Converting to pushbutton start

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

ok Ive think ive got it all figured out now except for the wires that go on the solenoid. How do i hack them up?

For starters, find the input leads to the fuse-block and these will become part of your LOAD wires on the solenoid.

 

[flareside_thun]

The melted SS whip is no exaggeration either...gawd forbid if you should happen to touch it...will burn/shock the crap outta ya....I had that happen ONCE and was having chest pains.......alot of times you can hold a flourescent tube near the whip and it'll light up like crazy too! 4 watts? what's....uhh nevermind...yea yea 4 watts!

 

[alienturtle]

well i guess i can chim in on this topic as i am running an entire relay controlled ignition. i do not take full credit for this as LCAM-01XA had the original idea.. i then sat down and designed it with relays. if im not mistaken he used high amp switched to do his. I used 4 relays to get everything done. I will have to dig through this pile of papers here and see if i can find my drawing anywhere.

 

[gatorman21218]

how do relays work? are they kind of like solenoids?

 

[alienturtle]

they are the exact same thing. Small wire or switch controlling a big wire or circuit. here you go.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relay

 

[gatorman21218]

ok. So what specific wires do I need to put on a relay? I just went out and looked and there are a LOT of wires coming out of the steering wheel and fuse box. I dont have a good wiring diagram and my simple mind is a bit overloaded.

Lets start out simple. What does key-on power?

dash cluster
radio
wipers
hvac
turn signal

Am I missing anything? I will have the glowplugs and the FSS on separate circuits

 

[alienturtle]

on our trucks there is a "mechanical" (if you will) switch that is bolted on top of the steering column. your key cylinder is attached to it via a metal rod. when u turn your key to the "on" position it moves the rod down and in turn makes contact to certain wires that are attached to the actual switch. This switch can get hot and melt as it did in my case. I took that entire switch out and made the 4 relays do the job of it. The relays are can handle the current. If i remember right there are only 8??? ish wires down there. One is an accessory wire, ect ect. there is not an individual wire for each thing. i know you said you wanted to make the FSS on its own switch. that is easy and possible but will entail a little more wiring. Let me get off work and find that paper that has all the wire colors and what they do on it and post it for you..then we can go from there..k?

as far as the manual glow plugs thats super easy as well.

 

[gatorman21218]

I see... that would be great. This switch is the rectangular one halfway down the column correct? I want to put the FSS on a separate switch so I can then wire a hidden switch somewhere as an antitheft device.

 

[alienturtle]

yes you got it.

you can do that. but you can also just wire in series a switch to the main ign switch and hide it. just like i have mine. if my hidden switch is flipped the entire dash switches do nothing...

 

[LCAM-01XA]

There are actually two accessory wires going in the factory switch, marked as ACC1 and ACC2 - IIRC the ACC1 is everything that gets power while the truck is running, while ACC2 is the stuff powered when you turn the key backwards (so radio, power windows if you have them, and I think that's about it). The way I have mine wired up I used two double-pole-double-throw switches, and I cut the factory ignition switch connector and ran the wires to my new switches - hell if I remember where each wire went tho... I do seem to recall posting somewhere on here the continuity between the wires in each of the switch positions, I'll see if I can find the info for you...

 

[itsacrazyasian]

Constant 12V+ Yellow Ignition Switch Harness
Starter Red/Light Blue Ignition Switch Harness
Ignition Red/Light Green Ignition Switch Harness
Accessory Gray/Yellow Ignition Switch Harness
Tach Dark Green/Yellow Coil
Neutral Safety Wire Not Grounding OEM Switch opens Starter Circuit
Brake Switch Green Brake Switch
Trunk Pin n/a
Parking Lights Brown Light Switch
Head Lamp Red/Yellow (+) Light Switch
Hood Pin n/a
Factory Disarm n/a
Door Trigger Black/Light Blue (+) Light Switch
Door Lock Pink/Yellow or Black/Orange Driver's Kick Panel
Door Unlock Pink/Light Green Reverse Polarity
Windows Up LF=Red, RF=Red/Black
Windows Down LF=Red, RF=Red/Black

 

[rhkcommander]

I've got mine pushbuttoned on glowplugs and starter to help take some load off the key

 

[gatorman21218]

Yall ever find that information?

so I take the 2 Acc wires and run 12v to them and they should power on?

The only thing "power" I have is power steering, so I only have a couple of things that come on when I start the truck

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Yall ever find that information?

so I take the 2 Acc wires and run 12v to them and they should power on?

The only thing "power" I have is power steering, so I only have a couple of things that come on when I start the truck

Sorry, been busy working on stuff here:

1) take the two battery power wires and hook them both to the two middle terminal of a double-pole double-throw switch. Bridge said two middle terminals, this will help distribute current draw through both power wires equally. Then your ACC1 and ACC2 wires go to one side terminals on each end of the switch (so flipping the switch one one side powers ACC1, and flipping it to the other powers ACC2. To the ACC2 terminal, add a wire, then put the other end of that wire on the free terminal on the ACC1 side (do not connect it to the ACC1 terminal itself). The remaining terminal on the ACC2 side remains open, nothing goes on it. Also, to the terminal with the ACC1 wire add two more wires, those will power your FSS and START switches. We do all this work because ACC1 powers things like blower motor that should only work when the engine is running, while ACC2 powers things like radio and window motors which need to operate both with the engine running and off - the 6-terminal switch takes care of that while preventing voltage crossing between ACC1 and ACC2. Finally label the ACC1/ACC2 side of the switch as "RUN", and the ACC2-only side as "ACC"

2) take one of these two wires you just added, and run it to one of the terminals on a single-throw switch. There will be "ignition" and "ignition bypass" wires in the factory ignition switch harness, those are the ones for the FSS - splice them together, and put them on the other terminal of the switch. Label once side of the switch as "RUN", and the other as "OFF".

3) take the other power take-off wire you added to the ACC1 terminal in step one, then run it to one of the terminals of a momentary switch (pushbutton). From the factory ignition switch harness find the "start" wire, and put that on the other terminal of the pushbutton.

So now to start the truck you have to flip the first switch to RUN, flip the FSS switch to RUN, then push the start button. To kill just the engine flip the FSS switch to off, to shut everything off go from RUN to off on the main switch. Then to run just radio and stuff, flip the main switch to ACC.

You want a wiring diagram to go with that?

P.S. there are IIRC two more wires in the harness, one is for the gauges check upon startup, and the other is a ground that is used for that same purpose, those can both be left alone - gauges will work just fine still, only there won't be warning lights coming on when you start the truck.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

This above is more or less how I have my truck wired up. If your truck has no power options at all, and you wanna run your radio and CB on battery power anyways, then you won't need a 6-terminal switch - a simple on/off switch like the FSS one will do, you hook up both battery power wires to one terminal, and the ACC1, ACC2, and the two power-takeoff wires for the other two switches to the other terminal.