88' Ranger XLT, Super-cab, 2.3L EFI, 5sp

There are several "unknown" plugs under the hood of my truck, maybe you guys can identify them. I am looking for the "spout" connector on this truck, and I have had no luck finding it.

Disconnected plugs on the driver's inner fender well under that plastic cover:



Disconnected plug on the driver's inner fender well next to the coil:


Bundle of plugs on the driver's inner fender well:


Unknown plug under the EGR valve by the firewall on the driver's side:


Unknown plugs/relays on the passenger's inner fender by the blower motor & air box:





Thanks for looking.

 

The spout connector is actually right on the engine on my 87 2.9. On mine, it is on the pass side of the engine, hanging from 2 yellow wires that emerge from a large engine elect harness. It's located at about the middle of the engine on the pass side and rests in the valley between the intake manifold and the valve cover. There is the connector part which is plastic, about 1" long x 3/4" wide x 1/4" thick. Then inserted into this connector is the plug or pill. The plug is pretty close in size to a large spade-type fuse (a bit larger) but has a small flat handle on the end to pull it out.

From what I can tell, none of your photos show it. However the first photo has a connector that is similar in appearance to the spout connector. It's the 2-wire grey one just above your finger. It looks a bit like the spout without the plug in it.

I realize you have a 2.3 but maybe this will help you find it.

 

The spout connector will be a prt of the wiring harness that hooks to the distributor it will be a single plug with what amounts to a jump plugged into it. I saw nothing in the pictures that is it.

 

In the very last photo, the relay at bottom left is the EEC power supply and the one with the green connector is the fuel pump relay. Middle right is the IAC (Idle Air Control) solenoid, sometimes called the idle speed motor.

Can't identify all the others, never really had a need to. But if you want to identify them and nobody else can help you, a wiring diagram would be my suggestion. Some wiring diagrams show the number of wires, their colour and every connector, splice, fusable link, etc. The connectors are sometimes actually numbered ie. C128, a splice is say S213. You can identify what the connector is, by where it's wires come from and where they go on the diagram.

PS....gotta ask, has your truck been messed with, won't run and you're trying to get all the connectors hooked up ? If that's the case, just a note that not all connectors need to be hooked up. For the last 25 years or so, the automakers went to a single set of wiring harnesses for a certain year/model of truck. The harnesses generally included wires and connectors for all possible options on that vehicle. So if your truck doesn't have say cruise, there will be cruise connectors there, with nothing connected to them. My 87 is a bare bones truck and has many dangling connectors with nothing connected to them. If it would help, I could tell you which ones in your photos are not connected to anything on my truck. Might be a bit guessy because of the different engines.

 

That make 2 of us, and I have be looking at the real thing!

chbtech - Thanks for the ID of the relays in the last pic. I should have mentioned that I unplugged some things so I could get a better pic, so I did know what the IACV is. I pulled that and the "test" connector for pulling codes so I could get a better view.

The #s on them might help. I guess I never noticed with all the dirt and crap on them. I will have a look.

"Has the truck been messed with?" Yea, you could say that. It runs, it just doesn't run like it used to. Long story short:

09/03 - bought used truck as the 3rd owner, previous owners neglected it for years, knew it had a bad trans but it was cheap so I was going to fix it.
02/04 - lost the trans in the snow, replaced it with a reman unit.
07/05 - blew the head gasket due to a broken head bolt on the exhaust side between #2 & #3 cyl, spent months on and off trying to remove head, got frustrated, borrowed a hoist and pulled the engine, tore everything down with the exception of the rings & bearings, all the other seals, gaskets, and most of the sensors were replaced.
09/06 - finally made it through inspection and it has been running the same ever since.

The dates above are aprox, and most of these laugh-a-longs can be found in the following threads:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/4...the-block.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ion-noise.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/2...-now-what.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/2...atic-idle.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/2...-to-worse.html

 

Whoops ! Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that there are actual numbers on the physical connectors themselves that relate to a wiring diagram. If you find any numbers on the connectors, those will just be Ford part numbers, nothing that will give you a clue as to what the connector connects.

What I meant was that the connectors are actually shown on a wiring diagram and they are shown to the extent that the diagram (only) has assigned a drawing mark number for each connector. Ford Engineering probably has a separate drawing for each connector mark number for the purpose of having them made. I got too wordy trying to say that the connectors are shown on a wiring diagram......hope this isn't too wordy.

 

I THINK I FOUND IT! Well it was nowhere near the distributor, thats for sure.

Here is a pic of what I believe to be the Official "spout" connector: (it was buried near the lower corner of the battery)

 

I have a 89 ranger and i went an looked at mine and it is by the battery also

 

My bad sorry fo the missinfo I was working on a later odel and it was by the distrib.

 

It is confirmed, that is the spout connector on an 88' 2.3L EFI

 

do u no where the stock amp is

 

Huh?! (he says with a confused look)

Pardon the expression, but "what U talk'n bout Willis?"

 

So that is definitely the SPOUT connector? I looked high and low for that connector on my '87 2.3 and never found it.

 

Yep. You can verify that the timing drops/climbs when you plug/unplug the connector. You can add this to the LONG list of really dumb designs on our trucks.

Once the timing was set correctly, it feels like a truck that is < 1/2 it's age. Now if I could just get this annoying loping/surging idle while warm problem fixed it would be like almost new (running that is, it still looks like a POS ).