Restoring original flasher / blinker controls

[TacoBelleGirl]

So my truck has a handful of things that were done to it which I would say were questionable, with one of my next focuses being the flasher controls.

Edit: I fat fingered the post shortcut.. sorry. More info inbound lol

 

[TacoBelleGirl]

Okay long ago the multi-function switch stopped working on the truck and my friend cut the wiring up and added in his own switches and flashers..
The only thing that the multi function switch controls now is the high beams and the wipers.

I replaced the switch with a new one so now I need to tackle the wiring.. here are some pictures of what I am dealing with:

As far as I can tell he ran his own wiring to the blinkers and lights. There are separate ground and positive cables for them that can be found under the hood and in the rear each tail light has a sloppily added hole and a bonus 3rd light.
When the blinkers are on, the signal lights on the dash don't work. The flasher switch on the steering column flashes the dash lights but doesn't turn them on actually..

Any suggestions on how to tackle this? It's a rats mess.
Edit: Forgot to specify this is a 1991.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Im sorry... but... you need new friends

 

[Uncle Gump]

What year is it?

I might have wiring diagrams

 

[TacoBelleGirl]

Im sorry... but... you need new friends

Haha, this was like 15 years ago when it was his brother's truck. They were young and maybe not the best electrical technicians.

 

[TacoBelleGirl]

What year is it?

I might have wiring diagrams

My bad I should have included it in the original post. Will update it, but the truck is a 91. XLT if that makes a difference

 

[Uncle Gump]

Don't have that one... someone will show up with one.

My advice is to follow along with a diagram and reverse engineer it.

 

[TacoBelleGirl]

I'm not even sure what the best route to go is for this. Rewire from scratch?
Try to reconnect his wiring to the switch?

I'd guess in the tail lights it would be easy to undo the 3rd light modify he did and restore it back to using the multiple filaments on the bulb..

I assume the 3rd one was added because they were confused by how to have the one bulb fulfill more than one purpose lol

 

[Uncle Gump]

I assume the 3rd one was added because they were confused by how to have the one bulb fulfill more than one purpose lol

That's PFM...

Pure Ford Magic that happens in the multi function switch

 

[Uncle Gump]

Do a search for Power Probe on Amazon...

 

[TacoBelleGirl]

That's PFM...

Pure Ford Magic that happens in the multi function switch

Beautiful. So probably just rewiring based on whatever wiring diagrams I can find would be easiest.

I really can't fathom not replacing the switch and doing this instead. Seems like so much work to end up with a much less usable setup.

PITA to be shifting with one hand, steering with the other, and turning the signal off with my 3rd bonus mystery hand.

Do a search for Power Probe on Amazon...

Good idea, thanks

 

[Uncle Gump]

That tool or a cheaper knock off of it will come in real handy here... and lots of other electrical work you encounter.

 

[RobbieD]

Any suggestions on how to tackle this? It's a rats mess.

Basically, only two ways:
1- Replace all of the hacked-up harnesses with good, undamaged harnesses.
or
2- Repair all of the damage.

Repairing that won't be easy.
From your description, all four corners of the truck will need the wires spliced back, to the original configuration. "Color-to-color".
Then you can pull back all of the added wires to the inside, to the multifunction switch (MFS) location.
The MFS connector will also have to have ALL of its wires repaired, and restored to their original condition. Again, color-to-color.

The connector in your first pic doesn't even look to fully wired any more. If some terminals were pulled out of the connector, and then cut off for splicing, you're going to need a new pigtail connector, either new or harvested from a donor.

You'll just need to take stock first- if it's just a matter of splicing original wires back together, it's likely doable as a repair. If you find that it's impossible to find all of wires (by color code) needing reconnection, you're better off trying to find a complete replacement harness.

It wouldn't hurt, to go ahead and check around for any possible donor trucks, just in case you get lucky and find better harnesses reasonably.

Tell me what you need, for schematics, and I'll image and post them.