On a 1985 Ranger – By Budro
Parts List from a donor 83-88 Ranger or Bronco II:
1. Power Window Regulators
2. Power Door Lock Actuators or aftermarket (I used Harada’s worked perfectly)
3. Wiring harnesses for both doors.
4. Wiring harness in front of radiator (This harness feeds power to the headlights, blinkers, parking lights, horn, and power back to the Fuse Panel.)
5. Power Window/Locks door panels. (Or you can just cut your old ones to house the switches)
6. Power Windows/Locks Switches.
7. 20 Amp Circuit Breaker.
8. Rivets, Di-electric Grease, Vaseline, Zip Ties, Masking Tape, Drill with 1/4″ bit, Dremel Tool, 7mm deep well , 8mm, and 10mm sockets, Various screwdrivers, electric tape, Plastic wire molding, and a plastic clip remover for the door panels.
Here is a copy of the wiring diagram for 87 Ranger and Bronco II
WARNING: Start off by disconnecting the battery.
Drivers & Passenger Side Door Panel Removal:
1. Remove the armrest by removing the 3 bolts underneath with a 7mm deep well socket.
2. Remove the window crank by removing the Phillips head screw from the center and then pull the crank off. Save the plastic bushing behind it if you want to sell them to someone else.
3. Remove the door handle cover by removing the Phillips head screw from the middle of it and then slide it to the side.
4. Now use a tool to remove the plastic clips from the backside of the door panel. Work your way around starting from the outside in.
5. There is a spring on the manual window regulators just slide that off and put it with the door handles.
6. Now you should see a black or clear plastic that protects the inner door. Carefully remove it .. it should be held on by some black tape.
Manual Window Regulator Removal:
1. Run some masking tape from the inside of the window attached to the glass all the way around the top of the doorframe and onto the outside of the glass. This will hold up the glass pane while you remove the regulator.
2. Use a dremel tool or grinder to smooth the rivets down so you can drill them out.
3. Drill out the rivets one by one making sure that the tape is sticking well to the glass so it doesn’t fall down on you.
4. Now the regulator should be free from the door. With one hand on the regulator remove the tape holding the window up. Let the windows down about half way.
5. You should now be able to see the channel that the regulator slides back and forth in. Slide it all the way to the right side and you will see that the channel widens to allow the regulator to come free from the window. Remove it from the door.
6. Now push the window back to its up position and re-tape it. This will keep it out of the way while you run the wiring.
Wiring Installation:
1. On both doors there will be a plastic knock out button about 2″ in diameter you can knock out. Then run the square end of the harness through that hole.
2. Now for the tricky part. Remove the parking lamps on both front fenders. Take a piece of wire and run it from the hole where the lamps were through the inner fender back to the door. Attach the door harness with some electric tape to the wire and pull it to the front. The door harness has a rubber grommet molded onto it so just push it into the hole in the door.
3. Now for the harness that goes in front of the radiator. Disconnect the plugs from the horn, headlights, and blinkers. Also any plugs that are on the drivers side fender well. There are 2 grounds 1 on each side of the radiator.
4. Remove the 2 10mm bolts holding the radiator in. Gently lift the radiator about an inch and let it lean back on the engine. If you have air conditioning you will have to remove the 2 8mm bolts holding the coil in place. You will also need to remove the battery and the Windshield washer reservoir and coolant overflow tank.
5. This will give you access to the harness running across the front of your vehicle. You can now disconnect any power connections to the starting solenoid. And work your way back to the driver’s side. Everything should be disconnected in step 3 so it should just come right out.
6. Now take your new harness and place it in the same location. Should be a perfect fit just like the old one you took out. Connect up the headlights, blinkers, horn, grounds, and the plugs on the drivers side fender well. There should be one connector left that doesn’t have a home, which should have 3 or 4 wires depending on ranger or bronco II. One of the wires should be a blue with either black dots or a black stripe.
7. You can now at this time hookup the door harnesses to the main harness at each end. One should be behind where the battery sits and the other behind the overflow tank. I recommend using some Di-electric grease in these cause they seem to get easily corroded.
8. There should be a Black with white stripe wire at the starter solenoid end that needs to be wired to the battery side of the solenoid.
9. On the drivers fender well underneath the voltage regulator there should be a small round connector that has a blue with black dots or a black stripe wire. My main harness connector and this one didn’t have the same ends but the only one you need to worry about is the blue with black. Just tap this line and run it to the blue with black wire on the harness that I spoke about in step 6. This will be the power from the fuse panel to run the power windows.
10. In the fuse panel there should already be a location for a circuit breaker for Power windows look at your manual. Insert the circuit breaker and you are done.
11. You can mount the relay pack for the door locks as well anywhere you can find on the drivers side behind the headlight.
Click HERE for a diagram of the Ranger/Bronco II Door Glass & components
Installing the Power Window Regulators:
1. First grease the gear with some Vaseline.
2. Slide the regulator in through one of the holes in the door and let it sit at the bottom.
3. Next remove the tape from the glass again and let the window about half way down. And re-tape it to stay there.
4. Next slide the arm of the regulator into the channel of the window glass.
5. Now you can remove the tape and let the regulator get in to its position.
6. Next Rivet the regulator to the door. Note the location of rivets. I started with the top one so you could swivel it back and forth to get the other holes lined up.
7. Once you have all the rivets installed hook up the power connector to the window motor.
Installation of Power Locks:
1. If you have the factory power lock assembly’s all you have to do is attach the actuator to the door and the rod to the push down lock rod
2. Then hook up the power connectors
3. If you have aftermarket locks will need to bend the rod for the actuator to match the angle of the door lock button rod.
4. Then attach the actuator to the door and attach the rod to the door lock rod.
5. Then hook up the power connectors.
6. You should notice that the wiring for both the window motors and lock actuators have plastic clips to hold them in place. Insert these into the holes in the bottom of the door.
Grease The Window Tracks:
Before you put the door panels back on you need to grease the window tracks. This will make your windows go up and down smoothly. Take a jar of Vaseline and set it out in the sun to get soft. Take your finger and smear a healthy amount of Vaseline into the track that the window slides up and down in. You will have to move the window up and down to get access to the entire track. This keeps it from hopping when you roll it down as well as keeping it from dragging going up. Mine acted like brand new motors after doing this step.
Re-Installing the Door Panels:
1. Install the plastic that was behind the door panels and tape it down with duct tape.
2. There should be a metal ring in the door panel where the switches go. Slide the switch harness through this hole and let it hang on the outside for now.
3. Push the door panel up to the door and start pushing the plastic clips in from the inside out. The door panel should stay on now without holding it. If not go to the parts store and get some new clips they are cheap.
4. Now screw the switches to the plastic switch bezels. Should be one screw on the topside.
5. Next insert the bezels into the door panel. They have little metal clips that pinch down on the door panel at the top and on the bottom there is a hole for a bolt.
6. Re-install the door handle covers.
7. Re-install the armrests.
Final Touches:
1. Re-install the batter and reconnect the terminals.
2. Use a voltmeter and check for voltage on the Black with White wire coming from the starting solenoid and at the door lock relay packs. You should have 12 Volts at both locations.
3. Turn the ignition key to on. Check for voltage at the Blue with black wire that is referred to in step 9 of the wiring installation section. There should be 12 volts with the key on. 0 Volts with the key off.
4. Try out the windows and locks.