Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

Looks just about how I remember it being, nice and in the way.

I think the wires will hide up under the dash enough they won't be seen from the seating positions.

Man, on Dad's truck I'm going to install that thing awa the brace before installing the dash! Would be soooo easy that way, but such a pain with the dash on. And I don't think it would even be possible with the seats in. Yesterday I slid under there a dozen times, threading my head around shift levers, brake pedals, etc.

Anyway, I'm starting the wiring now. We shall see how that goes...

[grumpin]

I think the wires will hide up under the dash enough they won't be seen from the seating positions.

Man, on Dad's truck I'm going to install that thing awa the brace before installing the dash! Would be soooo easy that way, but such a pain with the dash on. And I don't think it would even be possible with the seats in. Yesterday I slid under there a dozen times, threading my head around shift levers, brake pedals, etc.

Anyway, I'm starting the wiring now. We shall see how that goes...

That looks nice!

Yeah, good thing you have lots of room and nothing in the way!

[Gary Lewis]

That looks nice!

Yeah, good thing you have lots of room and nothing in the way!

A crewcab or Supercab would be even easier.

Got several things connected up, inc the OBD-II connector and the "warning lights", more on which later. Here's a pic of where I left off, and in it you can see the OBD-II connector with it's always-hot power wire going to a bullet that will go into the cigar lighter's connector. The wires that loop up on the left are "case grounds" for both the OBD-II connector and the ECU, and they'll connect to the wye wire which will be screwed to the firewall under the dash.

The heavy black wire is the ground that branches out in that convolute to serve both the OBD-II connector as well as several grounds to the ECU. It goes through the firewall grommet, which I now see is on backward, and connects to a system ground under the hood.

And in the middle of the mess above is the "warning light" connector. It has connections for both the Malfunction Indicator Light, aka Check Engine, as well as the Low Range light. I'm not really sure why the ECU needs to know when I shift to Low Range, but there's an input for it so I'll connect it up.

Anyway, I used the new heat shrink labels on the warning light connector, so here's a closeup of them. Lots nicer than the "flags" that are showing in the pic, but have subsequently been removed.

Also, I spent considerable time today trying to figure out how to use the factory wires to the Shift indicator that I'm going to use as the Check Engine light. But all I did was get frustrated.

There were a couple of issues. First, the schematic is wrong. The ground wire to the light is Y/BK instead of T/R. Second, the first connector it goes to, presumably C135, has 3 terminals instead of 2. I searched all over for a brown 2-terminal but couldn't find it. Finally I pulled out another harness and traced the wires and found them going to a 3-terminal connector. But I don't have the matching connector so I'll just splice into the harness at the light. (Someone remind me when I get closer to figure out how to put a Check Engine label/filter on that light.)

And tomorrow maybe I'll start extending the other wires to those on the PDB. But I still have the Brake On/Off and horn/speed control wiring to deal with in the cab, so maybe I'll stay with cab wiring?

[Gary Lewis]

A crewcab or Supercab would be even easier.

Got several things connected up, inc the OBD-II connector and the "warning lights", more on which later. Here's a pic of where I left off, and in it you can see the OBD-II connector with it's always-hot power wire going to a bullet that will go into the cigar lighter's connector. The wires that loop up on the left are "case grounds" for both the OBD-II connector and the ECU, and they'll connect to the wye wire which will be screwed to the firewall under the dash.

The heavy black wire is the ground that branches out in that convolute to serve both the OBD-II connector as well as several grounds to the ECU. It goes through the firewall grommet, which I now see is on backward, and connects to a system ground under the hood.

And in the middle of the mess above is the "warning light" connector. It has connections for both the Malfunction Indicator Light, aka Check Engine, as well as the Low Range light. I'm not really sure why the ECU needs to know when I shift to Low Range, but there's an input for it so I'll connect it up.

Anyway, I used the new heat shrink labels on the warning light connector, so here's a closeup of them. Lots nicer than the "flags" that are showing in the pic, but have subsequently been removed.

Also, I spent considerable time today trying to figure out how to use the factory wires to the Shift indicator that I'm going to use as the Check Engine light. But all I did was get frustrated.

