Turns Signals, Brake lights & Premium Sound Rewire

[RedfordXLT]

First off I'd like to say what a great forum this is. I just happen to stumble upon it via a yahoo search. Much better than other car forums I've been in before!!

I recently purchased a 91 XLT 4X4 5 speed. Everything was in proper working order until last night. I noticed my turn signals weren't working and I realized I had somehow popped out the flasher fuse while shifting. Well this afternoon the turn signals went out again and to my surprise the fuse was still installed. I had it tested at my local auto parts store and they said it has blown. So I replaced it and no luck. While checking the turn signal signals I noticed the brake lights are now also out. I read some of the other posts and I'll check the switch and any possible dirty connections, but what else could be the reason for the brake light to go out all of a sudden? My last question is how do you override or bypass the premium sound amps and where exactly are then? The kid at the custom audio shop where I bought wiring harness said it was in the back and easy to do, but nothing more than that! I don't have the owners manual or a chiltons manual for the car. I did look for a hayes / chilton while looking for my flasher fuse at the auto parts store and they don't have it for a 91. I thought perhaps the brake lights and turn signals had something to do with the fact that I swapped out the stock radio with an after market, but I've disconnected everything I did yesterday and they are still not working

Thanks

 

[RedfordXLT]

update....

I just went and checked the brake switch and I manually made the connect between the two wires and the brake lights did not come on. I didn't check for any dirty connections because its dark and raining right now.

I also double checked all the fuses in the panel and under the hood.

What are the two or three other larger metal fuses in the panel? I know the round one is the flasher fuse, but the others? Again I don't have the manual for this car so any help would be appreciated.

I did however notice that there is a humming coming from the engine after everything is turned off. It almost sounds like a small fan or motor turning around constantly? You can hear inside the car and even in the back. I don't know if this was always present and never heard it or it is all in connection with what has happened over the past two days! I hope it doesn't drain the battery.....

I'll check more in the a.m.

 

[RedfordXLT]

I had a my mechanic look at the explorer to fix the humming noise from under the hood and why the brakelights & turn signals weren't working. Turns out the humming was the fuel relay and the brakes and turn signals were of course working when I took it in! But he doulbe checked wires, connections, etc.. ended up replacing the fuel relay, negative battery cable and battery post connections. $96.00 and I'm back up and running!!!

 

[Anime]

Too bad noone replied earlier, the fuel pump is the common humming noise, but I hadn't heard of the relay sticking or otherwise causing it to run after the engine was off before.

As for your amp bypass question, the premium sound amp is behind the right rear interior panel, in front of the subwoofer/cargo pocket. If theres a subwoofer back there, then the sub amp is right beside the speaker amp. If you don't have a sub, you can get to speaker amp by breaking off the clips on the cargo pocket, provided you don't mind sticking it back on some other way. The only other way to get to the amp to plug the bypass harness in is to remove the whole panel. If you have a subwoofer, removing the panel is also necessary. I just did this myself, and I'd say it's far less hassle to run new speaker wires, or use a pre-out adapter to run the signal from the head unit to the factory amp.

 

[CDW6212R]

Did you allow someone to cut off the battery terminal connectors? Do not ever change to the bolt/crimp on type of terminals, those are like a temporary spare, they fail in a short period of time. Good luck,

 

[RedfordXLT]

sound rewire

Talk about a PITA!!! I ended up cutting the speaker wires and connecting them manually. I had a color wire selection from another post... i.e. green & green /white = Front Right Speaker... I swear there was one to many wires for the amount of speakers in the truck! I ended up connecting two wires in the back then splicing the same two wires up front and it all worked out.... didn't help that one of the speaker was blown and no signal was going to it.... I know it added to the frustration!!!! All in all and learning expierence.... I should have taken pictures and posted what I did here... but I was already half way done when I thought of that

thanks everyone!

 

[MNHawk]

As for your signal gremlin, be careful and watch it. I have seen these trucks burn to the ground due to it shorts out and smokes the fuse box.

The 91 my other half has, the brake lights work, but the signal lights up front don't. With the 4 way flashers they all work (swapped out the flusher fuses to make sure that was not blown and it works). Orginally before replacing the BURNT TO A CRISP old dash harness, these where not working right. Even after fixing all the BURNT wires (firewall to dash by replacing the whole dash wire harness), it still does not work. Tried swapping out the signal lever, no luck.

I have noticed that if you apply the brakes and then manually blink the lever, the rears will flash with the movement of the signal lever (but only then will the rear lights blink), but no fronts still. Its odd that the 4 ways light all 4 up, but the turn signal doesn't (even after switching a boat load of parts and checking wires for volts).

Guess the next steep is to remove all that paper covering to the under hood harness and hope that there is an easy fix within that MESS of back woods trash they call a wire harness.

As for a radio, yea its better to manually rewire that (edit choice words out). Sometimes I hate to think how many electricians they consult to ensure the hardest wire setup so that when one wire smokes it takes out the whole system. And I mean the whole thing.

 

[MNHawk]

Oh and forgot to add, I have had about 20 hrs of chats with a FORD shop with mechanics that have worked on FORDs for over 40 yrs. And they are just as lost as I am on the signal issue, but they do agree that when the wire harness does flash/burn it can be the end of the vehical.

 

[bwingler]

You can hook up any stereo in place of the factory one without going through the hassle of removing the rear panel. Here is the color codes:
Speakers:
Left Front (+) - Green
Left Front (-) - Orange/White
Right Front (+) - Red/White
Right Front (-) - Brown
Left Rear (+) - Light Blue/Black
Left Rear (-) - Yellow
Right Rear (+) - White/Purple
Right Rear (-) - Light Blue

Power plug:
Yellow/Green - Memory Power (const. 12V+)
Yellow/Black - Ignition (Switched 12V+)
Black - Ground Wire
Blue - Amplifier Remote
Blue/Red - Illumination
Black/Green

Make sure you hook up the blue wire to the switched 12 Volt + so that it turns the amp on. Thats what i did and it works great. Even the sub-woofer.

Barry

 

[djrighthooks]

wow im having the same problem with my explorer..buggy signals and brake lights man...checked and re checked flasher,fuses,ect, but im thinken its the multifunction switch anyone no how to change it or if this fixes the problem or what>?

 

[mikeinri]

Search the forum, there are instructions here to replace the multifunction switch.

Mike