Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

I’ve done it with a penny. F L A T. And much wider than it was originally. Not what was needed.

I’ll stick to S L O W L Y removing the material. One and done, and my fingers will grow back. .

Moved the feed to the Innovate AFR meter from key-on power to the R/O wire that feeds the Rocketman voltmeter in the gauge cluster. Then, once the Key-On relay becomes the Engine Running relay by triggering it via the alternator's stator output the voltmeter and the AFR gauge will only come on when the alternator fires up.

I made the connection by soldering the AFR power wire to the pin from C208A, the connector that plugs into the cluster, as shown below. You have to keep the wire tightly wrapped around the terminal w/o much solder as it is a tight fit into the connector. But it goes in to the heat shrink, which provides coverage as well as strain relief.

[Gary Lewis]

Moved the feed to the Innovate AFR meter from key-on power to the R/O wire that feeds the Rocketman voltmeter in the gauge cluster. Then, once the Key-On relay becomes the Engine Running relay by triggering it via the alternator's stator output the voltmeter and the AFR gauge will only come on when the alternator fires up.

I made the connection by soldering the AFR power wire to the pin from C208A, the connector that plugs into the cluster, as shown below. You have to keep the wire tightly wrapped around the terminal w/o much solder as it is a tight fit into the connector. But it goes in to the heat shrink, which provides coverage as well as strain relief.

Got the Kicker sub, 6' male/male RCA cables, and the Rockford Fosgate RFiF2SW connector on order this morning. All should be in on Friday.

So I turned to making the wiring changes in the passenger-side PDB, namely to make the Ignition On relay into an Engine Running relay to power the voltmeter and the AFR gauge. That required bringing the W/Bk stator wire up to the PDB from the alternator. But I don't like soldering while the wires are still on the vehicle, so I pulled the charge harness off the 3G so I could work on the bench.

However, that wasn't as easy as it sounds. The clocking of the 3G is such that the connectors go in at the 2:00 position while coming from the 9:00 position. And that makes the connectors, and especially the clips that hold them in, very hard to see or get to.

Given that I wanted to re-clock the alternator, but that hasn't gone very well so far. You can see the discussion re that in my Clocking A 3G? Help! thread, but suffice to say that I've not achieved victory - yet.

But, I did get the harness off and a W/Bk wire installed. I cut the W/Bk wire between the 3-wire connector and the 1-wire connector and soldered it to the W/Bk (which looks yellow in the pic), pulled the terminal out of the connector shell, and then slipped two layers of heat-shrink over that to provide plenty of support.

And I provided a connector at the other end, which is up near the PDB. The bigger black connector in the pic is what was on the charge cable from the factory for the LG/R wire. So I put my 1-wire connector for the stator wire beside it, allowing the charge cable to be removed if needed.

[Gary Lewis]

Got the Kicker sub, 6' male/male RCA cables, and the Rockford Fosgate RFiF2SW connector on order this morning. All should be in on Friday.

So I turned to making the wiring changes in the passenger-side PDB, namely to make the Ignition On relay into an Engine Running relay to power the voltmeter and the AFR gauge. That required bringing the W/Bk stator wire up to the PDB from the alternator. But I don't like soldering while the wires are still on the vehicle, so I pulled the charge harness off the 3G so I could work on the bench.

However, that wasn't as easy as it sounds. The clocking of the 3G is such that the connectors go in at the 2:00 position while coming from the 9:00 position. And that makes the connectors, and especially the clips that hold them in, very hard to see or get to.

Given that I wanted to re-clock the alternator, but that hasn't gone very well so far. You can see the discussion re that in my Clocking A 3G? Help! thread, but suffice to say that I've not achieved victory - yet.

But, I did get the harness off and a W/Bk wire installed. I cut the W/Bk wire between the 3-wire connector and the 1-wire connector and soldered it to the W/Bk (which looks yellow in the pic), pulled the terminal out of the connector shell, and then slipped two layers of heat-shrink over that to provide plenty of support.

