luckily they used a complete (rusty) 91 lx vert to donate almost everything over. I only had one wire that was hacked (horn wire was cut and used for a trans brake) and the rest appears to work as needed.
Lemme tell you, that worked out WELL for you. The old owner of this car randomly got rid of wires. Do you know how time consuming it is to figure out 1) that your tests aren't crazy -there's something wrong, 2) what in the world is wrong, 3) oh, there are wires that have been arbitrarily removed, 4) which wires have been removed, 5) where in the harness do removed wires belong [at both ends], 6) now that I know where the wires belong and what they operate how are they connected, 7) wait, is it a missing wire or is the unit/module they are plugged into inoperative, 8) let's play parts trial and error to find out, 10) nope, its a missing wire -back to step 3 and double check.
LOL, our poor tech has 25 years experience. He's like a walking alldata, be even he has his tolerance limits to hackery. I'm hoping free Del Taco will sooth his dissatisfaction.
Man that sucks. These cars have been neglected too much by jackasses for 20+ years and are just now starting to get the appreciation they need and deserve by us. Maybe in another 5-10 years we will start seeing more and more nice 5.0's on the road after we bang our heads restoring them back to their glory and making them better than they ever were and the value of our vehicles will increase a little once people stop seeing so many hack jobs for sale and driving around.
Yeah. Its not an easy job un-hacking a car's various wiring harnesses and other systems.
Update: Operation Exhausted:
We accomplished 2 tasks today. After spending about 6 hours trying to figure out why the fuel pump wasn't working with the key, yet it would work if powered separately, we finally fixed the problem. Was it a bad wheel cylinder? Nope. Bad fuseable link under the hood? Nope. Bad wiring in the interior and/or exterior harness? Nope. Bad ground? Nope. Bad connector by the tank? Nope. Bad inertia switch? Still no. How about a bad fuel pump relay? Nope. It was another attack of the wiring hacker!
The guy actually had the pigtail end of the harness that the relay plugs into wired wrong! WHY would anyone pull the connectors out of the pigtail then plug them back in wrong?
Then we got the exhaust system installed:
We accomplished 2 tasks today. After spending about 6 hours trying to figure out why the fuel pump wasn't working with the key, yet it would work if powered separately, we finally fixed the problem. Was it a bad wheel cylinder? Nope. Bad fuseable link under the hood? Nope. Bad wiring in the interior and/or exterior harness? Nope. Bad ground? Nope. Bad connector by the tank? Nope. Bad inertia switch? Still no. How about a bad fuel pump relay? Nope. It was another attack of the wiring hacker!
The guy actually had the pigtail end of the harness that the relay plugs into wired wrong! WHY would anyone pull the connectors out of the pigtail then plug them back in wrong?
Then we got the exhaust system installed:
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Dang man that is terrible!! Imagine if the average Joe DIY guy bought that car and was working at home in his own garage. That car would be on CL already being advertised for parts. Good thing you're saving this Notch because I'm not sure many others could have.
Going to be able to fire up the engine soon?
Going to be able to fire up the engine soon?
Agreed. There is no way must ppl could have gotten this notch to work.
We fired it up today. I was horrified because there was a HUGE knocking sound. It sounded like a rod trying to punch through the cylinder wall. The short block is brand new too.
We quickly started trying to pinpoint the noise. It was not actually in the engine. It was coming from the bell housing. So we took the exhaust, driveshaft and trans back out of the car. We turn the trans by hand and it sounds like its coming from inside the trans. Probably bearings. That's disappointing. So, its time to dig into the T5.
This car would've been a junk yard/parts car easy.
Update: T5 completely rebuilt (e.g., gear cluster, input shaft, bearings, synchros, 2nd gear slider, etc). Also, new carpet, weather stripping, outer door belt weather stripping, window run channel (PAIN 2 Install), and center console installed.
No pics because y'all wouldn't be able to tell new weather stripping from old on a pic. T5 should be going in this week. The cross member will get Urethane bushings which will pretty much service the entire car with Energy Suspension and/or Urethane bushings.
A new deck lid is waiting in the wings due to a hole in the original. New deck lid bumpers will be added (little doobers in the corners to stop lid rattle). Lastly, new rear lights will be installed (to match the new front lights). Pics forthcoming...
No pics because y'all wouldn't be able to tell new weather stripping from old on a pic. T5 should be going in this week. The cross member will get Urethane bushings which will pretty much service the entire car with Energy Suspension and/or Urethane bushings.
A new deck lid is waiting in the wings due to a hole in the original. New deck lid bumpers will be added (little doobers in the corners to stop lid rattle). Lastly, new rear lights will be installed (to match the new front lights). Pics forthcoming...
Did you ever find a harness? I have an '87 body harness on the shelf that I'd like to get rid of. Not sure if it's compatible or not, someone here would need to chime in. I know that the warning lights are not in the cluster like the later model cars are, but that may not be an issue.
squeak93
15 Year Member
1989 Mustang Electrical & Vacuum Troubleshooting Manual - Helm Incorporated
Nothing like a factory service manual for taking on wiring issues. The factory EVTM is priceless. Well OK, it cost about $15.....
My experience with AllData is more like No Data. They are good for finding out how many qrts of oil go into a Saab, but that is about it. We have AllData and Identifix here at work and AllData is severely lacking in information.
Nothing like a factory service manual for taking on wiring issues. The factory EVTM is priceless. Well OK, it cost about $15.....
My experience with AllData is more like No Data. They are good for finding out how many qrts of oil go into a Saab, but that is about it. We have AllData and Identifix here at work and AllData is severely lacking in information.
Thanks so much for your reply. Yes, I did locate a source. My tech wants to give it one more shot after we start the car up. Although, the car has put up a good fight against coming to life. The 1st start up: tranny dump. 2nd start up Injector(s) stuck open -raw fuel was coming out the exhaust. Now, its new injectors $$$.
