AUII XLS Falcon Ute...wiring loom questions.

[biased99]

Hi all,
Sorry if this has been asked before, but I guess one of the issues in having a forum as comprehensive as this one is that finding information can be a bit like taking a drink from a fire hydrant...

Anyway, I've recently purchased a 2000-model XLS Utility, with 5lt/5-speed combo. The car has had a bit done to it, including fitment of an AU Fairlane front end, and most of the Fairlane interior (working Climate control/trip computer etc).

However, the seats "look" to be standard AU issue, as while they are leather, they are also completely manual in adjustment. I've come across some AU Fairlane seats which are electric, and in the right colour, so am wonderinf about the following:

1) I'm assuming that in most sedans, the wiring loom would be relatively "complete", up to the area under the seats...and this would include the necessary plugs for power seats, as these would be available in higher-series sedans (Ghia/T-series etc???). However, the loom is likely to not be as complete in a ute, as power seats were likely not an option in any of these? But would Ford do completely different looms for sedan and ute, or are they similar enough that most - if not all - of the requisite plugs etc are already there? If not, what would I need to get to "splice" the latter part of the Fairlane loom into the XLS loom?

2) Are the seats aacross the range the same in terms of dimension? In other words, will electric Fairlane seats bolt into the stock locations/rails in a ute?

Anything else I've missed, which will either make the swap infeasible (or indeed make it easier)?

Thanks in advance for your help.


Michael

[biased99]

I probably should have also asked whether the 3-button memory on the seat means that the seat retains memory for fore/aft, height etc, and that it doesn't rely on a higher-spec BCM (which might be found in a Fairmont/Fairlane Ghia) to work...?

In other words, would such a seat work in "standalone" mode (i.e just powered) WITH memory settings, or would I just get electric adjustment (no memory) in a lower spec car such as a ute?

[biased99]

Can anyone help with this? Don't mean to be pushy, but I do need to make a purchase decision soon, and would rather have the facts from some of the more knowledgable Ford people around, rather than just charging in and buying them in hope that they'll fit etc.

[Sox]

I've messed with the electric seats from a AU Fairlane and I'm fairly certain the wiring does not exist in the ute for the conversion.

As far as I can tell, the seats are the same across the range.

I don't think the BEM is related to the electric seat operation.


If I were you I would just run the necessary wires to the electric seats and tap into where it needs to go for power.


BTW, it's a damn nice ute you have there.

[biased99]

Originally Posted by Sox

I've messed with the electric seats from a AU Fairlane and I'm fairly certain the wiring does not exist in the ute for the conversion.

As far as I can tell, the seats are the same across the range.

I don't think the BEM is related to the electric seat operation.


If I were you I would just run the necessary wires to the electric seats and tap into where it needs to go for power.


BTW, it's a damn nice ute you have there.

Thanks for the reply (and the kind words about the ute...Credit for that goes to the previous owner who built the thing).

Cheers,
Michael

[GasoLane]

A couple of things you might also want to check (in NSW anyway for rego and Insurance) is whether you need an engineering cert as elec seats weren't standard in a Ute.

Barge's also had seat belt pre-tensioners, if you wanted to do the whole Fairlane thing

[biased99]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

A couple of things you might also want to check (in NSW anyway for rego and Insurance) is whether you need an engineering cert as elec seats weren't standard in a Ute.

Barge's also had seat belt pre-tensioners, if you wanted to do the whole Fairlane thing

Thanks for that. Just spoke to one of the better-known engineers around these parts, who suggested that there is no engineering requirement for a change of seats in the ute. Whilst he didn't go into detail, I suspect that the idea is that the seats are engineered ("ADR'd") from factory, and unless mount points are custom-made, or the number of seats is changed, there shouldn't be an issue.

Assuming the Fairlane seats bolt into the ute's OEM mounting points/rails, I suspect there wouldn't be an issue.

Michael

[GasoLane]

Glad to hear it should be ok.

I found out about a while ago when I was going to buy a couple of aftermarket seats from Repco.
When I found that the engineers inspection would have cost almost as much as the seats I stuck with the originals

[hagarone]

inbox me your number if you still need help