There were a couple of issues. First, the schematic is wrong. The ground wire to the light is Y/BK instead of T/R. Second, the first connector it goes to, presumably C135, has 3 terminals instead of 2. I searched all over for a brown 2-terminal but couldn't find it. Finally I pulled out another harness and traced the wires and found them going to a 3-terminal connector. But I don't have the matching connector so I'll just splice into the harness at the light. (Someone remind me when I get closer to figure out how to put a Check Engine label/filter on that light.)

And tomorrow maybe I'll start extending the other wires to those on the PDB. But I still have the Brake On/Off and horn/speed control wiring to deal with in the cab, so maybe I'll stay with cab wiring?

Well, no pics tonight as there's not a lot to see. But I did get a number of wires run. In fact, I count only 29 wires left at the ECU end of things, although there are probably a different # of wires at the PDB end. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

I did wire up all of the "inside" connections, meaning those in the cab. That included Brake On/Off to both the ECU awa the speed control module. And the connections from the horn pad for both the horn itself awa the speed control.

But I need to document a change I made to the speed control wiring. Page 31-1 of the 1996 EVTM shows that the DG/O wire runs from the horn pad to the speed control module and is the "Switch Return". But the Bullnose trucks have the third wire from the horn pad grounded via the steering column, so I grounded the DG/O wire near the speed control module. Hope it doesn't mind.

Also, I think I found an error in the '96 EVTM. Page 150-2 says that the O/R wire from the ECU going to the distributor should go through Pin 19 of C101. But instead it goes through Pin 25, which is the pin right above 19. And I'm quite sure the wiring hasn't changed since it was in the '96, so I'm pretty sure the EVTM is wrong.

Last, I need to shield the G/O & O/R wires. The EVTM shows them shielded, so I ordered this shielding. Should be in on Wednesday.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Well, no pics tonight as there's not a lot to see. But I did get a number of wires run. In fact, I count only 29 wires left at the ECU end of things, although there are probably a different # of wires at the PDB end. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

I did wire up all of the "inside" connections, meaning those in the cab. That included Brake On/Off to both the ECU awa the speed control module. And the connections from the horn pad for both the horn itself awa the speed control.

But I need to document a change I made to the speed control wiring. Page 31-1 of the 1996 EVTM shows that the DG/O wire runs from the horn pad to the speed control module and is the "Switch Return". But the Bullnose trucks have the third wire from the horn pad grounded via the steering column, so I grounded the DG/O wire near the speed control module. Hope it doesn't mind.

Also, I think I found an error in the '96 EVTM. Page 150-2 says that the O/R wire from the ECU going to the distributor should go through Pin 19 of C101. But instead it goes through Pin 25, which is the pin right above 19. And I'm quite sure the wiring hasn't changed since it was in the '96, so I'm pretty sure the EVTM is wrong.

Last, I need to shield the G/O & O/R wires. The EVTM shows them shielded, so I ordered this shielding. Should be in on Wednesday.

Getting all the cab wiring done is still a heck of an accomplishment!

And a huge step in catching Big Blue up to the aspirations of your signature.

OBD-II and MAF SEFI is a decade fresher than the truck.

I love schematics but don't envy you wiring all up inside your dash like that.

Glad to see the shrink tube labeler is working well. (flags drive me mad, even as a temporary measure)

Oh, what is that????

Progress is GOOD!

 

[Gary Lewis]

Getting all the cab wiring done is still a heck of an accomplishment!

And a huge step in catching Big Blue up to the aspirations of your signature.

OBD-II and MAF SEFI is a decade fresher than the truck.

I love schematics but don't envy you wiring all up inside your dash like that.

Glad to see the shrink tube labeler is working well. (flags drive me mad, even as a temporary measure)

Oh, what is that????

Progress is GOOD!

Yep! And I believe that EFI with OBD-II can be maintained much easier in the coming years than carburetion. (Yes, it is much more complex, but as the gurus die off and leave us with computer jocks...)

Anyway, it does feel good to have that part done. Getting C305/305A figured out took a bit as my wire colors don't match those in the EVTM, and the '85 EVTM doesn't provide pin-outs on the connectors like the '96 EVTM does. So I had to do a bit of testing to make sure I had it right.

