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Cut wires


TurboV8Ranger

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While drilling through the floor (long story) of my 99 xcab B3000 I went right through a bundle of wires running to the back of the cab under the drivers seat to the back wall. I had a buddy and he was in the cab while I was drilling from underneath and there was an obvious miss communication about what I meant by 3 inches to the left...

No big deal, cut a 2 inch section out of the harness and started splicing them back together by color code. Most od the wires are speakers, light and 3rd brake light. I matched all but 3, and they are all black wires... I don't have a proper multi meter and an not sure where to start. I've looked at a couple of wiring diagrams, but to little help.

Is it possible these are all ground wires and it doesn't matter and long as they are terminated? Any reason Ford chose to do this to me?
 


RonD

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Welcome to TRS :)

Not sure how this would be Fords fault
Just think what your current issues would be if ALL + wires were Red and ALL Grounds black, is that a speaker wire + or Brake light power?????

Most of the solid Black wires should be a Ground, but should is the operative word.

I would bare the 6 ends(3 cut black wires) and then touch each, one at a time, to a Good Ground Key on, see if there is a spark which will probably blow a fuse but it can be replaced.

I only see 1 black wire for 3rd brake/cargo light Ground
Black/pink stripe is cargo light power in 1999



$15-$20 volt/ohm meter is worth every penny
 
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TurboV8Ranger

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I have the speaker wire color codes and accounted for those. Just seems like you would ground to the body for the lights. and having 3 black in the bundle really confuses me. I can't get out there for anther day or 2 with a meter, just curious if anyone had input.
 

ericbphoto

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I don't have the wiring diagram in front of me so I can't say for sure if your truck is wired this way. But on older vehicles, the doors would turn on the dome/courtesy light by providing a ground through the door jamb switch. That would account for some extra ground wires coming from the dome light. That saved money by using less wire.


Newer vehicles may do it differently since they have complicated things with door ajar chimes and fancy little control modules to sense when the door is ajar and make the decision to energize the dome light.

One other thought. Could there be seat belt buzzer wires in the bundle that got damaged? That might be another circuit to check into.

Turn the key on and see what does or does not work . That should help you decide what circuits are still damaged.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

ericbphoto

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My credo
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are different.
I just got a chance to check some wiring diagrams. It appears that with RBV's you can ignore what I said about the door jamb switch providing a ground for the dome light.

Sorry if I caused any confusion. I must have been remembering other vehicles.
 

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