Electrical Mayhem, Help Needed

[typ4]

If its that simple,YAY!!!!

 

[crash-harris]

Seemed to be. I've never experienced such a thing. I guess it's indeed possible that there was a hidden factor that the better grounding just helped to band aid, but everything seems to be as it should. Very excited when the trucks are running properly. It's downright medicinal. It's necessary for my positive mental health. I'm sure I'll experience a whole new level of euphoria when all 3 trucks are running/driving properly with solid bodies and frames...and matching axles.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Now I'm going to replace the 18ga fusible link with the 18ga wire I brought home and replace the headlight switch connector for good measure and take her down the road and back.

You are aware that there is such a thing as a slow-blow fuse, right? Those would be the big blade-fuses commonly found in the engine bay boxes of newer vehicles. Grab a fuse box that uses those, and install it in place of the factory fuse links. Many of the ones in the late-'90s Ford vehicles come with relays too, and some fast-acting fuses as well. So if you grab one of those you can replace the fuse links with the maxi fuses, use the relays for a fuel pump and headlights, and use the fast-acting fuses for the relays and whatever else you may have under the hood (like 12V power outlets for plugging portable lights or phone chargers).

 

[crash-harris]

You are aware that there is such a thing as a slow-blow fuse, right? Those would be the big blade-fuses commonly found in the engine bay boxes of newer vehicles. Grab a fuse box that uses those, and install it in place of the factory fuse links. Many of the ones in the late-'90s Ford vehicles come with relays too, and some fast-acting fuses as well. So if you grab one of those you can replace the fuse links with the maxi fuses, use the relays for a fuel pump and headlights, and use the fast-acting fuses for the relays and whatever else you may have under the hood (like 12V power outlets for plugging portable lights or phone chargers).

I have gone to the Bosch type relays for the EEC and fuel pumps on the gas truck. I've thought about doing maxi fuses in place of the fusible links, but have just never looked for auxiliary fuse blocks for them. I bet they're pricey. I would love to have the standard atc and relay blocks that hella makes, but $$ has to go elsewhere right now.

I do have an abundance of standard automotive blade fuses and maxi's from the junkyard spelunking days.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Go to your local junkyard and raid a later model Crown Victoria, the electrical center will be located right behind the battery on the passenger side inner fender. It will have 4 Bosch-style ("ice cube") relays, 9 slow-blow MAXI fuses (8 constant feed off the main buss, 1 for inline use), and about the same number of fast-acting ATC/ATO fuses plus 1 ATC/ATO-sized circuit breaker. The wiring is sized according to the fuses the factory installed in the box, but you can move the wires around and rearrange them as you please.

Really it's pretty amazing how much cool stuff the fullsize cars got that the trucks didn't, lots of upgrade possibilities there (fuse boxes, automatic headlights, automatic power windows, automatic cornering lights, automatic A/C, self-leveling air ride, etc).

 

[typ4]

What he said, nice factory built upgrades are cool ^^^^^

 

[crash-harris]

Go to your local junkyard and raid a later model Crown Victoria, the electrical center will be located right behind the battery on the passenger side inner fender. It will have 4 Bosch-style ("ice cube") relays, 9 slow-blow MAXI fuses (8 constant feed off the main buss, 1 for inline use), and about the same number of fast-acting ATC/ATO fuses plus 1 ATC/ATO-sized circuit breaker. The wiring is sized according to the fuses the factory installed in the box, but you can move the wires around and rearrange them as you please.

Really it's pretty amazing how much cool stuff the fullsize cars got that the trucks didn't, lots of upgrade possibilities there (fuse boxes, automatic headlights, automatic power windows, automatic cornering lights, automatic A/C, self-leveling air ride, etc).

I do also have a fuse/relay box from a 9th genereation truck, but they only have like 5 circuits on them. I was thinking of getting a second one and wiring them both up on Bruiser for ask the auxiliary lighting and the CB. If I ever get the chance to go back to a junkyard, I'll keep my eyes peeled for Crown Vic's.

