i've searched and searched all over the web and wasnt able to really find a good write up on this. I guess maybe I'm the only one that ever wanted to do this or ??? But anyway, here goes, I did the swap and I got the taillights to work they are supposed to. (turn signals blinking independently from the brake lights)
What you will need::
a pair of wire strippers/crimpers.
about 8 feet or so of 18ga wire.
a small box of butt connectors.
99/01 Cobra tail's WITH the CORRECT harnesses.
your existing GT taillight harness
another turnsignal flasher (NOT A GT ONE!)
ok, so basically i tried like a million different things and nothing worked until this. what you will want to do is::
1)remove your GT tail lights and the wiring harnesses. once you do this, cut the pigtails off them. leave yourself enough wire to work with though! i left about 2-2.5" the wire colors from left to right are different so try not to mix them up.
2)take your cobra tail lights and cut the pigtails off them as well. you wont need to re-use these so dont worry about how much wire to leave comming out the back.
3)take your gt pigtails and splice them on to the cobra tail light harnesses. the colors WILL match up. if they dont, you got the wrong side pigtail, switch them and the colors will match. once they are all spliced on with the butt connectors you will have ONE solid green wire remaining from both tail lights.
4)next, bolt the lights back into your car. this is where you will need the 8 feet of 18ga wire. use the butt connectors to splice the piece of wire onto the green wire from the pass side and run it over to the drivers side tail. cut the wire off even with the solid green wire from the drivers side tail. strip the coating from the 18ga wire and the green wire and twist them together. put a butt connector on them so you've got the one side crimped but not the other side. you will pick up power for the brake lights with this side.
5)for power to the brake lights, take the remaining piece of 18ga wire and crimp it onto that butt connector that joins the solid green wires on the tail light harnesses. run it up with the existing wire loom that is on the trunklid of the car (you will want to route this kinda in the direction of the 3rd brake light) once you do this, pull the tape/coating off the wires and locate a solid green wire in the loom (my car had 2 of them. 1 for brake light power and the other was for the trunk light) to find the right one, just use a volt meter. since the trunk is open and nobody's foot is on the brake, the one with power is obviously not the one you want to cut. splice into the dead circuit to power your brake lights.
6) at this point, your turn signals will blink orange BUT, when you step on the brakes, the orange portion will still light up with the brakes. this step is kinda the point-of-no-return. you need to cut the brake light interrupt feed. i laid on my back with my head by the firewall. when looking up, you will see a large connector to the right of the steering column. its right next to it and you can only get to it from this position unless you tear apart the whole dash cuz its behind the instrument cluster (i tried to get to it from the top and discovered this) you will notice a solid green wire comming out of the connector. thats the one you want to cut. if you can, tape it up or as i did, jsut crimp a connector on the end comming out of the connector.
7)now everything should work like its supposed to. the only thing you will notice is that your turn signals are blinking super fast. this is normal until you change the flasher. im hearing that the flasher you want is a common one found in alot of Fords but i havnt got a chance to change mine out yet (its winter and snowing. no garage at the moment and im working on a 4v swap right now too) im assuming one from a 2003 or so escape would work because that has the orange turn signals. aslo i see some of the 97~ish rangers have the same set-up. i will try the escape one 1st and i think that will do the trick.
i hope to update this with pictures sometime and hopefully this can help out someone else who wants to do the mod. all i can say is that everything is reverseable but if you're not sure about the brake light interrupt circuit under the dash, DO NOT CUT IT until you are sure you got the right one. it will be a HUGE PITA to splice it back together. i wasnt sure about it but luckily i got the right one. i just kinda closed my eyes, gritted my teeth, then *snip*
if anybody is confused about anything, just ask before you attempt anything. i did this on my 2002 GT and im assuming all the wiring colors are the same in the 1999-2004 year range.
What you will need::
a pair of wire strippers/crimpers.
about 8 feet or so of 18ga wire.
a small box of butt connectors.
99/01 Cobra tail's WITH the CORRECT harnesses.
your existing GT taillight harness
another turnsignal flasher (NOT A GT ONE!)
ok, so basically i tried like a million different things and nothing worked until this. what you will want to do is::
1)remove your GT tail lights and the wiring harnesses. once you do this, cut the pigtails off them. leave yourself enough wire to work with though! i left about 2-2.5" the wire colors from left to right are different so try not to mix them up.
2)take your cobra tail lights and cut the pigtails off them as well. you wont need to re-use these so dont worry about how much wire to leave comming out the back.
3)take your gt pigtails and splice them on to the cobra tail light harnesses. the colors WILL match up. if they dont, you got the wrong side pigtail, switch them and the colors will match. once they are all spliced on with the butt connectors you will have ONE solid green wire remaining from both tail lights.
4)next, bolt the lights back into your car. this is where you will need the 8 feet of 18ga wire. use the butt connectors to splice the piece of wire onto the green wire from the pass side and run it over to the drivers side tail. cut the wire off even with the solid green wire from the drivers side tail. strip the coating from the 18ga wire and the green wire and twist them together. put a butt connector on them so you've got the one side crimped but not the other side. you will pick up power for the brake lights with this side.
5)for power to the brake lights, take the remaining piece of 18ga wire and crimp it onto that butt connector that joins the solid green wires on the tail light harnesses. run it up with the existing wire loom that is on the trunklid of the car (you will want to route this kinda in the direction of the 3rd brake light) once you do this, pull the tape/coating off the wires and locate a solid green wire in the loom (my car had 2 of them. 1 for brake light power and the other was for the trunk light) to find the right one, just use a volt meter. since the trunk is open and nobody's foot is on the brake, the one with power is obviously not the one you want to cut. splice into the dead circuit to power your brake lights.
6) at this point, your turn signals will blink orange BUT, when you step on the brakes, the orange portion will still light up with the brakes. this step is kinda the point-of-no-return. you need to cut the brake light interrupt feed. i laid on my back with my head by the firewall. when looking up, you will see a large connector to the right of the steering column. its right next to it and you can only get to it from this position unless you tear apart the whole dash cuz its behind the instrument cluster (i tried to get to it from the top and discovered this) you will notice a solid green wire comming out of the connector. thats the one you want to cut. if you can, tape it up or as i did, jsut crimp a connector on the end comming out of the connector.
7)now everything should work like its supposed to. the only thing you will notice is that your turn signals are blinking super fast. this is normal until you change the flasher. im hearing that the flasher you want is a common one found in alot of Fords but i havnt got a chance to change mine out yet (its winter and snowing. no garage at the moment and im working on a 4v swap right now too) im assuming one from a 2003 or so escape would work because that has the orange turn signals. aslo i see some of the 97~ish rangers have the same set-up. i will try the escape one 1st and i think that will do the trick.
i hope to update this with pictures sometime and hopefully this can help out someone else who wants to do the mod. all i can say is that everything is reverseable but if you're not sure about the brake light interrupt circuit under the dash, DO NOT CUT IT until you are sure you got the right one. it will be a HUGE PITA to splice it back together. i wasnt sure about it but luckily i got the right one. i just kinda closed my eyes, gritted my teeth, then *snip*
if anybody is confused about anything, just ask before you attempt anything. i did this on my 2002 GT and im assuming all the wiring colors are the same in the 1999-2004 year range.