And I provided a connector at the other end, which is up near the PDB. The bigger black connector in the pic is what was on the charge cable from the factory for the LG/R wire. So I put my 1-wire connector for the stator wire beside it, allowing the charge cable to be removed if needed.

Got the batteries disconnected, the coolant/washer reservoir out, and the PDB's bracket out. That let me turn the PDB on its side, pull the bottom cover, and do some wiring.

Got the wiring changes done so the Key On relay is now the Engine Running relay, triggered by the W/Bk stator wire. And the Blower Motor Ground relay is now triggered by the LG/R wire instead of the Key On relay.

Now I have to wire up D1, the diode, which will act as the snubber on the Blower Motor Ground relay so when it opens the back EMF will be taken to ground. For documentation purposes, the anode connector in the PDB has both a LG/R/R wire and a BR/W/W wire. And the cathode has a DG/Y/Y wire.

As for the fuse for the Kicker sub, F14 is the choice as that position is always hot, which is what Kicker recommends. But now I have to remember how to get the keeper out so I can install a connector on the other side of the fuse as I pulled all the unused ones.

That's the plan for tomorrow.

 

[Gary Lewis]

Got the batteries disconnected, the coolant/washer reservoir out, and the PDB's bracket out. That let me turn the PDB on its side, pull the bottom cover, and do some wiring.

Got the wiring changes done so the Key On relay is now the Engine Running relay, triggered by the W/Bk stator wire. And the Blower Motor Ground relay is now triggered by the LG/R wire instead of the Key On relay.

Now I have to wire up D1, the diode, which will act as the snubber on the Blower Motor Ground relay so when it opens the back EMF will be taken to ground. For documentation purposes, the anode connector in the PDB has both a LG/R/R wire and a BR/W/W wire. And the cathode has a DG/Y/Y wire.

As for the fuse for the Kicker sub, F14 is the choice as that position is always hot, which is what Kicker recommends. But now I have to remember how to get the keeper out so I can install a connector on the other side of the fuse as I pulled all the unused ones.

That's the plan for tomorrow.

Two steps forward and one backwards is still progress, right?

The two steps forward:

• F3: I found that F3 is always hot and has a connector still in the PDB, so I don't have to take any keepers out.

• D1: And, I realized that I don't need to wire in diode D1.

But, the realization that I don't need to wire in D1 came hand in hand with the realization the D2 is mis-wired. I explained that in a post in the Big Blue's HVAC Blower Issues thread. Basically, after a bit of study I realized that one diode is all that is needed if it is placed across the blower motor's leads. But you can read it there.

The Kicker sub is supposed to be delivered today and Janey has graciously agreed to let me open it and start installing it tomorrow. I need the harness so I can run the 17.5' power wire out to the PDB, which will then let me put the PDB back together and button all that up.

Then I'll run the remote turn-on wire & the RCA cables from the Sony to the Kicker, which will let me put Mission Control back together.

[Gary Lewis]

Two steps forward and one backwards is still progress, right?

The two steps forward:

• F3: I found that F3 is always hot and has a connector still in the PDB, so I don't have to take any keepers out.

• D1: And, I realized that I don't need to wire in diode D1.

But, the realization that I don't need to wire in D1 came hand in hand with the realization the D2 is mis-wired. I explained that in a post in the Big Blue's HVAC Blower Issues thread. Basically, after a bit of study I realized that one diode is all that is needed if it is placed across the blower motor's leads. But you can read it there.

The Kicker sub is supposed to be delivered today and Janey has graciously agreed to let me open it and start installing it tomorrow. I need the harness so I can run the 17.5' power wire out to the PDB, which will then let me put the PDB back together and button all that up.

Then I'll run the remote turn-on wire & the RCA cables from the Sony to the Kicker, which will let me put Mission Control back together.

No steps backward today. I got the sub mounted, although it has to come out for trimming and painting or powder coating of the mounts.

Anyway, here's a pic of the sub mounted. I used 2" x 2" angle. It is attached to the console supports by being sandwiched between the console and the mount. And the tabs that come with the sub are then screwed to the angle by 5MM-.80 screws with the angle being tapped to accept them.

