2005 Mystery wires

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XXRider

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Sep 5, 2018
Thunderbird Year
2005
I recently acquired a 2005 that I’m still getting acquainted with. I put the soft top down for the first time yesterday and discovered 2 wires laying loose in the tops storage area that aren’t connected to anything. They have spade type connectors on the visible ends and then disappear somewhere behind the rear deck. Does anyone know what these might be for?
wire.jpg
 

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Duh. I didn’t look close enough and they are apparently disconnected wires for the soft top window defroster. There are also two wires connected to the terminals on the window, but the ends were tucked in underneath the lining and I totally missed seeing them. I don’t see how/where the 2 segments connect together though.
 
XXRider said:
Duh. I didn’t look close enough and they are apparently disconnected wires for the soft top window defroster. There are also two wires connected to the terminals on the window, but the ends were tucked in underneath the lining and I totally missed seeing them. I don’t see how/where the 2 segments connect together though.
Click to expand...
The wire on the passenger side of the soft top window glass should run down between the window and the soft top and emerge from the fabric of the upper top, pass out between the upper and lower fabric pieces, then through that hole you see and back behind the fabric. It plugs into a connector near the top of the rear bulkhead behind the passenger seat. The wire on driver side of the window glass runs the same, through a hole, and is fastened under a screw or bolt to the car body- it's grounded. Those loose wires you see still have the ends that should be bonded to a window, so if you still have a heated soft top window, then it was replaced and the new wires were run differently than the factory, or were never hooked up at all. The connector on the passenger side is hard to unplug- there's a lock that has to be pried up to release it before the wire to the window can be pulled out. You can see/feel this by unsnapping the snaps between the upper and lower fabric pieces on either side of the soft-top well. (note that in your photo, those snaps you see should have the outside part of the soft top well fabric snapped to them at all times) The fabric has a stiff plastic edge with a slot that snaps over a plastic button on the outside of the soft top well so it slides a little. You can take the slotted plastic edge off the button to pull the fabric back more. For access, move the seats all the way forward and stand in the floor behind them, pretending you have small feet..... If it's hard to see in there, you may want to get a cheap video bore-scope on Amazon or Ebay. The DepsTech Wireless Endoscope hooks up to your cell phone and is inexpensive.
 
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Bubblehog said:
The wire on the passenger side of the soft top window glass should run down between the window and the soft top and emerge from the fabric of the upper top, pass out between the upper and lower fabric pieces, then through that hole you see and back behind the fabric. It plugs into a connector near the top of the rear bulkhead behind the passenger seat. The wire on driver side of the window glass runs the same, through a hole, and is fastened under a screw or bolt to the car body- it's grounded. Those loose wires you see still have the ends that should be bonded to a window, so if you still have a heated soft top window, then it was replaced and the new wires were run differently than the factory, or were never hooked up at all. The connector on the passenger side is hard to unplug- there's a lock that has to be pried up to release it before the wire to the window can be pulled out. You can see/feel this by unsnapping the snaps between the upper and lower fabric pieces on either side of the soft-top well. (note that in your photo, those snaps you see should have the outside part of the soft top well fabric snapped to them at all times) The fabric has a stiff plastic edge with a slot that snaps over a plastic button on the outside of the soft top well so it slides a little. You can take the slotted plastic edge off the button to pull the fabric back more. For access, move the seats all the way forward and stand in the floor behind them, pretending you have small feet..... If it's hard to see in there, you may want to get a cheap video bore-scope on Amazon or Ebay. The DepsTech Wireless Endoscope hooks up to your cell phone and is inexpensive.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the great explanation of how that wiring is supposed to be (my first impression was it’s not OEM) Now that I have a better idea of what I’m dealing with,I’ll take another look at the wires that are back there. Living in Ca., I probably wouldn’t need the heated soft top window, but I like to have things working whether I use it or not.
 
XXRider said:
I recently acquired a 2005 that I’m still getting acquainted with. I put the soft top down for the first time yesterday and discovered 2 wires laying loose in the tops storage area that aren’t connected to anything. They have spade type connectors on the visible ends and then disappear somewhere behind the rear deck. Does anyone know what these might be for?
View attachment 2500
Click to expand...
Hi, I have looked closely at your photo and then went out & looked at my 05 in the same area to try to determine just what you might have. My 05 bought new in late 04 does not have a hole in the spot your photo shows. That looks like something the previous owner must have had. It certainly does not look OEM, if it was I believe the hole would appear more finished around the edges.
If you have a ohm/volt meter you may want to see if there is any voltage present. You could also remove the trunk liner on the pass. side to see where that wire may go.
I'd appreciate a follow up note to let us all know what you find.
 
It does look homemade to me also.. Maybe the previous owner had a light (led ribbon) mounted to the porthole or maybe tried an add-on speaker.. At first glance the end looks like the spade connector is attached to a speaker male end but was torn off but there would of been two of them.. If only you can peek below the liner.. That is a good mystery for sure.. Oh how about a Uber light... :)
 
stevedaphotoman said:
It does look homemade to me also.. Maybe the previous owner had a light (led ribbon) mounted to the porthole or maybe tried an add-on speaker.. At first glance the end looks like the spade connector is attached to a speaker male end but was torn off but there would of been two of them.. If only you can peek below the liner.. That is a good mystery for sure.. Oh how about a Uber light... :)
Click to expand...
Uber light would be cool but the driver could only take one passenger.
A good approach to this mystery would be to undo the snaps in the soft top pocket as well as pop off the trunk liner at the back where the pocket is. I've had this out on my 05, hidden behind it is access to the soft top lift pump, the sub woofer, the alarm/FOB power supply and a few more interesting pieces of equipment. But most importantly for this situation of the mystery wires opening this area might revel where the other end of these wires go.
 
