Ford Explorer 5.0 V8 Swap Wiring Harness Modifications For My 1968 Mustang

Let me start by saying if you have any questions about wiring specifics, please leave a comment below! I'll do my best to answer question.
In this episode I start on the engine wiring of of my Ford Explorer 5.0 EFI swap. My plan is to strip down and cut up the stock Explorer harness and integrate it into the Mustang's original wiring. I'm starting by eliminating unused wires and simplifying the harness to run standalone.
Here are my notes I took during the wiring work, hopefully these can help if you're doing your own Explorer 5.0 swap. These will provide you with the PCM pinouts, wire colors, wiring diagram numbers, and my own notes for each of the wires going to the PCM connector. These are for a 1996 model year Explorer, there are some slight differences between 96-01 harnesses. I noted any differences where I found them.
PCM 1 : coil power. Goes to ignition relay. Color: Red/green. Diagram # 16
PCM 2 : Tach signal. Color: Brown yellow. Diagram # 11
PCM 3 : OBD2 port. Twisted with #11. Color: Pink/blue. Diagram # 915
PCM 4 : Brake light switch 12v when pressing brakes. Diagram # 511
PCM 5 : Fuel pump monitor. Color: Green/yellow. Diagram # 238
PCM 6 : Check engine light. Grounds when check engine status (put 12v on other side of bulb). Color: Pink/green. Diagram # 658
PCM 7 : VSS positive outpu. Use for electronic speedo, or cruise control. Color: Gray/black. Diagram # 679
PCM 8 : Ecu memory. Keep 12v hot at all times (battery) fuse 10A. Color: Yellow. Diagram # 37
PCM 9 : Main ecu power. Runs through relay to power on with key on. Color: Red. Diagram # 361
PCM 10 : Empty. Diagram # *29
PCM 11 : See wire 3. Diagram # 914
PCM 12 : Overdrive switch Wire as a ground on momentary switch. Other side of switch gets 12v ign. Color: Tan/white. Diagram # 224
PCM 13 : Missing on later model harness. Color: Pink/orange. Diagram # 676
PCM 14 : Evap. REMOVE. Color: Purple/white. Diagram # 91
PCM 15 : Fuel pump control. Grounds fuel pump to turn on. Color: LT blue/orange. Diagram # 926
PCM 16 : Coolant temp for gauge. Color: Red/white. Diagram # 39
PCM 17 : Fuel tank pressure. REMOVE. Color: Pink/red. Diagram # 791
PCM 18 : Fuel tank pressure. REMOVE. Color: Gray/red. Diagram # 359
PCM 19 : Fuel tank pressure. REMOVE. Color: Brown/white. Diagram # 351
PCM 20 : transmission range (TR) sensor input. Missing on later model harness. Color: Blue/yellow. Diagram # 199
PCM 21 : Reverse light switch. Feeds power to reverse lights. Color: Black/pink. Diagram # 140
PCM 22 : OBD2 port. Used for reflashing. Color: Purple. Diagram # 107
PCM 23 : Empty
PCM 24 : Trans neutral. Wire to +12v on CRANK only. Color: Pink. Diagram # 329
PCM 25 : Reverse switch power. Power INTO the reverse switch. Wire to 12v ignition, 10A fused. Diagram # 298
PCM 26 : Oil pressure for gauge. Color: Green/white. Diagram # 253
PCM 27 : fuel flow rate output REMOVE. Color: Blue/pink. Diagram # 305
PCM 28 : air suspension acceleration input. Missing. Color: Orange/b. Diagram # 394
PCM 29 : Empty. Diagram # 784
PCM 30 : AC compressor control. Remove. Color: Pink/yellow. Diagram # 331
PCM 31 : Neutral safety switch out Plug into "S" terminal on starter relay. Prevents starting while not in park or neutral. Color: Red/blue. Diagram # 32
PCM 32 : Empty
PCM 33 : neutral safety switch in to general electrical module (GEM). Missing. Color: Red/white. Diagram # 463
PCM 34 : Ecu ground. Color: Black/white. Diagram # 570
PCM 35 : Empty
PCM 36 : O2 sensor heater. Power up with o2 sensor relay. Color: LT Blue/orange. Diagram # 34
PCM 37 : A/C kick?. This wire is purple on later models. ??? Feed 12v into it when AC compressor turns on ???. Color: Green/orange. Diagram # 198
PCM 38 : Empty
PCM 39: Purge valve. REMOVE. Color: Green/black. Diagram # 191
PCM 40 : Overdrive off light. Ecu grounds this when overdrive is off. Color: White/green. Diagram # 911
PCM 41 : Empty
PCM 42 : Ecu ground. Color: Black/white. Diagram # 570

[@brianf9222]

Anxiously waiting for the next video. I have been putting of a project like this for several years because of lack of information.

