So I recently did some work on my truck, a 98' XLT Supercab. The result was I replaced the headliner, but not with the headliner that it came with. Rather I replaced it with a version out of a 2001 model, which has the center information stack on it that gives you a compass and the ambient air temp along with a glasses compartment and a place to put what I assume is a garage opener.

Now, the installation was semi-seamless, aside from a hole where a seatbelt would be as the headliner came out of a 4 door variant (only decent headliner in the junkyard), it fits well and I have no complaints on the aesthetics aside from a few broken tabs. The issue is tho there are a few things not working now and I don't know how to go forward in fixing these things.

1: I swapped the wiring harness that runs along the passenger side so that it matches the connections made with the new headliner. The issue is I had to cut just one seemingly small wire. Nothing seems off about the truck; no warning lights are going off, but I wanna know what wire I had to cut so I can garner how fast I need to get it repaired. The section in question on the harness I got ran under the front passenger side seat and had 4 wires to it, in my truck tho it runs under the rear seat. I couldn't get my rear seat out to see what it went to but none of my gauges are off so it wasn't anything to them. Does anyone have any idea?
2: The aforementioned display doesn't work, I am assuming since it's a junkyard special that it has sat out too long in the weather but I wanted to know what other causes it could be.
3: The sun visors because my truck was a different configuration have the holes for the visor clips in the wrong spot. What is the best way to add the holes I need to attach the new visors? (talking about the clips closest to the mirror, not the ones that attach the hinged arm the visor swings on)

 

The best way to describe this is that 97-98 are by themselves on the most powertrain and interior, and 99-up another. The dash plastics can be used but not any of the wiring. If you use 99 up electronic parts, most don't interchange into the 97-98s. Radio wiring is the same, but the cluster, main harness (14401) is different with different types of connector pins. The fenders and rear body panels are the same, but the doors are different due to where the handles and controls are mounted.

On your sunvisors. Your trucks has no provision for the 99 up mounts. You will need to get wiring schematics for your 98 and whatever year that overhead came out of to match up the wiring your 98 truck doesn't have. The old saying that a part may fit all the 97-03 a lot of times is wrong. Even Flareside/SuperCrew tail lights are different by year and the wiring changed too.

Most things you can make work, but electrical items aren't usually plug-and-play between the 98 and 99 model year changes. Other mechanical changes were made to the drivetrain in 3-2000, so check any part you want to put in to make sure you have everything to swap when you are trying newer stuff into your 98.

 

I knew it wouldnt be plug and play, I have done a lot of work on these trucks and have had a 97- and a 99 before hand. I just wasn't aware of whether or not its a matter of programing or is it a wiring issue. From what my dealer says it needs to be programmed tho it seems ford wants nothing to do with these 10th gens anymore as no dealer wants to even touch it let alone have the equipment for them.

 

They double do not want to look at it if you essentially bring them 2 trucks
They are looking for low hanging fruit like everyone else
Not wanting to do the hard stuff that requires a bunch of thought

 

So, 98 to 01
You could consider buying your own NGS
If you are smart enough, you might be able to do all the dealer can by yourself and pay for the NGS

 

That wouldn’t be a programming issue. Your ‘98 just won’t have power to the console. The compass will work once you get that solved. The thermometer won’t be there, since you won’t have any wiring or a sensor running up to the grille—I believe that where that ends up.

As for that extra wire in the A-pillar…what color was it? Someone near a schematic can figure that for you.

 

This is on the stock harness that I took out my truck, the 98'.

The wires I had to cut were Black, Grey with a blue stripe, brown with a blue stripe, and tan with a yellow stripe.

On the large black connector:

The Brown runs into port 16
The grey with Blue runs into port 6
The tan runs into port 13
Then the black runs into port 4, tho somewhere along the way it gained a blue stripe.

 

So here is the progress for anyone who is either curious or confused.
The wires I cut were for the seatbelt and the driver rear speaker, I took apart my truck and traced the wires, Ford in their ever all knowing glory routed the wire around the back seat and to the drivers side on my 98' and later figured it would be simpler to go under the drivers seat. So that mystery is figured out.

The current plan is to get a matching wiring harness for the under dash (I happen to have a donor truck for spare parts and had an overhead console but in tan) and replace the whole harness, this is assuming the computer is pinned similar enough (wishful thinking). I'll keep the thread posted with what I had to do so that anyone in the future can use this as a guide for at least what not to do.