BluByeU said:
Hi, I have looked closely at your photo and then went out & looked at my 05 in the same area to try to determine just what you might have. My 05 bought new in late 04 does not have a hole in the spot your photo shows. That looks like something the previous owner must have had. It certainly does not look OEM, if it was I believe the hole would appear more finished around the edges.
If you have a ohm/volt meter you may want to see if there is any voltage present. You could also remove the trunk liner on the pass. side to see where that wire may go.
I'd appreciate a follow up note to let us all know what you find.
Click to expand...


Here’s a better picture showing what I have. The bottom wire goes to the connection on the bulkhead of the trunk and has about 14.3 volts when I turn the rear defroster switch on. The top wire connects to the soft top window. The two connectors are different types and I could rig a way to hook them up, but don’t want to be blowing fuses by not knowing why it’s that way to begin with.
 

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    window wires.jpg
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This new photo is a good to help solve your question. The connecting block up on the window does NOT look anything at all like my 05. Makes me think you possibly have a replacement window. Are the heater bands in your window kind of red in color? The OEM w
 
XXRider said:
Here’s a better picture showing what I have. The bottom wire goes to the connection on the bulkhead of the trunk and has about 14.3 volts when I turn the rear defroster switch on. The top wire connects to the soft top window. The two connectors are different types and I could rig a way to hook them up, but don’t want to be blowing fuses by not knowing why it’s that way to begin with.
Click to expand...
 
BluByeU said:
This new photo is a good to help solve your question. The connecting block up on the window does NOT look anything at all like my 05. Makes me think you possibly have a replacement window. Are the heater bands in your window kind of red in color? The OEM w
Click to expand...

The heater bands are a reddish brown and the attached picture shows the part number. I did suspect the connection blocks on the window were replaced since the wire connector was different, but didn’t think about the whole window, or even the soft top being replaced.
window.jpg
 
Right now I wish I did not have my HT on the car & that it wasn't 31 degrees outside because I'd go out & check the glass on my 05 to help you get this resolved. I have no idea what if any info or logo is on the OEM soft top window.
Do you know if your soft top window defroster presently works? Is there any wiring to it now? The wires You mentioned, that one of the wires has 14.3 volts on it are they the only wiring? If they are the only wiring then I am thinking they ought to be for the defroster & are not connected because as you say you would have rig something up. That statement alone makes me think you have a aftermarket defroster & whoever installed it did not know how to wire it correctly to make it operate.
There are 2 fuses in the defroster circuit, both are located in the trunk fuse box. One is a 30 amp fuse the other is a 5 amp. If you have your owner's manual these fuses are identified. The 30 amp fuse is #29 & the 5 amp is #05.
So if you should blow a fuse while working on this now you know where they are located.
Hope this of some more help

Maybe some one else following this will post a photo of what info or logo is on a OEM soft top glass.
 
BluByeU said:
Right now I wish I did not have my HT on the car & that it wasn't 31 degrees outside because I'd go out & check the glass on my 05 to help you get this resolved. I have no idea what if any info or logo is on the OEM soft top window.
Do you know if your soft top window defroster presently works? Is there any wiring to it now? The wires You mentioned, that one of the wires has 14.3 volts on it are they the only wiring? If they are the only wiring then I am thinking they ought to be for the defroster & are not connected because as you say you would have rig something up. That statement alone makes me think you have a aftermarket defroster & whoever installed it did not know how to wire it correctly to make it operate.
There are 2 fuses in the defroster circuit, both are located in the trunk fuse box. One is a 30 amp fuse the other is a 5 amp. If you have your owner's manual these fuses are identified. The 30 amp fuse is #29 & the 5 amp is #05.
So if you should blow a fuse while working on this now you know where they are located.
Hope this of some more help

Maybe some one else following this will post a photo of what info or logo is on a OEM soft top glass.
Click to expand...


I'm probably not going to mess with it anymore until spring and will be putting the hard top back on this week. I think it’s just a matter of connecting the 2 wires together with a jumper and see what happens. The 14.3 volts is on the wire coming from the trunk when I turn the defroster switch on, so it’s just a matter of whether the defroster functions once the 2 wires are connected. I doubt I’d ever need it here in Ca., but just that I like things to function.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions.
 
Here is a phot of my rear convertible glass on a 02. Second picture is inside showing the
wire connections. Looks like you need to connect the two wires together, but make it a
good connection, as it will draw quite a few ampsT Bird glass.JPG T Bird wires.JPG
 
edward301 said:
Here is a phot of my rear convertible glass on a 02. Second picture is inside showing the
wire connections. Looks like you need to connect the two wires together, but make it a
good connection, as it will draw quite a few ampsView attachment 2813 View attachment 2814
Click to expand...


Thanks for the pictures.

If you have an oem window and wire connection to the grid, then mine is not, unless they changed it between 2002 and 2005.
 
XXRider said:
I recently acquired a 2005 that I’m still getting acquainted with. I put the soft top down for the first time yesterday and discovered 2 wires laying loose in the tops storage area that aren’t connected to anything. They have spade type connectors on the visible ends and then disappear somewhere behind the rear deck. Does anyone know what these might be for?
View attachment 2500
Click to expand...


Might the wire be for connecting the rear window defoging system (wire-in-glass)? On a frosty morning, does the defrogger work now?
OR
Could they be for the big bass speakers that are built into the rear deck?
 
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