Big Blue's Transformation

[85lebaront2]

Ok Bill, thanks.

Now on to a different subject - the placement of various things on Big Blue's driver's fender. And for this I'm pulling some info from this post in the EFI For Big Blue thread.

You might ask why I'm worried about this now since I don't plan to go to EFI until late next year. The reason is that I need to make new #2 cables to connect the aux power relay (the old aux battery relay) with the battery isolator and the aux battery. And given the price of that cable and connectors I don't want to have to do that twice. So I need to figure out where the battery isolator is going to go as it is the key that, literally, ties everything together.

First, here's Huck's 1990 driver's fender with the bracket for the EFI air box bolted on:

And here's the fender w/o the bracket showing the bolt holes that it uses:

Then here's Big Blue's driver's fender. I'm pretty sure the hole circled in the upper right is where the bracket will go, and I think that will work as the leg of the bracket will go behind the battery. And, there's a circle below that roughly where the bottom screw goes. Further, I've put a circle about where the rear screw will need to go. But, I've drawn straight lines on a bit of a problem as that piece protrudes into the engine compartment and will hit the bracket. So some changes will have to be made.

However, that picture of BB's fender does not include the battery isolator that currently sits between the coolant recovery/windshield washer reservoir and the fender, right where the black ground cable is shown in the picture. So both the coolant recovery/windshield washer reservoir and the battery isolator will have to be relocated.

And. the EFI PDB goes on the fender behind the air box but ahead of the speed control servo, so there's no room on that side for the reservoir so it'll probably have to go to the passenger's side. But I do need to find a place for the battery isolator on that side of the engine bay as the cable running across the radiator has to bring the power from the primary battery to the EFI PDB.

So, if anyone has suggestions please offer them!

Gary, the PDB for the Powerstroke goes in the same location as the gas engine, but the wiring harness routing is different between the two as the PSD also has another box behind the PDC, the injector drivers. My PDC and front wiring harness came from a 1996 PSD. I eliminated the injector driver wiring with the exception of the ones from the PCM to the injector driver, I used them and the matching colors I had so the colors are correct going to the 42 way engine connector plug.

[Gary Lewis]

Old aux relay? Are you running both? If so, why? I know I sent you that power stud since we talked about this quite awhile ago but I don't recall the details.

I would mount the isolator where the aux relay/power stud goes on the firewall only have it. Will require a little more length but nothing terrible.

The old aux battery relay is the new aux power relay. When it comes in lots of power is fed to the inverter and the charging station behind the seat via #2 cable.

So I need both the smart isolator and the aux power relay. And if I put the smart isolator on the firewall I'll need to move the trailer relay and fuel pump relay into the EFI PDB to have enough room on the firewall. But, IIRC, there are already relays in the box for those functions.

However, that's not something I was ready to do now. IOW, I was hoping to find a home for the smart isolator that didn't require me to implement the EFI PDB now. But, as I think about it, I actually do need to do that now 'cause I plan to put a relay in there for the fog lights and another for the backup lights and I want them on before the trip this summer.

Ok, maybe that's the plan - lay out where the air cleaner box and EFI PDB go. Then implement the EFI PDB to at least be the termination point for the big yellow wire coming across the radiator support from the other PDB and the starting battery. Move the fuel pump and trailer relays into the EFI PDB, freeing up space on the firewall, and put the smart isolator there. That will require a short jumper from the EFI PDB to extend the starting battery's circuit to there, but the aux battery circuit already needs to be there to go to the aux power relay. Put a megafuse on the firewall between the smart isolator and the aux power relay, and it would work.

Thoughts?

[kramttocs]

The old aux battery relay is the new aux power relay. When it comes in lots of power is fed to the inverter and the charging station behind the seat via #2 cable.

So I need both the smart isolator and the aux power relay. And if I put the smart isolator on the firewall I'll need to move the trailer relay and fuel pump relay into the EFI PDB to have enough room on the firewall. But, IIRC, there are already relays in the box for those functions.

However, that's not something I was ready to do now. IOW, I was hoping to find a home for the smart isolator that didn't require me to implement the EFI PDB now. But, as I think about it, I actually do need to do that now 'cause I plan to put a relay in there for the fog lights and another for the backup lights and I want them on before the trip this summer.

Ok, maybe that's the plan - lay out where the air cleaner box and EFI PDB go. Then implement the EFI PDB to at least be the termination point for the big yellow wire coming across the radiator support from the other PDB and the starting battery. Move the fuel pump and trailer relays into the EFI PDB, freeing up space on the firewall, and put the smart isolator there. That will require a short jumper from the EFI PDB to extend the starting battery's circuit to there, but the aux battery circuit already needs to be there to go to the aux power relay. Put a megafuse on the firewall between the smart isolator and the aux power relay, and it would work.

