message center sensors

hello everyone, i am going to attempt this. i have a 98 sport that didn't come with a lot of stuff from factory. to date i have put a factory tilt column, cruise control (witch happened to be a plug and play), overhead console, auto dimming mirror, BMW, and blue l.e.d. lighted interior. all but the cruise was from help from this site (hey, thanks eh!). what i want now is to put a message center into it as well. i found a wrecked eddy, and got the complete console (with the message center, and harness after the big connector), and low washer fluid sensor, with a few other parts as well for $20. the console is god awful green, but i will dye it to match the interior, and the arm rest has a tare in it, but i know i can find one of them. besides the oil sensor, what other sensors will i need. i am not going to bother with the lamp out part, and from the other posts that i have been reading, i can't seem to find out if there is something else that i need to get, and where it would be on the truck, or do i have all i would need from the donor?
almost forgot! can i also use the heater controls in the back of the console, even if i don't have electronic heater controls?

What you need to do is some searching. I don't know if it's on this site or someone else's. But I have found a couple of articles well documented and detailed about this install. It is definitely not plug and play. But it can be done. You are going to need to do quite a bit of wiring.

You will need the correct oil pan for the oil sensor. Does your pan allow for it? That would be huge if it did.

The first thing you need to do for rear air is get the air back to it. I haven't looked into all that is involved with that. But for sure you will need the ducting under the dash that mates to your console. Getting the fan to work should be easy.

well so far theses are the best write ups that i have come across

http://www.section525.com/asp84/

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80670&highlight=message+center

and big thanks to JTSMITH for this one!

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209770

i tried to pull a full console out of a explorer that i stripped in the spring, only for it to take about 5 hours, and in the end, i ended up breaking the thing! after reading JTSMITHS write up, went to the wreckers, and it took, no word of a lie, 2 minutes!
the write ups that i found really don't say anything other then the two sensors that i have, but i am not 100% sure if that is all i would need. i know there is going to be a lot of wiring, and i plan on doing this when i get a free weekend.
it never occurred to me if i have the correct pan for that sensor! good point, now i am wondering if i can do that or not! i just naturally assumed that there would be a plug in mind that i would take out, and screw the sensor into.
as for the fan part, i think all the duct work that i need is under the console, the only thing i would have to do is cut a hole in the duct that is under my ash tray, and use some foam to seal it up for the air to get back there. i am just not sure on how the wires would have to be routed, or if i can just splice into the heater control switch in the dash

There are quite a few differences in wiring, sensors, and AC parts between trim levels. If you wanted just one feature I would add it. If you want several, then really the best answer would be to hunt the complete dash wiring, and dash AC box if you want the EATC controls etc. With the wiring harness it's plug and play, otherwise there will be a good bit of research and cutting/splicing.

The AC box is different at the floor where it meets the console. I could use the portion from yours, I don't use a console in my Limited. You can probably cut off the section of the other kind of AC box, and epoxy it to yours. Good luck,

I was going to post my link but you already have it.

CDW6212R said:

There are quite a few differences in wiring, sensors, and AC parts between trim levels. If you wanted just one feature I would add it. If you want several, then really the best answer would be to hunt the complete dash wiring, and dash AC box if you want the EATC controls etc. With the wiring harness it's plug and play, otherwise there will be a good bit of research and cutting/splicing.

The AC box is different at the floor where it meets the console. I could use the portion from yours, I don't use a console in my Limited. You can probably cut off the section of the other kind of AC box, and epoxy it to yours. Good luck,

Click to expand...

well, i do want this for the mileage part for sure, but i would want as many feature as i can get. if i can't get the heater controls to work, that's no big deal. i can always take them out of the console an make some kind of trim piece for it. i just hate having dead controls in any of my vehicles.
as for putting i a EATC, no way! i have read a few things on what you have to do to put one in, and that is too much to do for me. i was looking at it while i as pulling the console out, and thinking, "do i really want it?.......no".

section525 said:

I was going to post my link but you already have it.

Click to expand...

that was one of the first threads that i was reading. as mentioned earlier (and if i am to dum to see it) is there any other sensors that i may need for the MC to work? as i was saying the only thing i am not going to do is the "lamp out" for the simple reason that my truck is wired different because it is a 98.

BTW guys, thanks for the responses.

You do have to have a message center from 98-01, the 95-97's are different. The rear console controls can't be used completely without the dash wiring, but you can make the fan work with little trouble. It is on its own fuse for the full console models, so it's a matter of a couple of wires. It won't be controlled by the AC up front of course. I don't know any more details of that, my trucks both have the EATC.

i just answered a email to someone one ebay that has a 98 and up MC. i wished that i could use the one that i have (it's an 97 and down) because i spent about 8 hours putting in blue L.E.D.'s in all the switches this winter. i even took the MC that i have apart, and there is no way to change the display color on them, just the button color (nuts).

You might swap some of the parts, the buttons and display should all be the same.

the buttons are the same, but isnt the display part of the "brain" of the MC?

I'm not sure, I thought that they would separate. I may consider changing colors, I hadn't reached that point yet.

May be like the overhead console- just a colored lens.

I took my extra one apart partially three years ago, thinking of locating the components in the glovebox. I don't recall if the display was part of the module.

when i took mine apart to clean it, the digital display itself was colored. there is also a clean lens on the black cover that has a slight tint to it. I'm sure that could be shaded to what ever color you would want it to be. but at the same time, I'm not sure if the display itself can be swapped over. not sure if it is part of the brain or not. it had a ribbon going to it, one part of that obviously is for it to light up, and for it to know what it should be displaying.

please take my advice. I also attempted this on a 2000 XLS.

What engine do you have?

If you have the 4.0 OHV, then this message center will not work.

It ONLY works on 4.0 SOHC and 5.0.

This is becuase there is ONE CRUCIAL signal you need from the PCM called FUEL FLOW SIGNAL.

This was only available on Eddys and Mountaineers. Eddys didnt come with the 4.0 OHV, so Ford opted to not make this signal available.

Please consider this and save yourself the time. I have a 4.0 OHV, and have completly installed this message center just to find out that it doesnt work without that signal.

But on the flip side, it is helpful to see how many gallons I have in the tank.

I don't buy that, the message center has been in lots of OHV 4.0's. I test drove a 95 Limited, there is one. Eric has added the message center and EATC to his OHV Sport, which now has a 302 in it. It's not simple, but also not impossible.

He may be onto something there CDW. (God I hate to say that with a name like his! ) I have the MC in my 4.0 OHV...but it's a 95 model and EEC IV. I really like it because it also has instant fuel economy where the MC in my 99 doesn't. But if Ford didn't build an EEC-V PCM for the 4.0 OHV with the necessary wiring and signals, I don't know what you could do to fix it. My first question would be to look at the PCM and see if there is even a pin there. Another option MAY be to use a SOHC PCM. I've been doing some reading lately about how those can be made to work with a little jury rigging. I believe Fortune410 is familiar with the process.

I also wonder if you couldn't get an EB with the 4.0 in 1996? That would be EEC-V.

Well all Limited models have the message center, that should be an easy search also. Let's ask Eric about it, he had the advantage of an entire donor truck to get any part from. The worst case scenario would be to use the SOHC PCM and a few wires, but I doubt that that is necessary.

nope, i have a SOHC in mine. the only thing i have to figure out now, is if i can put the oil sensor into it. i phone a former coworker that i was working with at the same ford dealership and what he told me was that some pans had a hole for the sensor, and some didn't. it didn't matter if there was one for it or not. he said it was all a matter of what was on the assembly line at the time. unless the truck had a MC in it, it was a crap shoot if you had the right pan or not.