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Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

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Gary Lewis

Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

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Heretofore I've believed that the page below from the 1986 EVTM means that the dots and hash marks on the wiring were done away with as of 1986. But it doesn't quite say that - I just inferred that.

However, today I found that some of Big Blue's wiring doesn't have the expected hash marks, and instead has stripes. In the page below from the '85 EVTM he should have a red/yellow hash wire for circuit 640. But instead, he has a red/yellow stripe wire. However, elsewhere he does have dots and stripes.

So, apparently the changeover wasn't done during the model year change, but gradually on a by-circuit basis. However, generally the 85's had dots and hash marks, and 86's had stripes.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

salans7

Re: Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

That makes sense, use up the older spools you have before you switch to new style.

Gary Lewis

Re: Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

Administrator

Yep. No one was going to throw anything away. So it is very possible that '86 trucks got the wires with dots and hash marks.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Rembrant

Re: Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

In reply to this post by salans7

Boy you guys are lucky Steve83 isn't here!!...lol.

1994 F150 4x2 Flareside. 5.0 w/MAF, 4R70W, stock.
1984 F150 4X2 Flareside. Mild 302 w/ 5spd. Sold.
1980 F150 4X4 Flareside. 300i6 w/ 5spd. Sold in 2021.
1980 F100 4X2 Flareside. 351w/2bbl w/NP435. Sold in 1995

Gary Lewis

Re: Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

Administrator

LOL! Yes, I do remember that conversation now that you mentioned it.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Rembrant

Re: Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

Steve was always adamant that there was no such thing as using up leftover parts! If you thought that then you didn’t understand just in time production!

ArdWrknTrk

Re: Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

Administrator

Which never seemed to be a thing for The Motor Company.

We just discussed hydraulic clutches being phased in.
Or acres of castings left to season that needed to be machined before updated blocks or heads would make their way into vehicles and off the line.
*SO many anachronisms in the production of these trucks.*

Is there a reason to care whether dots or stripes?
Are any of us doing real concours restorations?

Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake.
Too much other stuff to mention.

ArdWrknTrk

Re: Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

Administrator

In reply to this post by Gary Lewis

If you'd bought 100 miles of pink wire with black dots would you throw it out because it was August 1985?

The electrons on the inside never see the 'sell by' date, nor do they care.

Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake.
Too much other stuff to mention.

Gary Lewis

Re: Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

Administrator

My concern yesterday was that I get the right wire. I didn't want to solder/heat shrink into the wrong wire and the colors aren't very distinct at the instrument cluster plug 'cause they've been unwrapped for 35ish years. The EVTM said I should be looking for a red with a yellow hash, but I wasn't finding one.

I started to check the pinouts on the connector, but the EVTM doesn't give that info. (I should add it to our copy.) So I checked my '82 donor harness and sure enough there was a red w/a yellow hash mark. And it was in the same position as the red w/a yellow stripe on Big Blue.

So now there is both a red/yellow stripe and a red/yellow hash wire at that position as I used a wire from the donor and grafted it in there.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

85lebaront2

Re: Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

Administrator

Gary, a lot of items like that have to do with the build date of the vehicle and the lead time on components like wiring harnesses. A truck built in Dearborn in Aug 1985 might have the 1986 style harnesses while one built in Norfolk could easily have the older harnesses.

I had a 1964 Falcon that had a lot of Mustang PNs, 289 heads on a 260 etc. it was built July 27th 1964.

Bill AKA "LOBO" Profile

"Getting old is inevitable, growing up is optional" Darth Vader 1986 F350 460 converted to MAF/SEFI, E4OD 12X3 1/2 rear brakes, traction loc 3:55 gear, 160 amp 3G alternator Wife's 2011 Flex Limited Daily Driver 2009 Flex Limited with factory tow package Project car 1986 Chrysler LeBaron convertible 2.2L Turbo II, modified A413

Gary Lewis

Re: Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

Administrator

Yep, I'm sure you are right, Bill. That appears to be the way the slide locks were phased out and the pin locks phased in - by plant. But Big Blue's manufacture date of 5/85 is earlier than I expected the wire color change to be introduced. I would have thought that a date in August or September would have been more likely. So apparently the '85 trucks got a smattering of the wire color changes.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Rembrant

Re: Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

In reply to this post by ArdWrknTrk

ArdWrknTrk wrote

If you'd bought 100 miles of pink wire with black dots would you throw it out because it was August 1985?

The electrons on the inside never see the 'sell by' date, nor do they care.

Haha, oh I agree 100% Jim, but Steve83 (a former member on here) used to argue that there was no such thing as leftover parts in just-in-time manufacturing. His argument to your point above would be that extra wire was never purchased in the first place, so therefore there could never be any leftover.

He was adamant that NOS parts ONLY came from dealer inventories, and never as extras from a warehouse or production facility, or outside supplier.

Of course we know that is not true. Companies like DC and LMC have shown all kinds of different items that were clearly leftovers from production runs.

ArdWrknTrk

Re: Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

Administrator

I'm sure he was there at the wire factory watching the dots roll down the wire and then jammed the machine so it could only make stripes. 😲

Of course, then that spool had to be rewound, so the stripe was towards the tail end of the spool.

Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake.
Too much other stuff to mention.

Rembrant

Re: Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

ArdWrknTrk wrote

I'm sure he was there at the wire factory watching the dots roll down the wire and then jammed the machine so it could only make stripes. 😲

Of course, then that spool had to be rewound, so the stripe was towards the tail end of the spool.

Ever see one of those big Husky injection molding machines in action? Even though the auto assembly plant lines ran on just in time production, lots of the vendors would have been making extra inventory. Lots of it was probably scrapped if it wasn't sent to the plants. Anyway, point is, the changeover in parts/assembly was a bit of a moving target, with overlap on the model year changes.

ArdWrknTrk

Re: Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

Administrator

This post was updated on .

Look what happened when that magnesium die casting plant dedicated to the auto sector went up in flames a year or two ago!
Production lines throughout North America were idled without their widgets.

Edit, link: https://youtu.be/a67MWZ7VtQw

Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake.
Too much other stuff to mention.

ArdWrknTrk

Re: Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

Administrator

In reply to this post by Rembrant

It takes time to change over dies and proof the run before you can ramp up production.
You certainly need to sit on inventory of you are tasked with JIT delivery.

Contracts and schedules to each assembly plant might give you a good idea of what you need, but you don't want to fall short and pay the penalty.
Raw stock used in product is a pittance compared to retooling.

And then you have to juggle runs of each of your products and develop new ones as engineering brings you new prints.
The fact that most of this is digital these days certainly helps make it lean, but you're foolish not to have some surplus.

Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake.
Too much other stuff to mention.

Angelo Voltura

Re: Wiring Color Changes Not As Expected

In reply to this post by Rembrant

Rembrant wrote

Steve was always adamant that there was no such thing as using up leftover parts! If you thought that then you didn’t understand just in time production!

I'd argue that all day long with my fathers truck that thing has got all kinds of oddities in it lol.

1978 F150 351W
1979 F150 "410M"
1979 F100 302
1979 F250 400
1987 F150 300
1990 F150 302
1991 F150 300
1995 F150 (1985 clip swapped) 300
1997 F250 351W