Thoughts?

Of course! We had just talked about the aux relay for the back seat power/inverter I've slept since then I guess.

That sounds like the best chance at not having to redo anything later.

So would the isolator go down low where the relays are now (in that little cover/holder)? Not sure if those screw holes would be space correctly or not.

Here's an interesting product. Just ran across it while looking for smaller footprint mega or midi fuse holders for the firewall. Sadly looks to be by quote only as well as sacrificial so likely not a good one-off choice but still a neat idea.

Another one (midi)

[Gary Lewis]

Of course! We had just talked about the aux relay for the back seat power/inverter I've slept since then I guess.

That sounds like the best chance at not having to redo anything later.

So would the isolator go down low where the relays are now (in that little cover/holder)? Not sure if those screw holes would be space correctly or not.

Here's an interesting product. Just ran across it while looking for smaller footprint mega or midi fuse holders for the firewall. Sadly looks to be by quote only as well as sacrificial so likely not a good one-off choice but still a neat idea.

Another one (midi)

Yeah, I've slept since a lot of conversations. Was just reading one Bill and I had two years ago.

Anyway, I'm not sure I'd have said the relays are "down low" as I think they are at about the same height as the aux power relay. But yes, probably in that area is where I'd mount the battery isolator. (And straighten up the aux power relay, which is in the factory position at a weird angle.)

As for the megafuse, those do look interesting due to the smaller size. But I already have fuse holders, so will try to squeeze one in there between the isolator and aux power relay.

And now to connectors. I probably should have put connectors on the PDB on the passenger's fender, but this round I don't intend to implement everything in the PDB on the first round so had better use connectors. Do you have recommendations? There will be a mix of power circuits, like the fog lights, and signal circuits, like the pull-in circuit to the fog light relay.

[kramttocs]

Yeah, I've slept since a lot of conversations. Was just reading one Bill and I had two years ago.

Anyway, I'm not sure I'd have said the relays are "down low" as I think they are at about the same height as the aux power relay. But yes, probably in that area is where I'd mount the battery isolator. (And straighten up the aux power relay, which is in the factory position at a weird angle.)

As for the megafuse, those do look interesting due to the smaller size. But I already have fuse holders, so will try to squeeze one in there between the isolator and aux power relay.

And now to connectors. I probably should have put connectors on the PDB on the passenger's fender, but this round I don't intend to implement everything in the PDB on the first round so had better use connectors. Do you have recommendations? There will be a mix of power circuits, like the fog lights, and signal circuits, like the pull-in circuit to the fog light relay.

I guess it's all relative When trying to do anything with the relays/connectors it seems like they are way down there but you're right that it's not much lower than the solenoid.

For connectors I like the Metri-Pack line but like I mentioned in the Camano thread they can be bulky. Weather Pack is another option by Delphi.

I think it's Jim or Bill that use the Deutsch connectors but I could be wrong. They look really flexible as they have a few different series. So you could mix the different series connectors to keep the number down by grouping the high amp and low amp circuits. Appears Amphenol may make something very similar. Haven't looked into them much so hopefully someone that has will be around to chime in.

 

[85lebaront2]

Yeah, I've slept since a lot of conversations. Was just reading one Bill and I had two years ago.

Anyway, I'm not sure I'd have said the relays are "down low" as I think they are at about the same height as the aux power relay. But yes, probably in that area is where I'd mount the battery isolator. (And straighten up the aux power relay, which is in the factory position at a weird angle.)

As for the megafuse, those do look interesting due to the smaller size. But I already have fuse holders, so will try to squeeze one in there between the isolator and aux power relay.

And now to connectors. I probably should have put connectors on the PDB on the passenger's fender, but this round I don't intend to implement everything in the PDB on the first round so had better use connectors. Do you have recommendations? There will be a mix of power circuits, like the fog lights, and signal circuits, like the pull-in circuit to the fog light relay.

Gary, I believe I have an extra pair of the factory 42 way engine harness connector. The male and female connectors are readily available from Dorman. This is the big square plug attached to the PDC mounting bracket. Everything for the engine except the alternator goes through this connector. It replaced the bank of 4 8 way connectors used from 1987-1991 (Huck would have had them).

Connector pins:

.060 male - E7EB-14461-BA, AUVECO 20475

.060 female - E7EB-14487-AA, Clips & Fasteners A18408

.110 male - D1AB-14461-AA, Dorman 85345, AUVECO 14887

.110 female - D1AB-14488-CA, Dorman 85346, AUVECO 14888

Either 2 or 4 of the pins (corner locations) are .110, rest are all .060. The 8 pin connectors from Huck are .060 pins.

