Hello all,
Pulled the automatic out of the ranger (2.3L 2WD) yesterday and noticed the wire harness is different than the manual. How do I make the VSS and the back up light work with the auto harness, or, do I need a manual engine harness from a junkyard truck? It seems like any 2 terminal pigtail will plug into the manual's output connectors. But where do those pigtails get spliced into the current wiring?

I already have the manual dash harness for the clutch pedal wiring and two manual ECUs - hopefully, one is bound to work. Pedals are in and ready to go. Just want to make sure that once we're buttoned back up we can start the truck.

 

1991 Automatic will have a 4 or 5 wire Neutral Safety switch just above shift on drivers side

Should be a pink wire and then 1 or 2 Red/Blue wires these 3 wires need to be striped and ends twisted together and sealed
These are the START wires

Then for Reverse lights
Purple/orange wire, this is 12volt IN, key on
Black/pink wire, this is for 12volts OUT to tail lights(reverse lights)

You splice these to the 2 Reverse light switch wires on the manual trans, no order, its a switch, its OPEN when not in Reverse, and CLOSED when trans is in Reverse so sends 12volrs to the bulbs in the back
If you don't have the right connector for Reverse light switch then you will need to get one, I don't have a part number for it

NSS switch on 1986 to 1994 Rangers Automatics looks like this: https://www.infinitybox.com/wp-conte...ral_Safety.gif
Has 4 pins, 2 for each switch inside, START switch, Reverse Light switch

 

Ron,
Thank you! This is starting to make sense. What is the connector just above the speedo cable hookup? Is that the VSS connection and should that be compatible with the manual (M5R1)?

With the NSS taken care of, does that also negate the need for the clutch pedal position switch? I figure those are somewhat related but I bet (with my luck) I'm still going to need that too to satisfy the ECU.

 

I went out and took a picture of the connector itself for clarification. I see the red/blue and the pink for the NSS. I also see the purple/orange and the black/pink for reverse light.

What do I do with the red/white - Cap it off and tape it up? Thank you again!

 

The pink/white(red/white) I haven't see before, but pink/white was used on START circuit in some years, later on

Does your NSS switch have 5 pins?

Yes, by doing the red/blue and pink together it would bypass the clutch switch, well clutch switch is already by pass in the cab so NSS can be hooked up, the connector is there in the cab above where clutch pedal would be, but it has a bypass connector plugged into it, that extends the wire to NSS on automatic transmission


Yes, up thru 1997 the speedo cable setup has a VSS on it, manual or automatic 2WD
Yes it will fit either manual or automatic, the Driven gear can be changed to match rear axle ratio and tire size, i.e. speedometer calibration
The VSS is connected to computer and Cruise control(if so equipped), in 1994 and earlier

 

It's a 4-pin.

 

So if you eliminate the 2 Reverse light wires then the other 3 wires should be stripped and twisted together

 

Thank you Ron,
With all of this said, should I avoid swapping the auto dash harness for the manual one? My concern is if I add the clutch switch into the dash, it seems like it won't bypass to the 5 wire plug, negating all the discussion above.

Another question I had is on the automatic's harness there is another connector with three wires, pictured below. What role does that play?


Close up of wire colors

Connector on the right in question

 

That 3 wire connector is for the 2 solenoids inside an automatric
Center wire is 12v key on, other 2 wires run to the computer, ground to activate each solenoid
Should be sealed so 12v can't short out

Auto trans computer will turn on CEL(check engine light) if these are disconnected but won't effect engine operation or drivability with manual trans in place
If you swap to a 1991 manual trans computer the CEL will stay off unless there is an engine problem

If you install the clutch switch that will bypass the Auto trans NSS portion of the system, so those 3 wires would be unused
Clutch switches 6 pin connector is currently plugged into the "auto trans bypass connector", unplug it and those 3 wires are now disconnected
Plug in the clutch switch on the push rod to the connector and you will be able to activate starter when pedal is down all the way

 

I'm returning to close the loop on this post and to say thank you to Ron D. You're a legend.

I am experiencing some idling issues, but I will describe those in a different post.

If you're doing a manual swap, the above information is entirely accurate. I did not swap out the manual dash harness, and I followed the wiring detailed in this post. My truck already has a fresh 1k miles on the odometer and has put in plenty of work in that time.