Gary Lewis

Welcome! Glad you joined. Nice looking truck, but then you have a lot to chose from. Wow! You have a lot of videos. Like you not knowing why you haven't found us, I don't know why we haven't found you. Hopefully you'll be able to point us to one of your videos to answer questions, just like we do to our documentation. Where's home? I ask because we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and we can add you with a city/state or zip.

Yep, the LED is staying where it was. Here's the schematic I'm working to right now. Be back in a bit when it is wired, which really means just adding Bob's diode.

Only because this microanalysis isn't up to 8 pages yet... There is a fourth power option. Or more accurately, another permutation of option 3. Rather than use a capacitor you could use unswitched power but put a switch on it. That would give you a clean power signal without the "complexity" of a capacitor but still no power draw when the truck is shut off. This does require you to remember to turn it on when you want it and off when you don't. But the LED not coming on will remind you to turn it on, and using a lighted switch (lights up when turned on) or a separate indicator light can remind you to turn it off. The capacitor is still the more elegant solution, and I'm not trying to talk you out of it. Just trying to help get to 8 pages! You may have missed that I was sadly mistaken - I was not using a circuit for power that is hot in both Run & Start. I am now, and it doesn't drop out between Run & Start. I tried it yesterday with and w/o the diode and/or capacitor and it worked perfectly in all cases. I cannot explain how the circuit was working at all since the module had no power in Start. But it does now and all it needs is your diode.

Jim - I have used that question-mark pick with success to get the knobs off, but it hasn't been as easy as I'd like. The curve on mine is too big and hits the instrument bezel unless I angle the thing. And with the sharp point it frequently goes between the end of the spring and the ID of the knob. So I made this thing so it is just deep enough to go in w/o hitting the bezel, and the right width so when you put it up against the OD of the knob it hits the spring.

That's cool, Larry. Should work up through 84 as it is shaft mount.

Bummer! I'd forgotten that, Larry. I guess back in my day the systems didn't care, but today that's not a safe way to wire it. Given that I'd go with a dual voice coil speaker. Each side is wired to its own coil but the cone moves most when both sides have the same information. That way you won't hurt the head unit but will get a bit of center channel.

Yes, the LED would definitely come on when the system is armed. But so would the starter. Anyway, I plan to add Bob's blocking diode, exactly as you've shown it, today. And then test the system and button everything up 'cause I'm sure it is going to work.

I use a thin L shaped Allan key, it works pretty well. Thanks, Jeff. Vivek - There is a release on top of the headlight switch. You might have to have a child reach up there as it is hard to get to, but there is a spring-loaded button that will release the whole shaft, not just the knob.

No, that won't work the way I planned it. That plan is to have the LED come on when the system is armed so people understand that danger is at hand. The system works that way now with the exception of the LED coming on each time the clutch is depressed, which is annoying - especially at night. But Bob's diode should fix that. I'll add it tomorrow.

Yes, the other day I used a pointed hook and it worked, sorta. But today it kept slipping off. So I decided to design something that wouldn't slip off and picked the thick wire. But when I cut the wire initially it left a ridge on the end, and that tended to also slip off the spring. So I filed it flat and it worked very well.

LEDs blow quite easily. One designed for 30 ma fails before you get to 100 ma. DAHIK. My memory is going, but that was only last week, so... But they are BRIGHT for a very brief period. As for the resistor, there are LEDs with an internal one and LEDs w/o. I started this project with one that didn't have a resistor and quickly rued that decision as I blew one up and broke the leads off of another one. So I quickly moved on to the one I have now which not only has the resistor built in but also has strain relief on the leads.

It looks like you have a good plan. But Jonathan's suggestion certainly has merit.

I like to make a "center channel" by using the positive from one channel and negative from the other to power the center speaker. I'm running that combo in the shop and it works very well. Basically what it does is to put only things that are in both channels in the center channel. Anything in just the left or just the right will stay there, but anything that is in both channels shows up in the center.

I think you've nailed it - placing 12v directly on the sending unit has burned it. Is the original gauge bad? I'd go back to the original gauge because you need the instrument cluster voltage regulator for the coolant temp and oil pressure gauges, so why not use it for the fuel gauge as well? But, while you are in there I'd recommend replacing the ICVR with a true voltage regulator instead of the factory's chopper.

That sounds like an exhaust leak to me. I'd try tightening up the header bolts to see if the noise changes.

Today I had the "pleasure" to again remove the headlight and wiper knobs. Heretofore I've used whatever tool might be to hand, but today I decided to make something that would do it easily. So I grabbed a piece of heavy wire, about 1/8" thick, and bent it until I found a shape and size that worked. It is sized such that you hold it up against the side of the knob and it'll hit the tip of that inner spring that you have to depress in order to get the knob off. It worked very well and the knobs came off easily.

I understand Vivek's question, and I don't really understand Gary's answer. Not that I really need to, it seems to work now, and it definitely will with the addition of the new diode. But after reading Vivek's question I see that there seems to be a circuit from VCC, through the LED, through the (closed) clutch switch to the starter relay. Yes the LED only draws a small amount, but it sort of seems like every time the clutch pedal is pressed (whether the timer is in use or not) the starter relay will draw its 3.5 amps through the LED (which would likely be pretty unhappy about it). But as Vivek and I said, the addition of the diode will shut off that path, so there's no long-term concern. Well, the schematic is now incorrect. It used to have a resistor in series with the LED. It is actually there but it is built into the LED's housing so I eliminated it in the schematic. My bad. I'll put it back. But it limits the current through the LED to ~20 ma if you put the LED across 12v. I don't have any way of knowing for sure on this one, but most LED's are designed to run at 2v. Assuming that is the case then the internal resistor will be 500 ohms: R = E/I = 10/.02 = 500 ohms. As for the primary coil of the starter relay, if it conducts 3.5 amps at 12v then it has the equivalent to 3.4 ohms. I've drawn the circuit w/o the switch, or anything else, to keep it simple. But with the total of 503 ohms there would be roughly 20 ma, or .02 A, flowing through the circuit. Far less than the 3.5 amps needed to pull in the starter relay. Does that help?

