Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Electrical connectors

Hi,

Some of you may know I fitted most of the interior from the Mk2 Mondeo (97-2000) to my '93 Mk1 Mondeo, mainly as part of the change to leather seats. Many of the switches are different in the Mk2 and I had to change some of the wiring to make it all work. That was not a problem but the connectors for the switches is.

Ford will not sell me the connectors alone, I have to buy the whole loom! I have managed to work around the problem using makeshift connectors (such as spade terminals and IDE connector blocks) which does the job. However it's not very tidy and is a complete PITA if I ever have to remove anything.

I was wondering if it's possible to buy Ford's electrical connectors for the various interior switches over there? I'd imagine many of them are the same as in the UK. Either the connector alone, or with a short length of wiring included for me to splice into (i.e. out of a junkyard). The junkyards here are reluctant to allow me to cut off the connectors as well

Any help with this would be much appreciated, obviously I'll pay for the parts and shipping. Shouldn't be too expensive to ship here since they're very small and light.

Cheers,
Paul.

The problem with connectors is this, the country the harness is manufactured in. I have this problem with my company so I know the position you are in. Most of my companies wiring harnesses are built in Mexico, some come from Germany. Some of the connectors they use are not sold here and have to be sourced via internal sources, which takes time. Some companies have mfg. specific parts and the supplier will not sell them direct to you. Have you tried companies like www.Digikey.com for connectors? How about Bill Jenkins? Otherwise you are stuck retro-fitting them with Radio Spares parts.

Thanks. I tried that site, does it sell custom connectors? I can't find them maybe because there are so many categories; where would they be listed?

It does seem that the companies who supply connectors for Ford won't sell direct. I'm just mad that Ford refuse to sell the connectors on their own - if you damage one of them it's gonna cost you a whole loom .

Was maybe hoping that someone has access to a scrapped 97+ Contour that they're maybe using for engine parts etc, and doesn't need the interior wiring connectors. Of course this depends on them being the same as the UK ones but since many parts such as the clock are interchangeable there's a fair chance. If anyone can come up with anything I'll take pics of the connectors (or sockets) I need.

Cheers,
Paul.

I stopped using Digikey when my company started to stock the connectors for their own boards and harnesses. The other problem is you will need to find someone who will retail to you the few you need. Companies like AMP want you to stock (WD) thousands of parts. In this case, I would start to hit the electronic hobby super markets. There are some here that have loads of little parts. They buy them at auctions or buy out failed business inventory. You don't know what they will have from one month to the next. Place an ad in the Classified section, maybe someone in the group will be paying a visit to the local junker and get you one for a few bob...

You CAN get connectors from Ford without buying the whole loom/harness. I've done it before.

The catch is that you MUST have the part number from the connector--they cannot find it by application. And some connectors don't seem to have any part number on them at all.

[It would make too much sense to list the part number in the EVTM manual, wouldn't it?]

The other catch is that the part number will just get you the connector shell--the crimp pins are sold separately but are probably less trouble to get than the connector shell. (Thexton sells a kit,available off their page, of crimp pins for Ford connectors).

I ordered a replacement EGR position sensor connector for my '88 Mustang from a Ford dealer.

The replacement connector did NOT have a part number on it, the original one did.

Digi-Key sells a line of waterproof connectors by EDAC which LOOK like they might be similar to some of the connectors used by Ford (in fact, I think I've seen some Ford connectors stamped with EDAC on the shell) but I wouldn't bet money that they're the same connectors.

There's also only about 10 different EDAC connectors which Digi-Key stocks, so I doubt any of them will be what you need.

Brian

Some of the crimp pin tools cost big money! One I bought for AMP connectors from Germany cost almost 300 bucks. The US AMP plug tool was only around $50. Only reason I bought the tool is first it is better than using a small screwdriver to close the pins. It also makes better connections. Cost effective when doing a big job needing dozens of connections. I bought connectors for a VW years ago and soldered the wires to the pins before installing them into the connector.
Brian is right. All you need now is a parts man that will research the SPLs. Bill found a fastener for me one day for the strut tower. Strange tread pitch.

Some connectors are available from aftermarket companies. Most dealership parts people have catalogs for what they do have. It is far from a complete list though.

For what you are trying to do, it may be easier to find an electronics supply store (here in the US, Radio Shack for example) that can supply a generic connector, both male and female, that you can use to make your installation cleaner. These connectors are sometimes used with aftermarket radio installations. The connectors I'm referring to look like white plastic blocks. They come in several sizes (number of pins) so you have a reasonable choice to fit your needs

When I converted my 88 Mustang GT to mass-air, I had to solder 5 EEC-IV pins...it worked fairly well. I wouldn't want to do a whole bunch that way.

Brian

Thanks for the info guys. I had a look at my dad's car (which is a '00 Mondeo so has most of the connectors I need). Here's an example of one I found the part number for:

Traction Control Switch connector - 96FG 14 489 HGA

Does that seem like a correct Ford part number? There a few other numbers on the connector such as PBTD-6F30 and ES88A, but these are on most of the connectors so I think they're maybe a vendor code or something.

I got most of the numbers I need so hopefully my dealer will be able to get these parts for me. Sorting the crimp pins shouldn't be a problem, if need be I can solder.

Only a few problems remain. My dad's car doesn't have heated seats (therefore no switches for them), so I don't know the part number for those connectors. Also the connector for the clock doesn't have a part number at all. I think the 97+ Contour has the same clock as the 97+ Mondeo (or at least those with no clock have the connector behind the blanking plate), does your connector have a part number?

Thanks for your help!

Paul.

I think the 96FG... number is the one they'll need to find the part.

The clock connector can be replaced with an 8-pin header (of the same type used on motherboards for the serial/IDE/floppy ports), which you should be able to get from any electronics store (Maplin is one in the UK that I know of)

Brian