Extensive wiring diagram

[Georgia_Birdman]

Does anyone know where I can get an extensive wiring diagram for my 98 EB Explorer? I need more than what a Haynes manual can give me.

 

[imp]

Does anyone know where I can get an extensive wiring diagram for my 98 EB Explorer? I need more than what a Haynes manual can give me.

@Georgia_Birdman
Helm, Inc. handles all of Ford's publishing manuals and such. In the '90s they began suppling the complete vehicle wiring diagrams for each one in a separate publication. I have the wiring diagrams for '96 Ex, and '04. Each is about 1 inch thick; they are printed on slightly larger than 8-1/2 X 11 pages. These are complete and easy to follow, much better than the earlier sets which were done on very large sheets which covered my kitchen table.

They do not offer the bound stuff beyond a certain age; yours may be available on disc only.

Try www.helminc.com

Failing in that, ebay will certainly have the Ford official wiring diagrams books. imp

 

[J_C]

There's a lot of stuff linked in my sig

 

[Georgia_Birdman]

Where is your signature?

 

[Georgia_Birdman]

I found a wiring diagram book for a 2000. Would it be the same as the 98 or at least close?

 

[J_C]

Where is your signature?

It seems that somehow that link became broken, I have edited it to work again or here is where it links to, post #21 in this topic:
1996-2001 ford explorer / mountaineer workshop manual (5567 pages!)

OR here is the download page for the diagrams:

MEGA


Yes most things on a 2000 will be the same as a '98 but I don't know if "all/100%" identical.

 

[imp]

It seems that somehow that link became broken, I have edited it to work again or here is where it links to, post #21 in this topic:
1996-2001 ford explorer / mountaineer workshop manual (5567 pages!)

OR here is the download page for the diagrams:

MEGA


Yes most things on a 2000 will be the same as a '98 but I don't know if "all/100%" identical.

@J_C
I think PATS changed somewhere between those two. imp

 

[J_C]

^ Not that I'm aware of, at least for the US market. Do you know any specifics?

AFAIK, '98 was the first year for PATSII in Explorers, which stayed the same through the '01 model year, except some '01 Sports starting on 7/24/00 build date are next-gen PATS, built into the PCM and including a starter disable feature and different looking keys. I suppose earlier could have some kind of wiring harness changes but I don't see why they would.

 

[imp]

^ Not that I'm aware of, at least for the US market. Do you know any specifics?

AFAIK, '98 was the first year for PATSII in Explorers, which stayed the same through the '01 model year, except some '01 Sports starting on 7/24/00 build date are next-gen PATS, built into the PCM and including a starter disable feature and different looking keys. I suppose earlier could have some kind of wiring harness changes but I don't see why they would.

@J_C
This was thoroughly hashed over quite some time ago, titled "PATS" something or other. Many opinions, few absolute facts. As I remember it, the first PATS key disabled the fuel injectors only (via the PCM, of course), which was totally stupid, allowing a person to insert any key which turned the cylinder, then crank until he decided something was wrong, but usually knew nothing of PATS.

Next, they disabled starter and fuel injection, as I understood it. My '04 actually uses the PCM to complete the ground connection to the starter relay in Battery Junction Box, disabling injection AND ignition. So, even if you hot wire the starter, you can crank, but no start. Pretty foolproof.

 

[1998Exp]

Mine is a '98, and I was always wondering why they added the starter disable in later years, because it's so easy to jump and defeat anyway. So thank you guys for explaining that it's to prevent the hapless thief from discharging the battery by endless cranking. Not a very smart feature, in my humble opinion: while the clueless thief would probably leave alone the car that cranks but does not start, thinking that there is something wrong with it, in later models he was encouraged to tinker with the starter relay and mess up something under the hood in the process.
By now all thieves must know about PATS, but just in case, if you have the 2000+ 2nd gen Explorer, you should probably affix a note to the dash saying something like: "Dear Thief, don't bother jumping the starter, because the engine won't start without the proper key anyway. Just bring the tow truck and haul it away."

On a more serious note: does anyone know if those spoofing boxes sold on the internet (that connect to your keys in the house while the car is in the driveway) work with the very short-range coil around the key cylinder on our Explorers? I guess that if the box is placed close enough to the cylinder, it will fool the PATS. I am already using the Faraday-cage type key pouch for my Kia with the push-start button. Perhaps it's time to do the same with the Ex.

 

[J_C]

^ No those boxes could not possibly work with the old tech our 2nd gen keys use, which depend on a relatively strong magnetic field near the key to energize the chip and a reader very close to get the key ID. Since neither of those things are possible more than a few inches away, it practically prevents a thief from getting the cloned key ID to put a box next to the lock cylinder.

I don't know if they could brute force all the possible key combinations given an extreme amount of time to do so, but that seems like far more time than someone with that skill set and hardware would be willing to spend on vehicles that are now low value... yet ironically, more trouble to steal for someone with this ability.

Now having written that, it would not prevent a thief from grabbing a remote fob unlock code when you use it to unlock the door, using that or just unlocking the vehicle another way (if it were locked at all) to get inside, then forcing the lock cylinder on, then using a standard OBDII dongle and app to program in a new key the same way any of us could.

To prevent the latter you could use a kill switch for *whatever* you wanted, the least hassle on a daily basis would be a switch for the OBDII port so they have to find the switch or rewire around it to be able to program in a new key, then you only need to use the switch when you need to use the OBDII port, wouldn't even need to be located anywhere near the port or seat like where so many people put their other kill switches for convenience because they use them every time they get in the seat to drive.