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Explorer Police Interceptor

I suggest you contact your area police upfitter for further assistance or have them do what you need to do.
 



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OK, not a bad idea, however I'm wondering how "big" of a job this is? I don't want to be pulling interior panels etc? I was hoping it was just a matter of using the computer or plugging something in? Thanks
 






It all depends on how the vehicle was ordered and what options were ordered.

They might be wired and might not be - the only way to know is to pull the interior panels

We do these everyday - I am a Factory Rep for Whelen and we are the ones that provide all that equipment to Ford.

You have read all the upfitter manuals and all the answers are sometimes in those as long as you are comfortable with the installation of this type of equipment.

If the vehicle came with a controller - in this case it would be a Sapphire or an undercover switch box - those are hooked up by Ford to at least turn the optioned lights on if they were ordered with the correct option codes.

I also suggest that a qualified upfitter handle these modifications. That said it is usually are bare wires that either go to a controller or a customer provided controller.

Some options are triggered via the PIM Police Interface Module - but Aux lightheads are not.
 






It all depends on how the vehicle was ordered and what options were ordered.

They might be wired and might not be - the only way to know is to pull the interior panels

We do these everyday - I am a Factory Rep for Whelen and we are the ones that provide all that equipment to Ford.

You have read all the upfitter manuals and all the answers are sometimes in those as long as you are comfortable with the installation of this type of equipment.

If the vehicle came with a controller - in this case it would be a Sapphire or an undercover switch box - those are hooked up by Ford to at least turn the optioned lights on if they were ordered with the correct option codes.

I also suggest that a qualified upfitter handle these modifications. That said it is usually are bare wires that either go to a controller or a customer provided controller.

Some options are triggered via the PIM Police Interface Module - but Aux lightheads are not.

Thanks, there was a controller that mounted to the center console, but it was removed by the dealer, so I'm guessing that this might be the end of it?

The vehicle was a Ford demo and I believe that it came "loaded"
Would the VIN tell me what "package" it came with?

Could the rear lights be controlled via the AUX switch on the steering column? or is this a "pipe dream"

I have a PDF of the window sticker? if I sent to ya would that help?

Cheers


 






Sounds like it came with the ready for the road package. That means they probably pulled some required equipment to make them function. No one here is going to be able to give you a straight forward answer of what needs to be done because no one except who has previously worked on the vehicle knows what was removed and what was disconnected and where. Yes they can be hooked to the AUX steering wheel outputs as I stated before. You need to find where the wires run and re-wire them to the AUX outputs. The AUX outputs are detailed in the upfitter guide. This WILL require pulling a lot of trim out of the vehicle. Again all this is in the upfitter guides and associated materials. The window sticker does tell you what it came equipped with from the factory.
 






Running the VIN should give you the factory Window Sticker which lists the standard and optional equipment. Give it a try. You have nothing to lose.

Peter
 






I like a challenge, so I'm interested in doing this, I have the window sticker in a PDF. I'm wondering how to locate a "up-fitter" in my area? Any good news form the window sticker?



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Where are you looking to copy and paste the Window Sticker? If looking to do it here, you can do it using the Manage Attachments program but you must have an Elite membership to do so. Also other Elite members are not supposed to do it for you as per Forum rules.

Peter
 






Ya, well I just used imgur, it turned ok??? some of it is readable.
 












According to the service manual which BTW is available to you for one month net access for like $20-$30 the ready for the road siren/light controller is under the floor piece directly ahead of the spare tire cover/floor. Remove the two bolts on the floor piece (if memory serves me correctly they are 13MM). Pull the spare tire cover/floor and then the piece forward of it and if they left the controller brain in place it should be visible. If not, at least all the electrical connectors should be there for the lights, etc. (I doubt they would have pulled all of those). Use the wiring diagrams to figure out which is the rear lights.

Further - the rear high mounted LEDs are pin 7 Brown/Violet 18 gauge wire on the 10 pin Gray plug at the lighting/siren controller - "7 CAP10 (BN-VT) 18 POLICE - LAMP PACKAGE TRAY"
 






The siren controller on the RFTR package is behind the driver side rear seat, and accessible from the back door, just lift the front cargo cover section rearward, and it would be there.

And for your lights, are you looking to at extra lights for CARGO illumination, meaning lift the gate and extra light to see inside? Or lights visible to cars behind you? If the latter, its illegal as hell for anything other than amber in most states, and even amber is controlled by some.
 






Is there anyway to find a ford up fitter in my area? I'm not too worried about the "legality" of the rear lights, I just want to get them to work. They may just be white anyways?. Thanks

Will I have to physically wire the AUX switches? or will they "plug in" somewhere
 






Is there anyway to find a ford up fitter in my area? I'm not too worried about the "legality" of the rear lights, I just want to get them to work. They may just be white anyways?. Thanks

Will I have to physically wire the AUX switches? or will they "plug in" somewhere

If they were factory installed as the RFTR, they will most definitely be red and blue. The wiring harness is quite a bit more complicated than just power and ground. There are 4 wires from each light head, and they all run to different places.
 






