Printer Friendly Forum Posts - 98 crown victoria

hey guys can anybody tell me hoe i can wire the door locks on a 98 crown victoria. i have a merlon e330 alarm and at fist i ran relays to the door locks since the signal from the alarm will not be enough to power the switch i fist grabed power for the relay from one of the wires coming to a fuse under the dash after two months it stared blowing a fuse under the hood so i changed the two eires going to the relays to the ignition wire after testing it for about five minutes i noticed smoke coming out of the driver door switch:errr:. i think that i must have connected the switch wrong becuse what i did was found the wire that had power when you hit the switch to lock or unlock the door and just tapped into it is that my problem.

hope that enough info and any input will bw apreciateed.

How are the relays connected to the car's wires, where did you get the wires in the car, and what color and thickness are the factory wires?

Like captainzab says, if it has the optional keypad on the driver's door, it'll have just thin wires for the locks and you don't need relays........although the keyless entry option isn't all that common on the Fords; you're more likely to see that on the Grand Marquis.

Also, I suppose it is a bit too late for this now, but the reason for the underhood fuse blowing, and/or the doorlock switch smoking, is that you probably didn't connect an inline fuse on the power source for your relays.

If you had used a fuse, maybe say around 15 amps, and then you made a mistake or did something wrong, the fuse would have blown instead of something else getting damaged. In my experience, 15 amps should be ideal.....20 is a little high but that'll work.....a 10-amp will eventually blow just because the locks apparently draw more current than that.

In any event, I would begin by first making sure that the doorlocks work properly as they are, even if that means replacing the switch, replacing melted wires, etcetera.

And, where did you get the lock wires? I hear of other installers catching them above the glove box, but my method is this:

---Remove kick panel, unbolt hood release handle and lay aside, unfasten the black noise barrier inside the kick panel....you don't have to remove it entirely; just undo the fastener and push the insulation away a little bit.

---Open the door wide, and jam your left knee against the door so the wind or passersby can't slam the door on your hand. Don't have your hands inside the doorjamb without your knee in place first.

---Inside the doorjamb, unsnap the rubber boot covering the wires, and shove it inside the door as far as you can. No, it won't fall in; you just want it out of your way.

---Now, the wires in the doorjamb will be exposed....giving them a little tug might get you even a bit more slack.

---Find the thick pink / YELLOW (lock motor) and thick pink/green (unlock motor) wires.........these will be cut in half and connected to the relays as listed under a "5-wire" or "reversing-polarity" diagram; you should be able to find one of those diagrams on this site.

---Be especially careful to make quality connections here, as the wires do flex back and forth a bit as the door is opened and closed.
We needn't go into the argument of crimping versus soldering....we can save that for another day....but whatever method you use, take the time to do it nicely.

---As you look at those wires you cut in half, you've got the "door side" and the "body side".............and when you look at your diagram, it's going to show "switch side" and "motor side".............I can never seem to remember which is which in that doorjamb.........

Put your tester to the wires AFTER they're cut in half. The one that shows a positive when you press the switch, can be considered the "switch side."

Note that if you get these backwards, as long as you've installed a proper fuse, your fuse will blow. And if you didn't use a fuse, one of the Ford fuses will blow if you're lucky.....or something will melt or catch fire if you aren't.