Got the relay module tapped into Ckt 640 and tested it - perfect. So now it is going back together, as shown below. And at the bottom of the dash you can see the module's box is open, ready for the diode - tomorrow. Gonna call it quits for the day as Janey and I are going out tonight.

Good point, Jonathan. I've only used SEM and it covers very well. In fact on the red console I painted blue it was probably covered with two coats, but I put on four to make sure.

Time for a break for water. You can see below how far I've gotten. No, I'm not a fan of fuse taps. I want things done in a it-can-never-fail way, and that takes solder, shrink tubing, etc. This thing goes everywhere and I don't want things to quit in the back of beyond. As for the relay's pull-in current, they are mechanical devices, not solid state. The coil moves contacts within the relay, which takes power: wattage = ExI. Small micro relays take a few ma, a Bosch relay might take 250 ma, and the fender-mounted starter relay I have on the bench pulls 3.5 amps @ 14v when pulled in. That's 49 watts. The LED only pulls 1/100th of that so the LED lights but the relay doesn't pull in.

In this condition (without the diode) does the starter relay have enough power to be energized ? I still don't understand why the VCC voltage doesn't cause the starter relay to be energized with just the LED in the midst. I know with the diode this is a non-concern (very clever fix by the way). Speaking of that diode, it will cause a forward-bias voltage drop. Might be 1 volt right there? First, you may have missed that the starter relay I'm talking about is one of those large fender-mounted units that Ford used. Not a little Bosch relay. And it depends on what you mean by "energized". The LED lights at .02A and the starter relay takes 3.5A to pull it in. So all the LED is doing is use the starter relay's pull-in coil as its ground. But the starter relay is not pulled in so the contacts don't close. Yes, the diode is a clever solution. And there will be about a .7v drop across the diode, but that's not a problem because the starter relay would easily be pulled in with a lot less than 12v. I've had a look and I've not found easy access to the R/Y wire for circuit 640. It looks like the best place to get to it is under the dash cover, so I'm going to pull that and do the wiring. But while the dash cover is off I'm about half way to getting to the module, so I'll go ahead and add the diode while things are apart. (We need an emoticon where a guy is wrenching or turning a screwdriver so we can imply to people that "I'm off to solve this problem and I'll be back.")

And lastly, is that literal or figurative ? Was the nut actually loose ? Sorry i struggle with metaphors First, I'm the nut behind the wheel. But there won't be any change to starting when the module is connected to the right circuit. Without arming the module you'll still have to depress the clutch pedal to get it to crank. But once the module is armed you'll have 10 seconds to start it with the clutch fully engaged. And yes, that's the intent for this module - start with the clutch engaged, but only for a brief period of time. That way it pretty much has to be a conscious decision to start it in gear, meaning it is unlikely that someone will arm it and then hit the starter w/in 10 seconds accidentally. And when you do arm it you'll be staring at a very bright red LED that warns you that you've done something dangerous. Speaking of the LED, with just the change to a circuit that is hot in both Run & Start the LED will still light any time that the clutch is fully depressed if the key is in either of those positions. But with Bob's suggestion of adding a diode I'll fix that so that the LED only comes on when the bypass is armed.

Are you going to use a paint gun? I've been happy with the cans that Vinyl Pro sends me. The cans say "Net wt. 5.46oz. Net wt. when filled 12 oz." So I assume that means there's 12 - 5.46 = 6.54 oz of paint. And while at first blush it would appear that you can divide that 6.54 oz into the 128 oz in a gallon to get the # of cans in a gallon, that doesn't work. The problem is that the 6.54 ounces are weight and the 128 ounces are fluid ounces. Two very different things. So I thought I'd figure it out but discovered it gets a lot more complex than I want to deal with. One site says paint weighs from 7 to 12 lbs per gallon, and that range is huge. So I gave up. But if I was thinking about buying the paint in gallons I'd call Vinyl Pro and ask how many cans of paint that represents. I think it is a LOT and you'd only need one. But then you'd need a source of dry compressed air and a spray gun, plus all of the chemicals it takes to clean the gun when you are done.

Well.... I turned the key to Start and then armed the module: w/o capacitance nothing happened. But with 3000 mfd if you armed it within a few seconds the engine started. So I put a meter on and the voltage was slowly falling off after the caps charged and it you armed while the voltage was north of 10v it started. As it turns out I'm not tied to a circuit with power in both Run & Start. I cannot explain why it even starts at all. But, having now run a jumper from the ignition coil to the circuit it starts every time, with or without capacitance. With or without a diode. So the nut behind the wheel is, and maybe always has been, loose. Looking at the EVTM & Big Blue's documentation the circuit I needed to have tapped is #640, the R/Y wire off Fuse 18 that feeds the seatbelt buzzer, warning indicators, tach, and fuel pump control. There's really only two fused circuits, that one and #973, that are hot in both Run & Start.

Stein - Glad your weather is warming so that you can get work done on your trucks. But that does seem like a lot of work. On the tapping noise, might it be a lifter? Or an exhaust leak? Lots of times an exhaust leak sounds like a tapping noise.