where does this wire connect?

[delroy]

Hi everyone.
I just bought a 2014 GT Premium which looks very good, but there is a "loose" wire that is not connected to anything.
I'd like to attach it properly. Every thing else looks perfectly stock.
It's about 14" long maybe, comes from the wiring harness near the front of the engine bay on the passenger side under the hood.
It looks like it should go to the screw at the fuse box nearby. It's black, looks like a ground wire.
Any ideas? Thanks for your help.
I'm looking forward to driving this (manual shift) car!
J.

 

[delroy]

Adding a pic. Looks like it should go on fuse box. Can anyone confirm? Thanks.

 

[Juice]

I think it's your block ground cable, other end should be attached to chassis/frame.

 

[DieHarder]

Adding a pic. Looks like it should go on fuse box. Can anyone confirm? Thanks.

View attachment 106955

As Juice says that's the ground for the block. There's a stud on the underside of the passenger motor mount. That is where it's supposed to connect to. If the nut is missing you'll have to source one.

If you want to verify get a VOM and using the Ohm's setting check for continuity from the end of that cable to the ground side on the battery and ground points on the passenger strut tower. Should read ~ 0 ohms.

 

[delroy]

Thanks. I'll have a look at the motor mount stud you mentioned.
Looks like some work was done before I got the car. The car looks pristine (51,000 km) except that the fuse box hold down screws were missing and this wire is just hanging out in the air. A screw holding the plastic shield behind the bumper was loose also, but none were missing. Very weird.
J.

 

[Juice]

The battery cable bolts at the mount. The cable in the pic attaches to the engine IIRC, near the right valve cover.

 

[DieHarder]

As Juice says that's the ground for the block. There's a stud on the underside of the passenger motor mount. That is where it's supposed to connect to. If the nut is missing you'll have to source one.

If you want to verify get a VOM and using the Ohm's setting check for continuity from the end of that cable to the ground side on the battery and ground points on the passenger strut tower. Should read ~ 0 ohms.

Thanks. I'll have a look at the motor mount stud you mentioned.
Looks like some work was done before I got the car. The car looks pristine (51,000 km) except that the fuse box hold down screws were missing and this wire is just hanging out in the air. A screw holding the plastic shield behind the bumper was loose also, but none were missing. Very weird.
J.

I stand corrected. You have a 2014. I was referring to a 2005 - 2010. My bad. Disregard.

Refer to Juice's advice.

 

[delroy]

Thanks again. The wire in question definitely looks like a ground wire. It's not long enough to go to the motor mount. (I see you changed the suggestion.) It reaches perfectly to the fuse box stud - any chance it goes there? Somebody in the past has messed around with the fuse box. The hold down screws were missing for that, but I have some replacements. I want to get this wire to it's correct spot. The end of the wire has a metal terminal that looks like it positions the wire on a nut or a metal boss. I have been looking at it for a while but it's not obvious where it goes. Attaching to the block or head seems right but I just can't see it. The saga continues. Your help is really appreciated. J.

 

[Juice]

On the passenger side head, just below the valve cover, look for a forward facing stud. Mine has a ground wire there. Pull off the engne cover for better view. Its just out of sight in the pic, bottom right corner.

 

[BullittSS]

It most definitely attaches to the fuse box. This is my 2014 GT/CS:

 

[delroy]

Thank you so much. I suspect that this car had a fender replaced and that's why the fuse box was not correctly installed afterwards. The wire reaches perfectly to the stud on the fuse box. Now I can secure everything properly. (The tech who worked on this in the past was not very careful.)
My car has a Shelby spoiler, a Shelby hood, a Shelby stripe, and a front lip and side "lips" - not sure what they're called. Not sure if I agree with all that. But what can you do? It's a used car. Had 32,000 miles on it, never winter driven. Thanks again guys, that's awesome help. PS. I lied in my bio. I'm actually almost 80 yo and this car makes me feel 21 again.

 

[Shane361]

I will say given the shape of the connector it is odd that it goes to that location in the picture. But from videos it does appear to go there. It is a ground for sure, is that fuse box bolt grounded or does it just hold those two pieces of plastic together? If that is where it goes I don't think the one in the picture is correctly installed.

 

[delroy]

It looks OK to me. My car (a '14) looks exactly like the pic helpfully posted by BullittSS from his '14. There is a metal bracket under the stud so it does look to be a proper ground.
The stud comes up through the fuse box tab. The way I see it, a small nut goes on the stud to hold the fuse box down on the metal bracket. Then the ground wire with its fancy end/terminal fits nicely on the nut. Then another nut holds down the connector. It looks correct and there doesn't seem to be any other feasible connection. There is another possible place to put it, maybe, on the front of the head, but that is actually capped with a plastic cover that looks very factory.

 

[BullittSS]

I special ordered my car from the factory, and that cable/wire has never been touched, so...

I do have the factory navigation system, although I don't why that would make a difference. Tasca Ford has a lot of diagrams on their website and I believe that user 86GT351 works in a Ford shop. There are also some pics on the internet that seem to confirm the connection.

 

[Shane361]

I special ordered my car from the factory, and that cable/wire has never been touched, so...

I do have the factory navigation system, although I don't why that would make a difference. Tasca Ford has a lot of diagrams on their website and I believe that user 86GT351 works in a Ford shop. There are also some pics on the internet that seem to confirm the connection.

You have to admit though with the horse shoe connector it makes less contact then if it were flat. That is what is odd to me. Maybe my 14 Shelby will be the same way so I'll check also. Curious what the piece looks like under the cable.


EDIT...Yeah nothing on mine but doesn't mean anything for another model.

 

[BullittSS]

You have to admit though with the horse shoe connector it makes less contact then if it were flat. That is what is odd to me. Maybe my 14 Shelby will be the same way so I'll check also. Curious what the piece looks like under the cable.


EDIT...Yeah nothing on mine but doesn't mean anything for another model.

It's a mystery to me. I do have a dealer installed Ford Pro-Cal tune, but I don't think that has anything to do with it. My build date was 10/28/2013 -- maybe a design change mid production? This is becoming a quest, lol.

 

[BullittSS]

Here is an image from steeda.com showing the connection in the same place as mine. There are enough similar images from other sources that I am confident that this correct. I haven't traced it back to its source (yet).

 

[Shane361]

I'm sure we're all on the same page that is where it goes. I'm just curious how it connects with that connector. It's like it sits on something raised so it isn't allowed to spin as it is tightened.