Here's a shot that shows what you can see of the mount and sub with the console mounted. But remember that the shot was taken with the flash on, so normally you won't be able to see the dark gray sub and black angle w/o a light. And in this shot you can see the marks where I will trim the angle.

Can't show pics of underneath as it is really hard to see there, but nothing touches the sub anywhere. The console clears it all the way around, the wire to release the seat platform to slide fore/aft misses it by an inch, and there's about 2" from the sub to the floor, depending on where you measure and where the seat is positioned. Basically, it fits perfectly.

Last, here's a shot to prove my point about not being able to see the sub or mount w/o extra light:

[BigBrother-84]

No steps backward today. I got the sub mounted, although it has to come out for trimming and painting or powder coating of the mounts.

Anyway, here's a pic of the sub mounted. I used 2" x 2" angle. It is attached to the console supports by being sandwiched between the console and the mount. And the tabs that come with the sub are then screwed to the angle by 5MM-.80 screws with the angle being tapped to accept them.

Here's a shot that shows what you can see of the mount and sub with the console mounted. But remember that the shot was taken with the flash on, so normally you won't be able to see the dark gray sub and black angle w/o a light. And in this shot you can see the marks where I will trim the angle.

Can't show pics of underneath as it is really hard to see there, but nothing touches the sub anywhere. The console clears it all the way around, the wire to release the seat platform to slide fore/aft misses it by an inch, and there's about 2" from the sub to the floor, depending on where you measure and where the seat is positioned. Basically, it fits perfectly.

Last, here's a shot to prove my point about not being able to see the sub or mount w/o extra light:

Perfect fit!

[Gary Lewis]

Perfect fit!

Thanks, Jeff. I agree. There's 3/4" on either side between the sub and the mounts for the console. So it seems like it is a "perfect fit".

By the way, I was surprised by how heavy this thing is. The manual says it is 11.4 lbs/5.2 kg, but it feels heavier than that. It is very well made and it is SOLID.

[viven44]

No steps backward today. I got the sub mounted, although it has to come out for trimming and painting or powder coating of the mounts.

Anyway, here's a pic of the sub mounted. I used 2" x 2" angle. It is attached to the console supports by being sandwiched between the console and the mount. And the tabs that come with the sub are then screwed to the angle by 5MM-.80 screws with the angle being tapped to accept them.

Here's a shot that shows what you can see of the mount and sub with the console mounted. But remember that the shot was taken with the flash on, so normally you won't be able to see the dark gray sub and black angle w/o a light. And in this shot you can see the marks where I will trim the angle.

Can't show pics of underneath as it is really hard to see there, but nothing touches the sub anywhere. The console clears it all the way around, the wire to release the seat platform to slide fore/aft misses it by an inch, and there's about 2" from the sub to the floor, depending on where you measure and where the seat is positioned. Basically, it fits perfectly.

Last, here's a shot to prove my point about not being able to see the sub or mount w/o extra light:

I have noticed before that you have an "OBS :nabble_smiley_evil:" console as well.

Where did you get those black cup inserts?

Edit: Mine didn't come with those. Just ordered them online

[Gary Lewis]

I have noticed before that you have an "OBS :nabble_smiley_evil:" console as well.

Where did you get those black cup inserts?

Edit: Mine didn't come with those. Just ordered them online

The console came with the cup holders. And that console is one of the best things I've done to the truck.

As for "OBS"

Scott - Do you use the remote bass control? I'm thinking of installing it as while the Sony has an adjustment for subwoofer level, it only adjusts to three levels: +10 dB; 0 dB; -10 dB. The analog remote bass control from Kicker would be easier to get to as the Sony settings are buried deep in the menu, and the Kicker control would offer a lot more granularity to the adjustment.

[grumpin]

I have noticed before that you have an "OBS :nabble_smiley_evil:" console as well.

Where did you get those black cup inserts?

Edit: Mine didn't come with those. Just ordered them online

I will tell people to hang on to those, most of the time they come up missing.

My Bronco still had them when I bought it.

The PO really took care of that Bronco!