burnt up dash wireing!

[94f450sd]

yup my IDI burnt up the dash harness on my way home the other night.cab filled with smoke.pulled over into an empty parking lot,shut down and opened the hood.i looked under the hood and saw something glowing,looked like the wireing for my lightbar.looked under the dash and didnt see anything as it was too dark.so i drove home with no tail lights with my strobes on.lost my dash lights shortly after takeing off again

on the way to work next morning i lost the radio.half way to ehre i was going i lost the speedo.tranny wouldnt shift at all.i tried to shift it manually but when it hit 2nd it just slipped.tranny temps went up into the 300* area.so stopped to let it cool down.not good for the new tranny left it in first and babies it to a parking lot.found 6 blown fuses and a whole bunch of burnt wires.



couldnt find a new one anywhere.i tried to replace the taillight firewall connector but found it burnt all the way up into the dash.i ended up takeing the harness home and cutting out the burnt wires and replaceing the burnt sections one at a time.find the cause of it.when i put the tranny crossmember in it pinched the tail light wire.its all set for now but id like to get a complete harness to replace it with.just cuz i like uncut wireing.

any ways here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure

 

[94f450sd]

oh and check a part of your own wireing.look at the 3rd picture.see the whit bracet that the aluminum braket bolts to under the dash?one of my main battery feeds to the fuse box was worn through on that white braket and shorting out as well.

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

WOW, you're lucky! You coulda burned that thing down!
We've had a few issues with my moms 94 before, but the smoke always led to the light switch. Ended up putting a whole new pig tail in there once cus it melted them all together.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

I trust my own wiring, much more than I trust that fire-hazard mess that Ford put in these trucks.

The 1980-86 wiring was a fire fixing to start; and, the 1987-9? has burned down more trucks than insurance/payment-book fires.

Instead of replacing with another FIRE-FIXING-TO-HAPPEN O.E.M. harness, I would, one wire at a time, install a couple of decent fuse-blocks, either store-bought or robbed out of a big truck.

Instead of mounting these fuse-blocks up under the dash, which is the last place they should be, I would mount them, either behind the seat (where they are on most good big trucks), or to the bottom of the hood.

If mounted to the hood-bottom, make sure they are not too hard to simply take loose and let hang, in case the hood ever needs removing.

You can then use much bigger wire, and route it in a much better manner, than the mess Ford put in it.

I suggest one always HOT block for factory equipment, one always HOT block for add-ons such as auxilliary lights, and one relay-triggered key-switch HOT for things that you want off when the key is off.

Also, a decent power cut-off switch would be a nice addition.

By the way, it looks like your floor-mat is still on fire.

 

[subway]

sorry to hear about your luck, glad your truck didnt burn down. looks like a busted knuckle in pic 3. make sure you solder and heat shrink the wiring, if you do a good job (which looks like you are) your wiring should be fine.

i agree though, i hate having hacked wires. it really makes me cring seeing what other people are running around with sometimes.

 

[Agnem]

That's ugly! I agree that Ford doesn't use more wire than the minimum gauge required, so there isn't much room for error or additional load. Wire isn't cheap though.

 

[sassyrel]

since the wiring harness disconnects at the firewall--id go to a salvage truck--with air and such--rob the whole harness--and use it in yours--and do any repairs necessary before install--fastest and easy--and can reroute wires if necessary--

 

[sign_man]

Man you have had awful luck with that truck, I hope things turn around soon for you.

Years ago, before cell phones, I met the prettiest girl ever at a gas station. We hit it off and got something to eat and made plans to rendevous the next night at a local hotspot. The feed wire to my dimmer switch on my 1966 Mustang burnt on the way leaving me with only fog lights (it's a GT). By the time I rigged something up I was two hours late and she was long gone. We'd never bothered to exchange home phone numbers (stupid I know) and I never saw her again. Cue the violins.

 

[RLDSL]

Man you have had awful luck with that truck, I hope things turn around soon for you.

Years ago, before cell phones, I met the prettiest girl ever at a gas station. We hit it off and got something to eat and made plans to rendevous the next night at a local hotspot. The feed wire to my dimmer switch on my 1966 Mustang burnt on the way leaving me with only fog lights (it's a GT). By the time I rigged something up I was two hours late and she was long gone. We'd never bothered to exchange home phone numbers (stupid I know) and I never saw her again. Cue the violins.

Sorry, I couldn't resist Had a very similar situation many moons ago , except the culprit was motorcycle wiring that kept my date waiting just a bit too long. That really sucks

-------Robert

 

[94f450sd]

Man you have had awful luck with that truck, I hope things turn around soon for you.
.

not really except for the tranny a couple months ago and the dash wireing.other than that its been pretty much problem free for almost 6 years.the burnt wireing was my own stupidity.the harness for the rear lights got pinched between the tranny crossmember and frame when i put the tranny back in.never thought to make sure the wireing wasnt gonna get pinched there.

but everything is soldered and shrink tubed.and somehow even my dash lights are brighter than they used to be!!

 

[94f450sd]

since the wiring harness disconnects at the firewall--id go to a salvage truck--with air and such--rob the whole harness--and use it in yours--and do any repairs necessary before install--fastest and easy--and can reroute wires if necessary--

only issue with that is it has to be a diesel.i went to 5 junkyards,called everybody i knew that ha=ung on to diesel parts.couldnt get one anywhere.