89 sc engine swap not running..yet

TBirdSC89

Registered User
Finally got my sc to the point of trying to start it for the first time in a couple years. Realized i had the cables backwards on the starter relay so i got that fixed. Replaced the engine and driveline all from my 92 sc, sensors and computer. Last engine wasnt getting fuel not long after a new fuel pump, and i just now found the wire for the fuel cut somehow, it connects on the big harness on the passenger firewall. Re wired it and now i have good fuel pressure and can smell it. This engine is good it ran with no issues and im assuming that ive eliminated most possibilities of why it wouldnt start. Im sure ill need to check grounds again and wiring, but has anyone else had an engine swap and no start? Just trying to get new ideas of what i need to check and what it could be
 
Yep i do have spark. I tested the coil to make sure it wasnt acting up and new plugs with wires are working. Say there are 2 gray connections on the dis wiring bunch, the set that plugs into the dis cam sensor and all. Well one is broken off. The cam ground is ok but the first gray connection is going nowhere since its broke. Anyone know where it connects to? Tried searching through posts but got nothing. Ill put up a pic later of it
 
broken wire goes where?

so after realizing i did a horrible battery relocation job a couple years ago, i took all of that out and put the battery back in the front. could be why i was having to charge new batteries after 3 days and having a short somewhere. maybe next time ill leave it to someone who knows how to relocate a battery to the trunk. only thing i have left to do is fix a broken wire on the dis wiring bundle set. It doesnt connect directly to the dis, it just comes off the bundle before the dis connections, and i believe its a ground? it had a gray connector and hooked up somewhere, but its been a while since ive messed with this engine. anyone have any idea where it goes, ive tried searching and all but havent found anything. any help is appreciated. pics attached
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20140202_140706.jpg
    IMG_20140202_140706.jpg
    284 KB · Views: 96
  • IMG_20140202_140632.jpg
    IMG_20140202_140632.jpg
    175.3 KB · Views: 95
  • IMG_20140202_140643.jpg
    IMG_20140202_140643.jpg
    199.8 KB · Views: 96
When that upper/front harness is out of the car, you can see that there are actually three of those leads.

In the photo:
(1) is over by the coil connector and connects to a noise suppressor.
(2) is next to the multi-connector that normally sits on the pass. side front of the supercharger top and connects to a shielded lead back to the EEC.
(3) is also shielded and part of the harness that goes down the front, near the cam sensor, that leads to the crank sensor.

UpperFrontHarnessAnnotated.jpg

I think the one in your photo is #2 - inspect the harness next to the supercharger pass. side where the multi-connector mates to the main harness headed towards the firewall for it's mate.
 
thanks for your help. id be out trying to fix it but the weather here in Oregon has turned a little snowy, which doesn't happen all that often. 6 inches where im at, probably a foot by the time Monday comes. wish my car was in a garage so I could work on it whenever I wanted to
 
Yes, we got a few inches up here, but it's the cold that makes it hard, I think ~ 16º out and even tho we have heater$$ in the garage, things can wait :) Sure wish these people knew how to drive in this stuff.
 
Last edited:
people here really don't know how to drive in this stuff. it was quite fun going from woodburn to McMinnville after work. yea yesterday I was washing a used truck for our dealership and after spraying hot water it would just freeze right away, must of been a little cold out
 
it was sure fun. say you live up in Portland? nice to have another sc owner around here. I need to bribe a ford technician to be a good enough friend to help me fix my sc's when they break
 
Yeps, Portland, west of the river - bit east of Washington Square. Had my 35th Anny SC since 2008, now. PM me if you want to meet up, etc.

Ken
 
does anyone on here have a picture of that harness connection? mine thats broken is #2 on kmt's pic he sent me, but i just want to make sure i hook it up right.
 
oh wow..i didnt realize it was that close. im gonna go check it out right now. hard to find cables and harnesses with everything installed on these engines :(
 
oh wow..i didnt realize it was that close. im gonna go check it out right now. hard to find cables and harnesses with every
 
kmt, so the big connection there, where does the back end of it going to rear of the supercharger go? i almost think im missing a harness or something. the one connection i got that works for it is by the passenger firewall, but it doesnt have the mate to the one im missing.
 
All I know is that it runs under the throttle body/intake, and then over the valve cover, then to the back of the pass. side fender well - that's where the main harness connects and goes into the cabin to the computer, etc.

It appears it joins the main side harness down by the shock tower...
eng_bay_other.jpg
 
Last edited:
ok cool pics are worth a thousand words. I took my throttle off to see, but I either got this all connected wrong or im missing something.
 
I think I might just need to take things apart and re look at all my wiring. the harness i have that connects the the dis one isn't even the same, yours comes off the main one but mine is going under the motor. i wonder if im missing something or i just did it wrong? and the harness i have doesn't even have that ground to it, which is the one i need to connect to the dis harness. since its a 92 engine in an 89 wiring, i wonder if its all the same or if ford made some changes
 
The upper harness changed after '90, I think. The multi-connector (#2 in the labeled harness photo) has more sockets (12 vs. 8), but the single lead is still there. This shouldn't be a factor if _all_ the wiring is '89, tho.

Do you have a photo of the wiring in your car that you're working with?
 
Back
Top