1

I have a 1987 Ford Ranger with an LL23 engine in the garage. I've been able to short the starter to the battery and get a compression test done. Mechanically the engine is good. The problem is, somebody got a hold of this vehicle and tore the wiring harness to shreds. What hasn't been cut and spliced haphazardly has been burned away from a short that happened at some point. My question is, if I have a fuel injected engine with no wiring harness, what would I need to do to get it firing?

I can't find a complete harness anywhere, and while I wouldn't mind making my own, connectors are a problem. I'm not sure where to get replacements and what kinds to get.

Improve this question
7
  • Welcome to Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair! With a fuel injected engine, you're going to need the computer and wiring to make it work. When you say, "tore the wiring harness to shreds" ... what exactly is left?
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦
    Jun 16, 2019 at 14:39
  • I have the computer and what is left of the wiring harness in a box. Most of the wires are left, but they are severely frayed and/or burned. Especially near the connectors. If your familiar with this kind of vehicle, the connectors and wires nearest the master brake cylinder are better than the ones on the right side of the engine bay. I can take pictures.
    – Oxymoron
    Jun 16, 2019 at 15:55
  • I guess I should mention that there are several loose and frayed wires also which I'm not sure how to rewire.
    – Oxymoron
    Jun 16, 2019 at 15:56
  • 1
    @Oxymoron, if all you need to do is run the engine, you could look into a standalone ECU, these are a replacement for standard ecu's that come in a car and are normally for upgrading engines performance wise. I have good experience with MegaSquirt which is fully DIY, there are some other great ones that are pre-built (Haltech, LINK Engine Management are some examples. MegaSquirt is by far the cheapest though. You can either build and wire it yourself and do the basic tuning yourself, or get a professional to tune the engine for you. You can find info about these on google.
    – H. Daun
    Jun 17, 2019 at 1:14
  • 1
    @Oxymoron when I say if all you need to do is run the engine, i.e. not controlling ABS or etc, since its an old vehicle it likely only has the engine management side so dont worry about that bit.
    – H. Daun
    Jun 17, 2019 at 1:15

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

If I had been handed this "basket case". I'd simply get a (car/truck) manual that has the wiring diagram in it, and patch it back together. I'd also wager that a search for "year model wiring diagram" will turn up some possibly better diagrams that you'll find in the manual.

HTH

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .