Underdash 66 wiring kit from NPD sucks

[A66Auto]

Quickly:

I ordered a under dash harness from NPD and installed it. The good thing is that the turn signals work, car starts and dash gauges work. The bad thing is that my tail lights come on when I turn on the courtesy lights and no headlights. I couldn't figure it out because the harness was pretty easy to install and everything just fell into place.

After going racking my brain for the past week trying to figure out what I did wrong I looked that the NPD harness and realized that the plug that goes to the light switch is no wired correctly. What i mean is look at these and notice where the wires are on the switch.
(The images are hosted at image shack)

This is the old factory harness plugged in:

http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=old12cl.jpg

This is the NPD harness:

http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=new17pp.jpg

At this point NPD will not take it back and gave me the NAME of the vendor and nothing else. I bought it 8 days ago for 429.95 and now I am screwed and will not do business with them ever again.
http://forums.stangnet.com/images/smilies/banghead.gif

So here are my options. I don't know how to get this fixed and NPD will not take back a defective product because I installed it. Is there a way to switch the plugs that go into the switch?

 

[Az Pete]

If I read things correct, it looks like you just need to reposition the wires into the proper spots. The pins have a small locking tab about mid way down the pin. A small screwdriver usually works to unlock it and remove the pins. Then place them into the proper location. Radio Shack can help with the hows and maybe a special tool to remove the wires.

 

[BarnStang]

The wires can be removed from the plug. THere should be a little prong that you wil need a very small tool-like a dental tool to push up on then pull the wire out of the plug. You will need to push in on the wire so the prong does not jam against the plastic. Meaning, don't pull on the wire and force the prong up cause it will bend and jam then it will be a mess.

THat being said, you need to know EXACTLY what wire goes where with regards to the old wiring harness. You should not trust the color coded wires. That means you need to map out the old harness wire for wire. then trace each wire in the new harness and match it up. A couple hours works if you take your time.

However, if you were given the name of the vendor, why are you still bothering with NPD? Call the vendor and they should send you a new harness I would think if you can prove a defect. I would determin if you first ordered the right harness and then if NPD sent you what you ordered, then if thats all straight, then you should give the vendor a chance to make it right. NPD doesn't know about wires. They just provide an outlet for the product. Granted, they should have taken it back. But you should try to resolve it with the vendor and if that fails, I would pressure NPD to return it if you can provide them date, times and names of the people you talked to at the vendor and what they said. Document everything you do now.

Hopefully the vendor will help. Who is the vendo of the harness anyway?

Hope that helps.

 

[A66Auto]

I agree, I am going to wait and see what the vendor will do. Maybe they will take it back or find a way to make it right. I am just kinda mad becasue I spent so much time trying to figure out what I did wrong and it wasn't me in the first place. I was going nutz.

This is the vendor:
www.americanautowire.com
They don't have any Ford apps on thier site I can find.

 

[Tim65GT]

Sounds like youv'e already figured out most of the problem.

It's pretty easy to swap the terminals to the correct area. I use the end of a broken coping saw blade. It's the right size and it's stiff enough that it doesn't bend out of shape. Just use needle nose and push it into the terminal end to release the catch while pulling gently on the wire.

Once you get one out, and see the engineering of it, the rest are easy. You might have to bend the little catch tab back out a bit to make sure it will work when re-inserted into the correct hole.

 

[Az Pete]

To me, even if the vendor will replace it, it would be much easier to switch the wires in the plug as opposed to replacing the entire harness again. I had one wire pulled out of a pin on my dash harness. Vendor said return for replacement. I said thanks, but it is easier to fix mine. Just wanted them to know of the problem.

 

[stangonline]

This is the state of customer service these days.

A middleman company like NPD is happy to take your money, and profit from the sale...however, when there is a problem, they offload it on the manufacturer. At that point, I would have said, "I'm sorry, I thought that I paid YOU for this product and YOU shipped it to me...It's defective, so I expect YOU to take care of me!". If they endorse a product by offering it through their store, they should also be responsible for the return, and deal with THEIR vendor instead of making THEIR customer run around.

Home Depot tried this same tactic on me regarding a defective door.

Who is the OEM for that product? Perhaps we can buy directly for now on? :evil:

 

[danny clemens]

NPD should stand behind anything they sell. They are taking the easy way out. They charge more for most of their parts so customer service should be better. Even if the vendor makes it right this does not excuse NPD for their non-action. If a vendor is going to make a part it should be right without the customer telling them that it's not. We deserve better.

 

[85 Turbo Bird]

To me, even if the vendor will replace it, it would be much easier to switch the wires in the plug as opposed to replacing the entire harness again. I had one wire pulled out of a pin on my dash harness. Vendor said return for replacement. I said thanks, but it is easier to fix mine. Just wanted them to know of the problem.

This is is what I would say to do for someting that you've had in your car for a while but in this case i would say, despite the hassle, take it out and return it. That it assuming the vendor of NPD will take it back, but you know what assuming does The reason I say this is in a BRAND NEW installation, finding one problem usually means there's more... so, would you rather get a correct wiring harness now and have to take out the newly installed harness, or would you rather deal with finding a problem later on down the road and having no option for customer service (good or bad)...

I know what I'd choose.

Good luck with the customer service issues. If you need help, I know a few female friends that can be real "female dogs" to customer service people

 

[A66Auto]

NPD is now going to fix my problem and I am happy with the response I got from them becasue they will work with me. Even though it was not a perfect transaction, I am happy with the out come and will do bussiness with them again.

Alex

 

[Az Pete]

Glad to see you have the problem solved.