S197 Mustang Wiring Help???

[Bill Harris]

I think you are going to have to get your hands on the Ford Service manual that includes the electrical wiring diagrams in order to answer your question. The diagram will show whether the switches you refer to are directly switching the power to the device, or whether they are just control signals to a processor or control module. In this day and age, I would think that most switches are control signals as opposed to directly powering the device. It is much less expensive to build a switch that handles milliamps than amps, and the associated wiring can be a light gauge instead of big and heavy. Also, the car manufacturers like to be able to collect data on the settings of all the items in the car for "black box" information too, so having a module control the high current devices makes that easier too.

I could be totally wrong too, but it seems like a low current control setup would be significantly cheaper and lighter than the alternative, and it is cost that determines how something is done in a car design (unless the government says differently, of course).

[Eman]

First step is to find a good factory wiring diagram for your particular car. Most everything should be able to be wired thru that panel if it is simple analog(on/0ff) control switch. The wiper/washer could be an issue, body control module or not it's not a simple on/off switch.

[Wayne Scraba]

Thanks for the info guys. I really appreciate it. It was exactly what I was looking for. Glad I did the research before I bought a car...L-O-L.

Wayne

[btrc]

I can tell you that you can get the headlights, tail lights, brake lights, and power windows to work. Those are the only things on your list that I have running through the factory switches. I did worry a lot about the power windows because they automatically go down about 1/2" when you open the door and back up the same when you close the door. It turns out there is a computer of sorts built right into the door latch that takes care of that..

[Wayne Scraba]

Thanks Bob! I really appreciate it.

And by the way, these answers (above) are the reason I dig this forum. The knowledge pool here is over-the-top. You folks ROCK!

Thank you!

Wayne