Does anyone know where this wire goes?

JCullen

Member
Jan 2, 2020
55
5
8
Indiana
I am wiring a 2.3 SVO turbo into a 29 Ford pickup. I have the wiring harness near completion but I can not figure out where one wire goes.
The distributor has 6 wires connected to it. The one I am trying to figure out is the the Red with a light blue stripe.
I have a complete wiring diagram set (many pages) and have traced that wire across many pages to finally,......the backup light switch. This may be correct but I am having a difficult time trying to tie the correlation to the backup light.
Does anyone know if this is correct or why they would interconnect?
 
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0128200431-1.jpg

It doesn't give the colors, but that is Ford's official wiring diagram for the ignition system.
 
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0128200431-1.jpg

It doesn't give the colors, but that is Ford's official wiring diagram for the ignition system.

Thanks. I will recheck the wiring today and see if this diagram related to my 87 Turbocoupe application. At first glance, it appears it may be different than the 87 ECU diagram and the 85 Turbocoupe factory shop manual. But it may explain the one Red with light blue (circuit #32) wire.
 
I believe I have figured it out with the help of the donated diagram.
Although the diagram does not have the wires in the same order as the TFI on later cars, it did make me realize the re with light blue wire goes to the ignition switch. I think this wire and another provide power to the TFI, one during "key on" and one during start and running.
Thanks.
 
Well I can’t get spark. I have double checked all the wiring and it seems to be okay except for the TFI connections on the distributor.
I have made some changes. First of all I by-pased the integrated relay box. The fuel pump did not work so I thought this salvaged relay unit may be bad. So I also wired the ECU through a fuse and ran the fuel pump off of the “on” switch through another fuse. The pump works with it wired direct through a fuse, inertia switch and then pump. Instead of power from the relay that went to the TFI, I sent power through a fuse and directly to the TFI. Still no spark.
Now referring to the diagrams above. You will notice there are 6 connections on the TFI module. The top two go to the ignition switch. One is Red/light green. The other is Red/light blue. The third one down is yellow/light green stripe. It goes to Pin # 36 on the ECU. The fourth one down is black / orange stripe and connects to pin #16 of the ECU. The fifth one down is dark blue and connects to Pin #56. The lowest one is dark green / yellow and goes to the coil.
I have checked all of these colors and have traced them on two different full wiring diagrams. They seem to be the correct wires going to the correct places.
HOWEVER. On one full diagram the terminals on the TFI are not in the same order as this diagram and this diagram is also different from an older a TFI plug I have on hand.
This old connector, pigtail and one of the shop manuals shows the color codes as follows:
Top. Dark blue.
2nd. Yellow/ light green
3rd. Red / light blue
4th. Red / light green
5th. Dark green / yellow
6th. Black / orange


Again, the above diagram is as follows:
Top. Red / green
2nd. Red / blue
3rd. Yellow / light green
4th. Black /orange
5th. Dark blue
6th. Dark green / yellow

I am wired like the factory shop manual. The top order of colors.
Can anyone confirm to me it is wrong and that “just maybe” the lower order of colors and the same as the above diagrams is correct. And if I try it that way, will I not fry the ECU or the TFI?
 
I though I would post these articles found. I do believe they will lead me to a solution to my problem and it may help some of you.
Look at;
easyautodiagnostics.com

Then you can go to the vehicle brand and then look at the diagnostic articles that involve your automobile. It is a great site. Take a look.
 
Can someone tell me what the SPOUT conn is in the diagrams above?
Is it a connector or a device? Or what?
What role does it play in the ignition system?

I have checked my wiring over several times on this project car (see above) and can still not get spark. I am using a newly rebuilt distributor, new ignition module and pip.

Ant help or suggestions would be appreciated at this time.
 
The spout connector is a little plug-in jumper that's in the middle of one of the wires to the distributor. You remove when setting base timing, otherwise it should be installed.
 
I just completed my engine swap and had a crank but no spark issue at the plugs. I created my own wire harness by chopping and splicing cannibalized parts from a 2002 and 1995 harness. I took this frankenstein harness on and off numerous times before the final wire management, looming and tape before thinking all I had to do is turn the key and start her up for the final test. That is when I got the crank with no spark. I used a multimeter to go back through it all and see why I didn't have any voltage. I traced it without any luck all the way back to the firewall. That is where I realized that I plugged the harness into the connector but I never tightened down the 10mm bolt that holds it securely in place. If you took that apart and put it back together as many times as I did, you may have overlooked the tightening of that bolt also. If that connection is just pushed together, you will get all of your electrical that you would expect, but it wont send the 12v to that distributor/coil to provide spark.

Just a thought of something to check
 
Thank you so much.
I will for sure check into this.
The other thing I am thinking is I may have a bad ecu. One came with the engine but have no idea what kind of a car or year that was from. It has less pins than another one I salvaged from an 87 Tbird Turbocoupe. That car had sat out for 20 years or better.
 
Help if you can!

I am still have trouble getting spark on my 2.3 turbo from pan 85 Tbird. I am wiring my own harness just for the engine since this is in a 29 Ford pickup.