 

[fsmyth]

Once you have determined what the operating current should normally be,
you can replace some or all of the fuses with circuit breakers. That's what
I do, but don't recommend it in all cases. Sometimes you want the circuit
to stay dead until you find the problem. I would definitely add them to all
trailer wiring, along with relays for all external feeds (lamps/brakes/battery).

 

[crash-harris]

Next step for lights is to do a relay harness kit on the headlights to take power draw off the switch. Truck has a signal stat box in the bed that is only connected on the truck side, no harness connected after that. When I get a trailer brake controller for this truck I will also be getting etrailer's wiring kit with the correct breakers.

 

[fsmyth]

The headlamp kit is unnecessary, unless you plan to add more lamps.
In 50 years of working on old vehicles, I have maybe one or two bad
headlight switches, other than those burned by a direct short in the
wiring or had been modified in some way.

 

[madpogue]

Read the various Ford truck forums, and you'll read about a LOT more than "one or two" bad headlight switches, even with stock lights. It's a waaaaay under-engineered part for the load. If it's not the switch itself that burns out, it's the connector. If you make or use the RIGHT relay harness kit, you'll not only protect the switch from overload, you'll boost the voltage to the lights and get better light output.

 

[crash-harris]

Read the various Ford truck forums, and you'll read about a LOT more than "one or two" bad headlight switches, even with stock lights. It's a waaaaay under-engineered part for the load. If it's not the switch itself that burns out, it's the connector. If you make or use the RIGHT relay harness kit, you'll not only protect the switch from overload, you'll boost the voltage to the lights and get better light output.

This. Hence why I replaced the headlight switch connector. Looks like someone else replaced it before as well.

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[franklin2]

I don't like replacing fusible links with fuses. Unless you want to go to the trouble of mounting another fuse box with maxi fuses, you end up with these large fuse holders everywhere which are bulky and prone to corrosion. If you do put one of the nice load centers in from another late model vehicle, it;'s going to require a lot of re-wiring and splicing.

Fusible links are not all that bad. They are very tough, and don't take up much room. They fit right into the harness. They are really only there to protect the truck from some sort of serious unusual event, like a accident where a wire is cut. They are not there to protect components. The only time I have ever seen a fusible link blow is from somebody messing with the harness and not tying it up out of harms way, or doing some shade tree wiring causing a problem. Otherwise the fusible links just sit there for the life of the vehicle doing nothing. A fusible link is just a undersized piece of wire with special flame retardant insulation around it. Most stores have it on a roll, you just buy a piece the right size and install it in the harness.

 

[crash-harris]

Dash lights seem brighter after proper grounding and light switch connector replacement. Cranking didn't even take quite as long.

Although on acceleration out of the parking lot at work, the battery light flashed on for a split second. Not even long enough to light up the entire emblem. Kept an eye on it when I got back on the highway after getting food and haven't seen it again.

 

[snicklas]

Glad you got it fixed..... electrical can be a real ****** sometimes.

As for proper voltage in the system, it is strange what "incorrect power" can do to a vehicles electrical system. I've seen a couple.

1. A battery switching polarity. On one of Travis's Enterprises E-2 actually, the passenger side battery switched polarity. Meaning if you put a meter on it, red on positive, black on negative, the output voltage read negative..... So what was happening was, the drivers side battery was supplying +12v to the system, as it should, and the passenger side battery was supplying -12v to the same electrical system. That caused all kinds of fun problems in that truck.......

2. In my Dad's 2008 Ford Fusion (I know a newer more complex system, but....) his battery went dead due to lack of use. He has a 2012 F-150 that gets driven 99% of the time. He was going to drive the car and it would not start. He put the battery charger on the car and all was good. He switch it to "boost" (He has one of the larger chargers on wheels that looks like an Arc Welder) and all the relays in the engine compartment started going nuts..... quickly cycling on and off...... he switch back to just a normal "slow charge" type setting, and all was well. Later on he was able to start the car, and all has been normal since.

Power supply problems..... wither low voltage, improper current supply or bad ground can cause really strange stuff to happen.......