I do not want to burst any bubbles around here but any upfitter worth their salt will not install or activate Red / Blue lighting on a civilian vehicle.

So unless this is for a department or proven volunteer with authorization to drive the vehicle - activation of emergency lights when not authorized is very much frowned upon and can lead to vehicle impound, large fines and or jail time.

So I would make sure that any lights you activate for any reason are legal in the state you are living.

In the past police vehicles were not sold to civilians at all, this seems to have changed when dealer demos come available - If I was that dealer I would have pulled every light out unless I was selling it to a police department etc.
 






I do not want to burst any bubbles around here but any upfitter worth their salt will not install or activate Red / Blue lighting on a civilian vehicle.

So unless this is for a department or proven volunteer with authorization to drive the vehicle - activation of emergency lights when not authorized is very much frowned upon and can lead to vehicle impound, large fines and or jail time.

So I would make sure that any lights you activate for any reason are legal in the state you are living.

In the past police vehicles were not sold to civilians at all, this seems to have changed when dealer demos come available - If I was that dealer I would have pulled every light out unless I was selling it to a police department etc.



Hell, I cant even tell you the hoops I had to jump through to buy my PI. There are a few people on Ebay with them, even lighting-equipped. Any yahoo can order the lights online though, but things like this are why Ford and Chevy are putting the hammer down on dealerships. My retired LE friend who hasnt been an active peace officer for 6 years walked into a dealership and drove out with a brand new PPV Tahoe, where it took me 3 weeks to get an approval with letters, credentials and an End User Certificate signed and notarized before I was able to start the financing paperwork (as a medic and K9 handler)
 






OK folks, let step back a bit. I started this discussion because the activation of the lights was more of a curiosity to me than anything. I certainly didn't/don't intend to go racing down the highway with rear flashing red & blue lights? (I don't know what that would accomplish since there in the back?)

As far as the Ford PI & Chevy PPV are concerned, I certainly wasn't going to pass up a great deal on a SUV, that I wanted because of a push bar or a couple of spot lights. Lets face it these aren't "urban assault vehicles" no up armor, machine guns etc, just a couple of "plain Jane" SUV's. If we start buying into the" LEO only" then pretty soon we won't be able to own firearms that the police own, shop at the same stores etc.

if you want a Ford PI or Chevy PPV, go for it!!! Good for you!! and enjoy.
Cheers
 






Well what it would accomplish is that you could drive past working LE and most would look the other way. Its called impersonating an officer and it leads to jail time.

That said I will not argue lighting legality here - it is a huge subject with variable laws from state to state and county to county.

But I will also say that comparing lighting to gun sales etc is well, not a good argument.

In CA where I reside - impersonation is an arrestable offence, vehicle impounded, etc. We have had many cases of this in the state, to include a really bad case of one guy pulling people over in a old Crown Victoria with lighting he "purchased legally" and was raping the female drivers. It was so bad the local highway patrol told people via the news not to pull over for any of the slick top vehicles till they apprehended the guy.. which they did and he I assume has already been let out of jail as we have no room for inmates anymore..

My suggestion - remove all the police lighting - this goes for white light and amber light as at least in my state if you use those colors and do not have a legitimate reason to do so those are also illegal.

Just do not come back later and say we did not warn you.

The amazing part of this to me is the liability that the dealer can face on something like this.. as they sold the vehicle, so in turn they are responsible to release the vehicle in a way that is legal to posses.






OK folks, let step back a bit. I started this discussion because the activation of the lights was more of a curiosity to me than anything. I certainly didn't/don't intend to go racing down the highway with rear flashing red & blue lights? (I don't know what that would accomplish since there in the back?)
 






Would you feel better about this discussion if I was an LEO?. Hooking up lights to impersonation is a bit of a reach for me. The firearm analogy is just that an analogy.I'm not surprised by your reaction since I see you are from CA.
 



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If you are asking me - no - most states do not allow officers - deputies etc to own their own vehicles, some might but its not the majority.

Most vehicles can only be used if they are owned by the city, state etc.

I have people show up and call us all the time asking to put on lights etc.. non LEO, non fire etc.

We tell them no..explain the issues, some get it and other do not. In some cases those people have ended up arrested for issues later on.

My post is simply a warning about what can happen, all i can hope is that you are not going to use them for that....






Would you feel better about this discussion if I was an LEO?. Hooking up lights to impersonation is a bit of a reach for me. The firearm analogy is just that an analogy.I'm not surprised by your reaction since I see you are from CA.
 






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