92 CV tail-lights and red light not working

[IZ1111]

Damn, they say the dont have that. And that only a ford dealer would have something like this. I guess I'm going to have to wait a while. I thought I could finish the job without having to drive to them. Oh well, I'll see what I'll do.

[Selectron]

Hey, you found it - well done! And well done to reekor for pointing you in the right direction. If Lieutenant Columbo and reekor had ever joined forces they would have made some unbeatable team, eh.

There's more indication of burning on the front face of the plug than there is on the back, so it looks like it's been arcing at the point where it plugs into the switch assembly. If you look closely at the switch, where you pulled the plug out of, you'll probably find that it's burned and maybe melted inside there as well so that will probably need to be replaced too. Your best bet for that would be to go to the boneyard and get a good used switch and plug, because I'd guess new replacements from the Ford dealer would not be cheap.

If that plug has been assembled the way I think it has, if you look inside the bit which I've circled in the photo below, you should see a thin metal tab or tang, which, if pressed down, would allow each individual wire to be pulled backwards out of the plastic plug housing. You'd need something slim and strong, like a jeweller's screwdriver or a small-diameter drill bit to fit in there and press the tab down, whilst simultaneously pulling gently backwards on the wire. Then repeat that for each wire.

Before doing that, you have to make sure there's no power on those wires, and the easiest way to do that is to disconnect the battery negative lead (you'll probably need your radio code afterwards). If depressing the tabs works then it will only take you a few minutes to fit a new connector. Don't do that until you have a replacement though, otherwise you'll have a bunch of wires hanging there and you will lose functionality in the rest of the switch. I would try removing one wire that way though, just to confirm that it does work, before going to get a replacement. You can see most of the wire colours in that photo but also make a little diagram and write down which colour wire goes into each slot on the plug before you start disassembling it. You won't always have a photo to remind you, so that's a good habit to get into.

You may not be able to remove the brown wire, because that will probably have been welded to the plastic by the heat. You'll need to replace that one anyway, so just cut it a couple of inches behind the plug, and then splice in a new connector which you can pick up at the boneyard when you're getting the replacement plug.

[IZ1111]

Hey thanks Selectron. I know a couple of boneyards that I can go to. And thanks for the lesson on how to remove the wires. But by any chance do you know what that piece is called? Theres some car salvages nearby that I can tell a worker there to see if they have what I'm looking for. Most of the times when I go there, I dont know how to describe my items and they're like "whaa". Thanks again everyone (and reekor for the quick thinking), at least I'm glad I found the route of my problem.

[Selectron]

I imagine the plug would just be called the 'headlight switch connector', because that's the only connector which plugs onto it, eh. Your switch is probably scrap too though, so what you need is 'the dashboard-mounted headlight switch, plus connector'.

When you're telling them what you need, be sure to mention that you need the brown wire to be left on there, and ask them to leave at least four inches of the brown wire on the connector, to give you something to work with when you splice it to your old wire.

Practice removing one of those wires from the connector first though, just to be sure that you can do it, because if you can't then you may end up needing to splice all of them in which case you'll need a few inches left on each of the wires to enable you to make the splices. Avoid that if at all possible though.

I'm assuming that connector comes out of the main wiring harness? Check and see where the wiring goes to, because it may just be a short section with a plug on the other end, in which case just ask for that section of wiring too and that would make the job a lot easier.

[reekor]

Yup thats a little burnt, normal in older fords, you will need to replace that plug, I would replace the switch too. Try your local wrecking yard, It shouldnt be too hard to find, They fit from 92-94 crown vic, grand marquis, town car for sure, they might even fit as far back as 89 but you would need to double check. When you cut the harness at the wreckers make sure that you leave yourself a good amount of wire and when replacing it, solder the brown wire on (dont twist and tape i hate that lol). Disconnect battery first.

Oops didnt even see the 2nd page. If anything goes bad on these cars it happens to Reekor LOL. I have a 92 grand marquis and 94 vic, wife has 97 vic and dad has a 94 town car So I get to repair alot lol.

Originally Posted by IZ1111

Well now that I kept looking at it and opening it. It looks like its completely burned from both sides. I'm thinking of going to Autozone or Advanceauto to see if the have one of these things.