July-August 2002 j6

1962 Wiring DiagramThe Basics—Part One by Bob Mannel

Most restorers fear “the wiring”—probably since it seems to be the most abused system in our Fairlanes. With cuts, splices, and extra wires running hither and yon, it is hard to fi gure out. It doesn’t help matters that the wiring schematics are scattered throughout the shop manual. Even if you have the Wiring Diagram manual, you will have to sort through several pages to get an idea of what is going on.

Well, if you want it all together, you have come to the right place! On the pages that follow is a complete wiring diagram of a 1962 Fairlane with Fordomatic, 2-speed wiper motor, radio, and backup lights. Although the diagrams will vary with manual transmission, single speed wipers, and no backup lights, you will still get a pretty good idea of what most of the wires are doing.

Except for more variations, the 1963 and 1964 Fairlanes follow the same schematic. There are some circuits not in-cluded here. Some examples are the overdrive transmis sion, optional alternators, and station wagon circuits, just to name a few. Perhaps in future editions of Fairlaner magazine I will dis cuss the variations and extra circuits.

The late 1964 Fairlane (after about April 1, 1964) did exper-ience a signifi cant change in the fi rewall connectors. The two rectan gular fi rewall connectors were changed to a single rectangular connector and large grommet. This carried over into the 1965 Fairlane where even more changes occurred due to the alternator. These changes will be covered in part two of this series.

Again, I must emphasize that the diagram shown is for a 1962 Fairlane with Fordomatic, 2-speed wipers, and backup lights. The diagram accurately represents that car. For all others, it is a guide only.

What was very consistent through these years, and for later Fairlanes as well, was the color code used on the wires. You can tell what most wires are for by looking at their color code. Some wires are solid colors, but most have a different color stripe on the wire. The convention for labeling a wire is to list the main color fi rst, followed by the color of the stripe. For example, a black wire with red stripe will be listed as “black/red.”

black (heavy gauge)- starter solenoid to battery terminal of voltage regulator.- battery terminal of voltage regulator to splice just above

voltage regulator (spliced to a heavy gauge yellow wire and black/yellow wire to horn relay).

black (medium gauge) - heater fan motor ground wire (from fan control switch).- heater fan motor to heater plenum resistance coils.

black- distributor to coil wire.- license plate and taillights wire (from fuse box).- radio power supply wire (from fuse box).- lead to front parking light & lead to rear taillights (other

lead is green).- lead to radio speaker (other lead is black/green).

black/blue- dome light wire (from fuse box to three-female-pin con-

nector; from single-female-pin connector to dome light; and part of door dome light switch harness).

black/green- accessory power supply wire. Main wire runs from the

ignition switch to the fuse box. Off of this wire are two other spliced wires. One is an orange/white wire run-ning to the wiper motor circuit breaker and the other is a black/green wire running to the 5-volt voltage regula-tor mounted on the back of the instrument panel. This second wire also has two splices. One runs to the center of the oil pressure idiot light and the other to the center of the generator failure idiot light. From the 5-volt volt-age regulator two other black/green wires are present. One runs to the gas gauge and the other goes to the temperature gauge.

- lead to radio speaker (other lead is black).black/red

- backup lights (from fuse box. Also found on backup light switch harnesses).

black/white- generator fi eld coil wire (from generator to voltage regu-

lator).black/yellow.

- front parking lights (from fuse box)blue

- turn indicator lights power supply wire (from turn sig-nal fl asher to turn indicator switch)

- two-speed wiper motor wire (runs from wiper control switch to two-speed wiper motor including foot-oper-ated wiper switch). Medium gauge.

blue/red- instrument panel illumination lights. Runs from the fuse

box to a three-female-pin connector. Off of this wire are four splices. Each splice is another blue/red wire which leads to one of four instrument panel illumination lights. If a radio is installed, its illumination wire plugs into the three-female-pin connector on the main wire.

blue/yellow- horn relay control wire (from horn contact point inside

the turn indicator switch to the horn relay).blue/white

- cigarette lighter wire (spliced into the heavy gauge yel-low wire near the fuse box).

brown (medium gauge)- heater fan motor power supply wire (from fuse box to

single-female-pin connector near fan motor. Connects to an orange wire leading into the fan motor).

brown- ignition wire for starter (from starter solenoid to splice

with red/green wire at the fi rewall block plug).green (medium gauge)

- two-speed wiper motor wire (runs from the wiper con-trol switch to the two-speed wiper motor).

