So what did you do with your truck today?

[tbowker]

I'm not an electrical guy, another member was gracious enough to send me a discription of what to do. If you understand relays, basically you figure out what wire is high beam and low beam and use one relay for high and one for low beam. Connect the hot wire of the relay to power, ground wire to ground, signal in wire to the high or low beam wire, and the signal out to both headlights. I hope that kinda makes sense, maybe one of the other guys can clarify any muddiness.

Okay, I get that, it makes sense now. And you put it under the hood, I was dreading anything under the dash in my truck. A new wiring harness is on my wish list also. Ugh. Like I said, I'm not having issues with my headlights yet, but I do drive to work early mornings and it's always dark. This gives me a logical fix, thanks.

 

[tbowker]

I picked up several of these tail lights at PNP.
When I installed them and then added the LED reverse lights, it was like, I can finally see in the dark backing up. Nice to have some light out to the sides.

Did you use the LED bulbs that fit the 1156 sockets?

 

[KansasIDI]

I could see that causing issues with how much power it requires to start these trucks in the really cold.

When I park my truck for the night I always let it run for a little bit with all the accessories off before I shut it down to make sure that the batteries are fully charged.

I definitely wouldn't want the headlights on while trying to cold start a powerstroke.

James

One could use a changeover relay so that the headlights shut off while cranking.

 

[Rdnck84_03]

One could use a changeover relay so that the headlights shut off while cranking.

Not sure about a changeover. I was thinking more like a 1 minute delay, that would give time to have it running before anything else started pulling power.

I would definitely not want them to stay on after the truck was shut off in the cold though.

James

 

[KansasIDI]

Hell, sometimes I turn my headlights on before I start the truck. I have never had trouble starting this engine, other than when my dumb **** runs it out of fuel. I also use ether when it is cold out. My methods are probably not everyone’s preference, but it does me fine.

 

[Rdnck84_03]

When it comes to cold starting diesels, I started out with 7.3 powerstrokes. When you cold start them you don't want anything not needed pulling power. If the voltage is below 10.5 volts no matter how fast it spins over they will never start, pcm requires a minimum voltage to fire the injectors.

I haven't had any issues cold starting my 83 but I have never tried to start it cold with anything extra pulling power.

James

 

[Old Goat]

Did you use the LED bulbs that fit the 1156 sockets?

Yes.
I picked them up in Reno, Nv. at the big Hot Rod Show called "Hot August Nights". Must be a million cars there, lasts a whole week. And all kinds of vendors there for the big boy toy`s.

They wouldn`t let me enter my 86, said I had too much patina...

Goat

 

[The_Josh_Bear]

I did my headlight relays with this kit:
Bronco Graveyard Headlight Relay Kit
It's a nice plug-and-play setup. I haven't found an LED bulb that doesn't blind oncoming traffic for my 89, so I don't run them. I've tried a few.
The relay does a great job of getting light where you need it, and brightens it up a bunch-- probably 35% brighter in my case.

 

[Jesus Freak]

I did my headlight relays with this kit:
Bronco Graveyard Headlight Relay Kit
It's a nice plug-and-play setup. I haven't found an LED bulb that doesn't blind oncoming traffic for my 89, so I don't run them. I've tried a few.
The relay does a great job of getting light where you need it, and brightens it up a bunch-- probably 35% brighter in my case.

The typical complaint about the ready-made harnesses is that the wire isn't super heavy. That's just what I've heard, I'm sure they're very adequite.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Yes, but you don't need really heavy duty wiring. Especially if you're running LED lights.

 

[KansasIDI]

When it comes to cold starting diesels, I started out with 7.3 powerstrokes. When you cold start them you don't want anything not needed pulling power. If the voltage is below 10.5 volts no matter how fast it spins over they will never start, pcm requires a minimum voltage to fire the injectors.

I haven't had any issues cold starting my 83 but I have never tried to start it cold with anything extra pulling power.

James

Yeah my friends with 7.3 PSD trucks are always super worried about cold starts, hell, I’ve left my CB on over the course of a day and two nights by mistake, it didn’t seem to care much when I fired it up, although it wasn’t spinning as fast as it could.

It’d probably be really hard on starters, but I always wondered how fast these IDIs would spin over if you gave them 24 volts to start and 12 volt operating.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

It’d probably be really ******* starters

Oh. I see. The program doesn't like me. You can spell out these exact two words, but it blanks them out for me. What gives?

I always wondered how fast these IDIs would spin over if you gave them 24 volts to start

I don't think that would be a good idea. I just have a feeling that it would do some damage to the starter.

 

[KansasIDI]

Oh. I see. The program doesn't like me. You can spell out these exact two words, but it blanks them out for me. What gives?

Double space between and it'll let you. Otherwise it won't for me either. Must punch the algorithm back...

The random word censorship on this site confuses me. You can say pimp but not hard on.

I don't think that would be a good idea. I just have a feeling that it would do some damage to the starter.

It wasn't meant to be serious, but just imagine how fast they'd spin over. I did not say for how long though...

 

[Cant Write]

When it comes to cold starting diesels, I started out with 7.3 powerstrokes. When you cold start them you don't want anything not needed pulling power. If the voltage is below 10.5 volts no matter how fast it spins over they will never start, pcm requires a minimum voltage to fire the injectors.

I haven't had any issues cold starting my 83 but I have never tried to start it cold with anything extra pulling power.

James

Why 10.5 volts? Do you know what the engineers or bean counters were thinking? Were they placing warranty claims or computer/vehicle preservation above potential loss of life situation....?

No need to answer that last question, speculation on my part.

I can just see the discussion at the design meetings. “Sir, but what about those with PSD’s in remote regions of the frozen north.......how should we advise operations? Thanks for asking, young engineer, .......if they are dumb enough to shut it off in a remote situation, let’s just hope Darwin’s list doesn’t discover our true priorities”

 

[tbowker]

Yesterday my truck was a workbench while turning wrenches on my bride's mustang and then on my GMC sierra. It looks like she'll be driving the GMC while I search for the source of the coolant leak. The GMC was a shift linkage cable replacement. Simple enough. My plan today after church, is to replace the exhaust hanger rubber bushings on the Ford and then figure out the issue with the reverse lights. I picked up new socket holders from Amazon since the existing ones are sad looking. Basically, replace all the socket holders at the back of the truck and sort out some wiring.