From the beginning, there has been one wiring hitch that I have not yet come to grips with. The diagram above shows 6 terminals on the Ignition Control Module (TFI). The order shown on this diagram is not correct for my 85 engine. The top wire should be the dark blue wire that connects to pin 36 of the ecu. That is the pip signal. The second wire down is the Spout connection and it goes to pin 16 I believe on the ecu. The third wire is for starting 12 volts and the 4th wire down is for the running 12 volts. The 5th wire down is the big question. Above, it shows it going to the coil directly. However, the schematic of the ecu shows that is connected to pin #4 on the ecu. On the factory schematic it shows the 5th wire have been connected to the coil and then another wire coming off of the coil at the same terminal as where the 5th terminal of the TIF is connected. That wire goes to a resister and then to pin #4 of the ecu.

This has been confusing as three different diagrams are not consistent. I have had pin 4 connected to the terminal on the coil where the terminal #5 wire of the TIF connects like the factory diagram.

I went thru every wire on my harness again this afternoon....for what seems like the 10th time and all seems well except for this confusion with the 5th wire down on the TFI, the wire from pin 4 and the coil.

If I knew what went on exactly in the TFI I could figure this out but I can’t find a great explanation of how the current flows in the TFI.

Any guidance may help. I understand that most guys don’t get this deep into wiring details but maybe there is that one or two gents out there that have done this on a race engine or some other special project.

Thanks for reading.
 

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I wish I could help, but I've never worked on one of those setups. I did have to drop in and compliment you on an awesome build! That will be a fun ride when you are done. Did you upgrade the drive train as well? Good luck getting her going. I'll be looking over your shoulder to see how this turns out. Maybe we'll end up with a video of a 29 Ford doing SVO burnouts!
 
The TFI should fire if it is working, removing the spout connector is essentially the same as removing the ECU from the circuit. Please ensure that pin #1 has ignition power and #2 has 12v only when the key is in the cranking position. If you have no spark it can be a few things....
1. the TFI is bad
2. the pip is bad [ this is in the distributor and gives a signal to the TFI to fire ]
3. you have miss wired it.
 
I bench tested both the TFI and the PIP. They tested okay.
The wiring question I wrote above would be my only question. I have checked the wiring harness probably 10 times. Every wire.
I assume your pin 1 and 2 means the connection on the TFI !?
Those hook ups are not the same on an 85 Turbocoupe. As mentioned above, the diagram shown in an above diagram, the connections are not correct for an 85 model. Terminal #1 on the TFI is the PIP signal etc.
 
I wish I could help, but I've never worked on one of those setups. I did have to drop in and compliment you on an awesome build! That will be a fun ride when you are done. Did you upgrade the drive train as well? Good luck getting her going. I'll be looking over your shoulder to see how this turns out. Maybe we'll end up with a video of a 29 Ford doing SVO burnouts!
I built this pickup in 2018 and used a Miata front and rear subframes. Then I used the Miata engine and 5 speed transmission. On a flat road, it would barely reach 55 mph and not pull a hill without slowing. I researched aerodynamics and found that it takes 8 times the power to double a cars speed because of wind resistance. The 117 hp and 100 ft lbs of torque of the Miata 1.6 dual OHC engine pushed the aerodynamic Miata right along but the body Model A Ford, not so much.
Great thing, that truck drove and handles like a Miata with four wheel power disc brakes, rack and pinion power steering, four wheel independent suspension with RideTech coil overs.
 
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I know it came from an 87 Tbird. The engine came from an 85 Tbird. I am making my own wiring harness. I finally found a wiring diagram that clears some things up. I had 3 different diagrams, including a factory diagram but they did not match up.
 
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Once again, I have traced every wire on the 1985 factory wiring service diagram, have tested the ignition control module and pip, and have tried two different ECU units and still have no spark. I have been using a diagram of the ECU wiring from an 88 Mustang/Thunderbird and all seems well but I have not been able to find any diagrams for an '85 2.3 turbo. The test that I used for the testing of the ignition module and the pip are for Ford V8 ignition except the 3.8. It surely seems strange that almost no information is available for the 85.

Does anyone have the ECU diagram for an 85?

I have a new ignition control module, pip, rebuilt distributor and new coil. And still no spark.

My wiring seems to be good as I have checked every wire at least 10 times. I do have a wire running from pin #30 through a clutch switch so that will show the pickup is in neutral. On one diagram I found the clutch neutral switch and a 5 speed transmission neutral switch in parallel. So one or the other has to be "on" to send pin #30 a message that the vehicle is in neutral.

I am taking for granted something here. And that is that when the clutch is depressed at starting there is then a closed switch. Is this correct or should it be an open switch at start? The one diagram I found did not make that clear.

It is possible I have a wrong or bad ECU. One came with the engine and it was not made sure that it was good or if it belonged to this engine. The other came from an 87 Turbocoupe that had been sitting out for 25 years.
I will take anyone's ideas as where to look next.

I am not using the integrated relay system as I will not have air conditioning and I have wired the cooling fans to run all the time. This will be a summer running pickup and I still have the Miata radiator in the rear of the pickup. I have the fuel pump wired through an inertia switch and a fuse so when the key switch is on, the fuel pump is on.