First, for reasons can't explain, I didn't take many pics of the old girls before I took them apart. The driveline from the 04 is now comfortably in the 03 and I don't remember where the negative cable attaches. There's a geographically compatible spot on the lower part of the belt tensioner/alternator bracket, circled in red. Is this where the neg cable lands?



I also have a small 5" braided ground strap, does anyone have a pic of where that attaches? I seem to remember the back of the engine to the firewall, maybe?

This next one is more out of curiosity. The engine harness from the 04 has a small square two-pin Coolant Temp Sensor connector shown in the top pic. The harness from the 03 has a round CTS with 4 pins and a round two-pin connector, bottom pic. Is there a logical explanation for this?

 

The braided ground strap goes from the rear of the driver's side(U.S) cylinder head, to the firewall.

 

That's the place.

There's a threaded stud on the back of the firewall on the driver's side that it attaches to with a 10mm nut. Make sure you get this right; unless there's a supplemental ground in the battery compartment, the only other return path goes through your parking brake cable.

Probably just changes in available parts.

 

That is also where my negative battery cable grounds at.

As for the 03 to 04 plug difference, I don't know.

 

Thanks for all the quick responses. The CTS connector is a weird one. Assuming the value of the two different sensors is the same then there's no real problem but it seems weird to me that round plug, which is commonly found on newer cars, would be superseded by the older style plug on the newer truck. The available stock in the parts bin is certainly one explanation.

 

Just a guess on the plug shape, but I would surmise Ford was transitioning to their own supplier, after the stock of BMW spec connectors were used up.