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green- brake lights power supply wire (from brake light pres-

sure switch to the turn indicator switch).green/black

- high beam headlight wires (from hi-beam switch to all four headlights; also, a green/black wire branches off the high beam switch and runs to the high beam indi-cator light in the instrument panel).

green/orange- left rear turn indicator/brake light wire (from turn indi-

cator switch).green/red

- brake lights power supply wire (from splice on green/yellow dome light wire to brake light pressure switch).

green/white- left front turn indicator light wire (from turn indicator

switch; also, a green/white wire branches off at the turn indicator switch single-female-pin connector and runs to the left turn signal light in the instrument panel).

green/yellow- dome light wire (from fuse box; also, part of the door

switches’ dome lighting harness)orange/blue

- right rear turn indicator/brake light wire (from turn indicator switch).

orange/white (medium gauge)- two-speed wiper motor power supply wire (spliced

from heavy gauge yellow wire near fuse box and goes to the wiper motor circuit breaker).

orange/yellow- turn indicator lights power supply wire (from fuse box

to turn signal fl asher).pink

- ignition resistance wire (runs from a single-pin connec-tor off of the ignition switch and runs to the fi rewall block plug).

red (medium gauge)- two-speed wiper motor wire (runs from the wiper con-

trol switch to the two-speed wiper motor).red/black

- low beam headlight wires (from high beam switch to low beam).

- ground wire for taillights and backup lights.red/blue

- starter solenoid control wire (from ignition switch to starter solenoid; also, part of the neutral switch wiring harness for automatic transmission-equipped cars).

red/green- ignition wire (found in two places: fi rst, it connects the

ignition switch to the pink resistance wire through a single-pin connector; second, it runs from the engine compartment fi rewall block plug to the battery terminal of the coil; at the fi rewall plug, the red/green wire con-nects to the pink resistance wire and the brown ignition wire for start).

red/white- water temperature sender wire (from temperature gauge

on instrument panel to sender on the engine).red/yellow (medium gauge)

- headlights power supply wire (from fuse box to high beam switch).

white (medium gauge)- two-speed wiper motor wire (runs from the wiper con-

trol switch to the two-speed wiper motor including the foot-operated wiper switch).

white/blue- right turn indicator light wire (from turn indicator

switch; also, a white/blue wire branches off at the turn indicator switch single-female-pin connector and runs to the right turn signal light in the instrument panel).

white/red- oil pressure sender wire (from oil pressure idiot light to

sender)white/red dashed stripe (medium gauge)

- two-speed wiper motor wire; red stripe is dashed (part of the foot-operated wiper switch).

yellow (heavy gauge)- main power supply wire (spliced to heavy-gauge black

wire near voltage regulator and runs to the fuse box; additional splice of the same color goes to the ignition switch; on some cars this wire may be black).

yellow (medium gauge)- two-speed wiper motor wire (runs from the wiper con-

trol switch to the two-speed wiper motor including the foot-operated wiper switch).

yellow/black (medium gauge)- two-speed wiper motor power supply wire (from wiper

motor circuit breaker to foot-operated wiper switch con-nector; another yellow/black wire runs from the other single-pin connector to the wiper control switch).

yellow/black- generator warning light (from voltage regulator to in-

strument panel generator failure “idiot” light).yellow/red dashed stripe (medium gauge)

- two-speed wiper motor wire. Red stripe is dashed (part of the foot-operated wiper switch).

yellow/white- fuel gauge wire (from fuel gauge in the instrument panel

to the fuel tank sender).

SINGLE-SPEED WIPER WIRING COLOR CODESblack

- single-speed wiper motor wire. 1962 Fairlane and Me-teor only. (Runs from single-speed wiper control switch to single-speed wiper motor. If a foot-operated wiper switch is installed, black wire also leads from foot-op-erated wiper switch to two two-pin connectors near single-speed wiper motor.)

blue- single-speed wiper motor wire. 1962 Fairlane and Me-

teor only. (Runs from single-speed wiper control switch to single-speed wiper motor. If a foot-operated wiper switch is installed, blue wire connects two pins of two two-pin connectors near single-speed wiper motor.)

red- single-speed wiper motor wire. 1962 Fairlane and Me-

teor only. (Runs from wiper motor circuit breaker to single-speed wiper control switch. If a foot-operated wiper switch is installed, a red wire also runs from wiper motor circuit breaker to foot-operated wiper switch.)

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G

E

F

H

D

A

C B

This is a composite of all the wiring diagrams on pages 9 through 16 for a 1962 Fairlane with Fordomatic, two-speed wipers and backup lights. Each diagram is labeled using letters A through H. Its position in the composite is labeled here and will assist in aligning all the individual diagrams to create one complete dia-gram.

Although this diagram is specifi c to the 1962 Fairlane, it can be useful for all 1960s Fords. The basic wiring is very similar, although the layout will differ. Some of the Fairlane differences will be covered in part two of this series.

Ford was fairly consistent with wiring color codes through the 1960s. When you encounter a wire with a particular color/stripe on your car, you can be reasonably certain that your wire is being used in the same sort of circuit as on the 1962 Fairlane.

1962 Fairlane with Fordomatic, 2-speed wipers, and backup lights

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2 9

H

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2 11

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12

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2 13

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14C

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2 15

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