[@noboltsleftbehind]

I'm just uploading it now, tomorrow around noon it'll be live

[@tcjmods73]

Oh man what a rats nest. Very satisfying seeing it all tidied up. Love seeing all the details that go into an engine swap

[@givemeaname1999]

You did say, in your Hemi swap videos, that you loved wiring. So it looks like you are having fun!

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Yea sir, I love it! Probably my favorite part of engine swapping.

[@DeweyBlanton-ku7db]

Just found this video because I have my mom's 69' mach 1, and her 98' mountaineer with the 5.0. So I'm wanting to up grade with all the extras. Definitely hit the subscribe button and looking forward to watching your videos man. Thanks.

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Thanks man! '69 Mach 1, definitely one of if not THE coolest Mustangs out there. That's gonna be a sweet project for sure

[@petea]

Man, I've been there. It's like a law of nature, the more you glue something "for good" the more likely you will have to rip it apart and do it again!

[@noboltsleftbehind]

That's totally true! Always seems to be like that.

[@wisky3]

Use a pegboard when building a harness, it gets you off the floor and more organized.

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Good call, that's actually a great idea

[@gonzaleztorres1990]

Do you think I can use your notes in the description for my 1990 f150.? I want to use the harness of my 1997 explorer and merge it into my 1990 ford f150.

[@noboltsleftbehind]

@@gonzaleztorres1990 yes, the wiring pinouts should be the same for all of the late 90s years. There might be a few different wire colors but if you go by the pin numbers you should be good 👍

[@elnomamez5873]

Questions, PATS delete? And automatic to standard transmission? Any kit used ot tuning?

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Mine is a 1996 so it's pre-PATS (I bought a 96 specifically for this reason). I searched far and wide for an easy way to write to this EEC-V ecu but didn't find anything. What I can say is HP Tuners does NOT support it.

[@elnomamez5873]

Thank you for you knowledge!

[@dannyswortzel2327]

I am going to be doing this in the future. How do you know what wire is for what? Do I label them when I remove or is there a diagram I can get to read? Thankyou

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Check out the bottom of this video’s description, I put a full list of all the PCM’s wires and what to do with them. Wire colors may vary slightly by year, but the PCM pin numbers should be the same.

[@daviderwin2389]

Did you flash the ecu?

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Nope, I’m running it as-is from factory

[@xozindustries7451]

Wiring, good time right? When we did my sons 80 Firebird LS swap I bought a harness from Amazon for like $200 to work with the factory computer, took like a couple hours to put it in the car and get it running, so worth it

[@noboltsleftbehind]

I know it sounds weird, but I actually like wiring. I like how each wire connection either works or it doesn’t, no in between. I think it speaks to my techie nature. That said, I’d probably also buy a pre-made harness if they made one for the Explorer 5.0. Haha.

[@ozzy647]

Quick question do I got to take off the pins of the ecu connection or can I just cut off the wires I don’t need from the ecu connection?

[@noboltsleftbehind]

You can definitely just cut them, I'd throw some heat shrink or electrical tape on the ends for good measure

[@2valvegt673]

I’m real curious as to what you did with the ugly coil packs

[@alberthgallardo985]

hello! I am doing the same thing except that I will eliminate the automatic transmission and put a manual transmission. I hope you can help me how to eliminate the automatic wiring.

[@noboltsleftbehind]

Hey! I think if you remove those connectors on the other side of the big gray plug you’ll remove the auto electronics completely. You may want to keep a few wires for things like reverse lights and neutral switch that may integrate into your manual transmission. If you’re looking to delete the wiring completely, you’ll need to peel back your harness loom and tape to the PCM connector and un-pin the wires. There will probably be some common grounds and reference voltage wire splices too, just clip and seal off those like I did with the rear O2 sensor wires. You’ll probably want to delete transmission controls from your PCM, there isn’t a lot of info out there on this but I’m close to figuring it out I think. I’ll make an episode on it when I do for sure.

[@alberthgallardo985]

@@noboltsleftbehind thank you! In fact, I'm still starting to investigate what I will need and what I will eliminate since it is my first swap. I also bought a complete Explorer from 98 and I will try to use things like electric windows and integrate the A/C to my old F250 from 79. There is not much information in Spanish like that. which will be a lot of reverse engineering for me

[@noboltsleftbehind]

@@alberthgallardo985 nice! Good luck on the swap, I think it’s a good one to start out on. Yours being a 1998 means your PCM will have a security lock called PATS, from what I understand this is something you’ll need to delete before the engine will start. I think I may have a solution to this, if you get stuck on this let me know and I’ll share what info I have. Just drop a comment if you have any other questions!

[@alberthgallardo985]

@@noboltsleftbehind It would be good for me, since I haven't found any information. Do you have a profile on Instagram or Facebook that you can share with me?

[@noboltsleftbehind]

@@alberthgallardo985 sure, my Instagram is instagram.com/noboltsleftbehind/

[@crappysockpuppet]

It looks as though you are using a video to cut down the harness. Can you link the video to this one for reference.

[@busyend]

Wiring, the only thing I hate more than my ex-mother-in-law