I purchased an Explorer overhead console on Ebay the other day for my F-150. Before I bought it, I remove the one from our Explorer to see how it looked and it fit the curves of the '97 F-150 headliner perfectly.

The console itself is complete with the LED compass and temperature readouts as well as the internal wiring harness. What I'm missing are the wiring harness that will plug into the console as well as the actual sensor for the temp that I will need to mount in the front of the engine compartment.

I couldn't find any part #'s on our Explorer console parts to go by. Has anyone else done this or perhaps have the #'s I need. The is a lot of info at the Explorer site but I need more.

I need:
Wiring Harness
Temp Sensor
Mounting Bracket

 

Oh boy, this brings back fond memories of installing the same console (except mine was gray) in my wife's '98 Explorer Sport.

The compass is self contained, just needs power.

Unfortunately, none of the wiring was in the headliner, with the exception of the 2 wires for the map light and interior lights, which I spliced into. My console came with the wiring harness connector, which had been cut out of a wrecked Explorer, so all I had to do was splice my new wiring into that harness. The connector had about 6" of the original wiring on it, so I knew what wire was for what.

I ended up running wires down the "A" post, behind the dash, and connecting all but two of the remaining wires to the radio wiring harness, i.e. power, ground, VSS, and the dash lights (to use the dimming feature).

The remaining two wires went to the outside air sensor, which the our Explorer came equipped with. You might check to see if your truck has a temp sensor, if it has factory A/C it probably does. Might not be the correct one though.

Did you get the mounting bracket that bolts to the roof?

Also, depending on the year of Explorer it came out of, there is also the issue of blue lighting vs. green, but most people don't care since the console and dash are so far apart from one another.

The internal console wiring is mostly black wires, so you'll need the connector and at least a few inches of the original wiring (which is color coded) to tell where everthing goes.

I have a '98 Ford Truck Cd that has wiring diagrams. Let me know if you need the color of the corresponding wiring in your truck (your '97 should be the same as my '98).

Good luck.

 

I couldn't resist adding this to my truck. When I drive the Explorer, it feels much more cozy, like "The space in the fuselage of a small airplane containing seats for the pilot, copilot, and sometimes passengers" (See what happens when I type "****pit"). The F-150 console wouldn't fit because of a different headliner in the '97.

Electricity is my friend so I have no worries about wiring everything in but I really wanted to have the proper connections so I don't need to actually hard-wire everything. If it comes down to it, I'll simply cut the wires and buy a new male/female connector at radio shack. I believe there are just the 8 wires but grrrr!!!!, finding wires with a blue/yellow combination to run to a power source may be difficult.

I have the F-150 HVAC/Electrical wiring manual for reference. The only part I don't feel comforatable with is connecting the the VVS to compensate for windchill on the Temp Sensor. I havn't settled on were to mount it yet. I may just mount in the cab or even on the engine.

I figured I would connect the console dome lights to the overhead dome lights and get power and dimming from the radio wires.

The mounting bracket may get a little complicated because I am not expecting it to be compatible with the screws holes my roof. Not a big deal.

Then there's the wiring harness. Appearantly it's a '94-'97 console and the harness for the 02/96 on it costs $15.00 whereas the pre 02/97 harness is $150.00.

I also need to replace the sun visors because they will be too long. I don't yet know what to replace them with. Maybe from an Explorer or a 2000-2001 F-150 with the overhead console.

There is an outside temp sensor which is part or the A/C but I don't know if that works with this.

I payed $50.00 with shipping for the console so even with the extra parts it should be no more than a $125.00 add-on. I'll post pics and instructions when I'm done in case anyone else is interested in this.

Console=$50.00
Bracket=$15.00
Visors=$20.00 each
Temp Sensor=$$$???$$$

 

sounds like too much work...

 

Here's my Solution, it too wanted those features: This the the Ford OEM mirror with comp and temp display - automatically dims itself, and the display dims when it's dark out. (sorry about the fuzzy picture, my camera licks)



Bambino

 

Too much work is relative......

I work a scheduled 4 day week and on my days off I only sleep while I'm actually tired so I always need things to do.

I thought about the mirror but I already have an auto dimming/accessory delay mirror and the OEM compass/temp mirror has about a $250.00 list price. The F-150 overhead console is nice and not too expensive but the headliner has a different curve so it wouldn't fit.

I really want that "space in the fuselage of a small airplane containing seats for the pilot, copilot, and sometimes passengers" feeling.