[85lebaront2]

I guess it's all relative When trying to do anything with the relays/connectors it seems like they are way down there but you're right that it's not much lower than the solenoid.

For connectors I like the Metri-Pack line but like I mentioned in the Camano thread they can be bulky. Weather Pack is another option by Delphi.

I think it's Jim or Bill that use the Deutsch connectors but I could be wrong. They look really flexible as they have a few different series. So you could mix the different series connectors to keep the number down by grouping the high amp and low amp circuits. Appears Amphenol may make something very similar. Haven't looked into them much so hopefully someone that has will be around to chime in.

Scott, it depends on what I am working on, I have lots of salvaged connector bodies and on Fords a good source for components for them. Chrysler, in addition to colors and circuit numbers that change between years and even between bodies in the same year parts are not readily available, newer stuff to some extent. As a result my audio system harness from radio to amplifier uses 2 Ford 10 way male/female pairs, one gray and one black so I do not have to pull the amplifier harness out to remove the dash.

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, I believe I have an extra pair of the factory 42 way engine harness connector. The male and female connectors are readily available from Dorman. This is the big square plug attached to the PDC mounting bracket. Everything for the engine except the alternator goes through this connector. It replaced the bank of 4 8 way connectors used from 1987-1991 (Huck would have had them).

Connector pins:

.060 male - E7EB-14461-BA, AUVECO 20475

.060 female - E7EB-14487-AA, Clips & Fasteners A18408

.110 male - D1AB-14461-AA, Dorman 85345, AUVECO 14887

.110 female - D1AB-14488-CA, Dorman 85346, AUVECO 14888

Either 2 or 4 of the pins (corner locations) are .110, rest are all .060. The 8 pin connectors from Huck are .060 pins.

Scott - I was misremembering where the relays are. You are right about the other relays being "down there".

Bill - I have two pair of those connectors, one pair still attached to the bracket for the PDB. So that's obviously the right thing to use. Wonder why I didn't do that on the passenger's side. But thanks for the suggestion!

On the relays, my notes say that the positions in the CA-Spec PDB are used this way:

• Relay 1: PCM Power

• Relay 2: Fuel Pump Relay

• Relay 3: Horn relay on the '96 but I'll be using the one in the '85 harness so this can be the trailer relay

• Relay 4: Unused, so this can be the fog lights

• Relay 5: Unused, so this can be the backup lights

But in the pic above you'll see an extra relay I wired in. I believe that's a key-on relay to provide aux battery voltage to the aftermarket voltmeter, and it can go away as that voltmeter can be wired to the aux power relay's output. However, it won't read if the Aux Power switch in Mission Control is turned off, which will be a rare situation.

So, I think the wiring to the EFI PDB might be fairly easy for those relays and I can move the fuel pump and trailer relays from the firewall into the PDB. Then I can relocate the aux power relay and add both the battery isolator and the megafuse there. I think that is going to work! Thanks, Scott!

 

[kramttocs]

Scott - I was misremembering where the relays are. You are right about the other relays being "down there".

Bill - I have two pair of those connectors, one pair still attached to the bracket for the PDB. So that's obviously the right thing to use. Wonder why I didn't do that on the passenger's side. But thanks for the suggestion!

On the relays, my notes say that the positions in the CA-Spec PDB are used this way:

• Relay 1: PCM Power

• Relay 2: Fuel Pump Relay

• Relay 3: Horn relay on the '96 but I'll be using the one in the '85 harness so this can be the trailer relay

• Relay 4: Unused, so this can be the fog lights

• Relay 5: Unused, so this can be the backup lights

But in the pic above you'll see an extra relay I wired in. I believe that's a key-on relay to provide aux battery voltage to the aftermarket voltmeter, and it can go away as that voltmeter can be wired to the aux power relay's output. However, it won't read if the Aux Power switch in Mission Control is turned off, which will be a rare situation.

So, I think the wiring to the EFI PDB might be fairly easy for those relays and I can move the fuel pump and trailer relays from the firewall into the PDB. Then I can relocate the aux power relay and add both the battery isolator and the megafuse there. I think that is going to work! Thanks, Scott!

Great idea on the connector! Can't get much more well-suited than that.

Don't want to get too complicated but does it look like the isolator could go under the speed control unit? Just thinking that with the aux solenoid, mega fuse, and isolator plus the 2awg cable it may need to spread out a bit.

[Gary Lewis]

Great idea on the connector! Can't get much more well-suited than that.

Don't want to get too complicated but does it look like the isolator could go under the speed control unit? Just thinking that with the aux solenoid, mega fuse, and isolator plus the 2awg cable it may need to spread out a bit.

You may be right, Scott. I was worried about that, so maybe the isolator could go down there. I want the fuse up where I can replace it if needed, but the isolator doesn't need to be. Thanks.