Topic: 1966 fastback rear courtesy light wiring

[socalgt]

Both lights weren't working.  Passenger side is wired correctly and just needed a new bulb.  The other(driver's side) has a male connector from the light and a male connector also on the wire coming out of the quarter panel.   I found both taped up.  From looking at the other light, the wire coming from the light with the male is correct...but the connecting wire should be the female. Touching the two completes the circuit and the light works correctly.  No big deal, but I'm wondering how it ended up that there are two male connectors....the other wire from the light is connected, but the end in the quarter panel isn't long enough to pull out.  Any thoughts on how the PO ended up with this situation?  Before I convert one end to female(the end from the light), I thought I'd try to find out if there's anything else I should check.

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[midlife]

The tail-light provides a female bullet plug on the driver's side.  There is a small 2 wire harness (ground, power) that plugs into the tail-light female bullet; the ground wire ends up in a ring connector.  Coming out of this harness is a female bullet that accepts a male bullet that routes from the driver's lamp behind the rear window to the passenger side, where a similar harness comes from the lamp socket.  I think one of your male sockets is for the driver's lamp and the other from the pigtail that goes to the passenger side.   

Which begs the question of how is the passenger side wired up now?  Later years, that lead came from the RHS of the underdash and routed through the sill under the door.

[jwc66k]

The other(driver's side) has a male connector from the light and a male connector also on the wire coming out of the quarter panel.   I found both taped up.  From looking at the other light, the wire coming from the light with the male is correct...but the connecting wire should be the female. Touching the two completes the circuit and the light works correctly.  No big deal, but I'm wondering how it ended up that there are two male connectors....the other wire from the light is connected, but the end in the quarter panel isn't long enough to pull out.  Any thoughts on how the PO ended up with this situation?  Before I convert one end to female(the end from the light), I thought I'd try to find out if there's anything else I should check.

If you have a 66 Mustang Electrical Assembly Manual, you can see the installation. In general, Ford used a female connector in harnesses for hot leads, and male connectors for grounds. At a light fixture (courtesy lights in this case, but not all) there would be a male for the hot, and a female for the ground. In this case, the ground from the fixture goes into a short pigtail in the harness, about 8 inches long to a screw at the LH door pillar. The hot feed from the harness is a black wire with a blue tracer. The ground wire is black. I think both wires from the fixture are black too.
Jim
Jim

[socalgt]

The passenger side has a female and a male connector from the light itself, each plugging into its' counterpart.  I found the two male connectors (one from the light and the other coming out of the quarter panel light hole) taped up on the driver's side.  I don't feel any other wires inside the hole for the light...I'll take a closer look with a flashlight in case it's folded up in there....and I will look at the wiring diagram, again.

[socalgt]

The female connector from the light goes into the male connector from the car that has two wires attached to it.  I don't see any other wire with a female end to connect to the male lead from the light.  I know the two male connectors shouldn't connect, but I don't see any other wire with a female end to use...so...since all the other lights work properly in the car, and connecting the two male ends allows the light to work properly I guess I'll connect them for now.

[jwc66k]

Do both light fixtures look the same?
Jim

[socalgt]

They are both the same lights....with the same wire leads.

[socalgt]

After looking at the wiring diagram again, on the driver's light, the fixture wire with the male end goes to ground/on the passenger side, the female goes to ground.  (Does that make sense?)

[67gtasanjose]

... In general, Ford used a female connector in harnesses for hot leads, and male connectors for grounds. At a light fixture (courtesy lights in this case, but not all) there would be a male for the hot, and a female for the ground.
Jim

+1 (or 2, think Randy said this too). This is pretty much across the board for everything Ford made in the classic years.

Looking at the HARNESS, your black with blue tracer would be your 12V power source. any male bullet found (vehicle side, not lamp side) SHOULD source back to a ground. It was mentioned, this ground source was in the A-pillar I believe, if I read that correctly. I do not have the assembly manual for a 66, so I couldn't verify that detail for you.

[midlife]

There are rare occasions when Ford used a male bullet for a hot lead: fuel line from the underdash from 65 comes to mind.

My saying is a little more interesting: female connectors are always hot when energized!

[Hipo giddyup]

LOL!!! I won't soon forget this post.  Good to know 

[socalgt]

Thanks for all the replies.....I'm going to convert the male end from the light to female and connect it to the wire from the car....the light works as it should when I do and so do all the others...no telling what modifications were done when the PO took the car apart for paint.

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