M50D Swap Wiring Help

[Benjam]

Hi all,

I have a 92 explorer and swapped an M50D into it about a month ago to get rid of the A4LD. It has been working alright, and I have it wired so that I can start it but thats as far as it goes. I'm looking to get cruise control back, and reverse lights. I'd really like to make this factory, however, I have no idea what the factory wiring looks like with a manual in an explorer. The few first gen explorers in the junkyards around me are all autos, and the rangers are newer. I'm also not sure if the rangers use the same wiring?

Does anyone have a picture of the needed harnesses for the manual swap in a first gen?

I have a harness from a 94 Mazda B2200? with the stick shift, and the connectors are right for the transmission, and they plug into one of the harnesses up on the wheel well liner. But A:The Mazda harness is about 2 feet long. The old automatic harness from my truck is probably 4-5 feet long. And B: If I jump the reverse connector with the manual harness plugged into my truck, no lights. However if I jump the reverse pin on the auto harness plugged in, I get reverse lights.

To add to the confusion, I have an M50D from a 96 ranger. This means the top plate of the transmission is different than 94 and older versions. The older versions have 2 switches on the top plate, neutral sensing and reverse lamps. The 96 transmission I have only has the reverse lamp switch. I am looking to swap to the older top plate at some point, but in the mean time I want my cruise control back!

I know I can rig up the reverse lights through the old automatic harness, that is not my goal here.. The goal is to get cruise working, and make everything factory.

So swapping the harnesses around I need: To start the truck by pressing the clutch, reverse lights, cruise control.

I have service information from work and have been pouring through the pages but am not having any luck making sense of it. The diagrams for these older trucks are iffy at best versus what I am used to working with.

So after that short story, does anyone have any suggestions? Anyone been in my boat before?

Benjam

 

[Benjam]

So after more research it seems there are at least two different styles of harnesses. The kind that I just got, that is short and plugs into the engine harness right at the bellhousing, and the long kind that has the oil pressure sender and low oil light integrated with it. This kind plugs in at the wheel well liner from what I have seen. I think it is just coincidence the harness I got is able to plug into one of the connectors at the wheel well liner.

That being said..

What is keeping my cruise control from working? I checked vacuum to the servo under the hood, the diaphragm switch that works off the pedal, and the clutch and brake switch. Everything checks out okay.

What does cruise control need in a manual vs. an auto truck?

Any insight is appreciated here guys,

Benjam

 

[jd4242]

You get the NSS hooked up?? It needs that

 

[Benjam]

NSS on the clutch pedal or on the trans itself? The pedal is hooked up, the trans doesnt have a switch. Are there wires I can jump for the NSS that is supposed to be on the trans?

Benjam

 

[jd4242]

Probably in your vehicle harness.I have a ranger and was just messing with this.im trying to hook it up to kill my remote start.I have the wire colors at my shop, but think it was light blue with yellow strip and a grey with a red strip.mine was at the firewall.ill double check the wire colors but if I rember the light blue with yellow strip gets like 5 volts when its in gear.the voltage I dont understand why its not 12 tho

 

[Benjam]

Could you post up any pictures JD?

Benjam

 

[jd4242]

Could you post up any pictures JD?

Benjam

I have a ranger so may be different. What type of pictures are you looking for?I have two connectors right under my brake master on the fender well.one of them has a blue with yellow strip.do you have that wire? If you was auto before it may be totally different and need to find what wire was the NSS and hook it up.did you swap ecm?

 

[jd4242]

Its a blue and yellow wire on mine.when in gear it gets voltage.

 

[Benjam]

Ah, yeah mine are in the same location it looks like but I have two round connectors. One black and one gray?. Both of these were connected to the auto wiring harness. I ended up cutting out the bulk of the auto harness. So as it sits right now the black connector is not being used, and I have the remaining auto harness plugged into the gray connector.

All that is left of the auto harness is: the two wires that run to the engine, low oil and oil pressure. These are both white with I believe a pink and red stripe. Next is the red/light blue and pink wires. These are spliced together so that the clutch has to be pushed in to start.

I believe I need a harness that has the oil wiring with it, and plugs into this gray connector. However, the manual harness I got from the Mazda pickup plugs right into the black connector. I'm thinking this is just a coincidence.

Maybe Ill go snap some pictures myself to help visualize this.

Benjam

 

[Benjam]

I have cruise again!

Apparently in my haste to get the truck back together, I overlooked the wiring harness that plugs into the cruise control servo under the hood.

Being that cruise was the big deal for me, I will just wire the reverse lights up using the mazda tranny harness I have and the old auto harness.

Still not sure what the purpose of the neutral safety is on the trans? I will worry about that at a later date, when I have an older top plate to swap on my transmission.

I did get pictures, though.

This picture shows the two relevant connectors on the wheel well liner. The gray connector on the left is where I have the starting circuit jumped to start it. Also on the gray connector are the two wires for oil pressure and the low oil level switch. You can see the black connector is empty. I believe the reverse lights will tie into the black connector.

A closer picture of the gray connector. You can see the two white wires that run to the low oil switch and oil pressure sender. Also visible is the two wires that are jumped so the clutch pedal has to be pushed to start(just like stock). After that, just some left over wires.

I hope this helps someone in the future. I feel like a fool for missing such a simple fix! Oh well, nothing really lost but some time.

Benjam

 

[jd4242]

Think you forgot to post the pictures. Lol good to hear you got it figured out tho..im still trying to figure out the NSS and its voltage/use..

 

[Benjam]

Are they showing up now? I had them set to private. Oops.

So I wired in the reverse lights today, that works great. Then I remembered 4x4 low needs a wire to be grounded as well, because I don't have a neutral switch on my transmission. Oh well, project for another day.

The reverse lights tied into the gray connector also, so the black connector sits empty. There was only one wire left that wasnt used in the gray connector. Could even be my neutral safety wire, that would make sense. I'll look into it at a later date.

For now, I'm sittin pretty with the manual swap!

Benjam

 

[jd4242]

Yep

 

[Benjam]

JD, If I had to guess, I'd say that the neutral safety uses the same 5 volt reference as the reverse switch. So it being a two wire plug, that wire is your 5 volt. This wire is very likely spliced into the 5 volt reference for the reverse switch. That leaves another wire for ground wire of the neutral safety switch. I bet thats what the wire is that I have leftover. I believe it's a red/wht or wht/red something like that. Damn, I should've ran it with the reverse wires for when I need it later on. Oh well