I recently purchased a replacement bracket with 7-4 pin plugs for my 2004 F350. The part numbers are identical on the bracket and all wiring except for the plug on the end that mates to the harness from the truck. As you can see from the pictures, the part number is off slightly on that connector, and the old connector has 8 pins while the new one only has 7. Anyone have any idea why this is not the same even though it's supposed to be a replacement for 09-04 SD original part?

Also, why would the old one have 8 pins if there are only 7 used on the round plug?

What are my options now that I have a replacement which doesn't work.

 

Not sure but i know on some other vehicles the connectors can be dis-assembled and rearranged. dont know if that would be possible on that plug but its worth a try. the plugs look identical just arranged differently.

 

However there is still one wire that wouldn't match up with the new plug as it only has 7 and the old one has 8.

 

ok, i looked at my connector and it is the same as yours. on first glance..it is early and i am somewhat colorblind...there are only 7 wires going into 7 way. i do have 8 wires coming out of the connector but i think the small blue wire coming out of the connector is the duplicated one. without tearing into my wire bundle i would guess the blue wire goes into a 2 into 1 connection somewhere in the bundle. as for why...could a tow package have anything to do with it? perhaps with a tow package that particular signal could comes from another source. just trying to help. fyi ...it looks like a pita to change the pin layout.

 

Can you identify which wire is the extra one? Pulling the plug apart to remove the wires is a breeze- use a small screwdriver at the back of the plug to pull the rubber stuff back, then once you can see the inside of the connector use a small screwdriver or allen wrench to pop that red piece of plastic out. Then, all you have to do is release the lock for each wire and they slide right out.
When I get home tonight I will look at the wiring on my early 99 if it would be of any help to you.

 

Also what year did the new part come off of? I wonder if the wiring changed with the addition of Tow Command (not sure that was available in 04?). It's also possible that somebody else has monkeyed with the wiring unless you've owned the truck since new. Plug the new one in and use a test light to see if it works the way it should, worse case scenario is you have to unplug it again.

 

I didn't plug in the new one because most of the wires don't line up as you can see from the pics. The duplicate is the blue I believe as mentioned by flyinnuts. I can't guarantee mine hasn't been monkeyed with, however it sounds like flyinnuts has the same 8 wires as mine does.

I think I can get them to be similar if I can get it apart. I didn't know how to get the red part on the inside off but I'll try your trick when I get home tonight.

 

If I remember correct my 99 is wired up like your new one. Maybe the extra wire and difference in yours has to do with parking sensors?
I don't think I explained disassembling the plug very well in my first post but it's pretty self explanatory once you get into it.

 

No parking sensors on mine. I also have no brake controller installed at the moment, but I doubt that would make a difference.

 

Just checked the 2001 EVTM, and it shows the 7-pin setup on that connector that you have on the NEW setup you just got.

That's for both the pickup and the Excursion.

I'm thinking they changed something in the later years.

Like someone else said, compare wire colors old and new, and just rearrange the pins as necessary.

Do the two adapters use the same wire colors?

 

Yes, same colors, just an extra wire which looks it must be a duplicate of another.

I'll give it a shot (re-arranging) and see what happens.

 

I believe the "EXTRA" wire is for back up lights on the towed vehicle.

 

No, that would be pin 7 of the 7 way. Re-wiring the plug is super easy, should go smoothly for you.

 

did you ever figure this out?

 

yes, I re-wired the replacement to match the original (split out one set of wires and combined the other). I used the pins and cut the part where they were split or combined further up the harness in the original one. Wish it was easier given it was supposed to be the exact replacement. The only thing that made me feel better was that I got it on eBay for 1/3 the dealer price. Works great now and I tested w/ a 7-way test plug. I used heatshrink tubing over all the wires in the harness before putting the plastic flex tubing back over the wires.