But I'm not doing much "inside" the dash. I'm doing it all on the bench as the ECU's connector will go through the hole in the firewall. I just have to make sure that I have enough slack in the cabling.

PROGRESS!

[Gary Lewis]

Yep! And I believe that EFI with OBD-II can be maintained much easier in the coming years than carburetion. (Yes, it is much more complex, but as the gurus die off and leave us with computer jocks...)

Anyway, it does feel good to have that part done. Getting C305/305A figured out took a bit as my wire colors don't match those in the EVTM, and the '85 EVTM doesn't provide pin-outs on the connectors like the '96 EVTM does. So I had to do a bit of testing to make sure I had it right.

But I'm not doing much "inside" the dash. I'm doing it all on the bench as the ECU's connector will go through the hole in the firewall. I just have to make sure that I have enough slack in the cabling.

PROGRESS!

No pics again tonight, but there are now only 12 wires at the ECU end left to connect. In theory that means that I made 34 connections today ((29-12)*2), but there were a few more as some dummy didn't leave connections for power so I had to fix that.

Given that, I think I made 37 connections, and my fingers are D.O.N.E. Hopefully I can finish up tomorrow and then start checking things out on Thursday.

Speaking of checking things out, here's my cunning plan - but I'd like your input.

I'm going to check as much as I can right on the bench. I have the spreadsheet that shows each connection to the ECU and I can put power on each pin and use the test light to see that it goes where it is supposed to go. But "where it is supposed to go" will be only to the connector headed to some sensor, or to a fuse or relay. That will be tedious but with the pinouts on each connector in the EVTM it shouldn't be too bad - unless there are more mistakes.

Then I can put power to the PDB and see if the various pins get power when I cause the ECU's power relay to pull in. And I can cause the horn's relay to pull in as well by simulating the horn pad.

Does that make sense? Upgrades?

 

[85lebaront2]

No pics again tonight, but there are now only 12 wires at the ECU end left to connect. In theory that means that I made 34 connections today ((29-12)*2), but there were a few more as some dummy didn't leave connections for power so I had to fix that.

Given that, I think I made 37 connections, and my fingers are D.O.N.E. Hopefully I can finish up tomorrow and then start checking things out on Thursday.

Speaking of checking things out, here's my cunning plan - but I'd like your input.

I'm going to check as much as I can right on the bench. I have the spreadsheet that shows each connection to the ECU and I can put power on each pin and use the test light to see that it goes where it is supposed to go. But "where it is supposed to go" will be only to the connector headed to some sensor, or to a fuse or relay. That will be tedious but with the pinouts on each connector in the EVTM it shouldn't be too bad - unless there are more mistakes.

Then I can put power to the PDB and see if the various pins get power when I cause the ECU's power relay to pull in. And I can cause the horn's relay to pull in as well by simulating the horn pad.

Does that make sense? Upgrades?

Gary, on Darth's original cluster mask, there was an "emission" lamp, I believe it was a twist in socket with no connection to the printed circuit. Could that become the MIL? It was operated by that weird inferred mileage device if I remember correctly.

The 1986 EVTM calls it an "extended useful life indicator" and it has a R/Y feed and a Y/BK to the extended useful life sensor (three leads, R/Y, Y/BK and BK to ground). Location of the "sensor" is between the wiper switch and the steering column.

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, on Darth's original cluster mask, there was an "emission" lamp, I believe it was a twist in socket with no connection to the printed circuit. Could that become the MIL? It was operated by that weird inferred mileage device if I remember correctly.

The 1986 EVTM calls it an "extended useful life indicator" and it has a R/Y feed and a Y/BK to the extended useful life sensor (three leads, R/Y, Y/BK and BK to ground). Location of the "sensor" is between the wiper switch and the steering column.

Bill - That's exactly the socket I'm using - far left bulb. But the gauge bezel I'm using has SHIFT in there, so I need to change it out.

I don't see that the low side of my bulb is connected to anything as I don't have the infernal mileage module. But I can't find where the wire goes so will cut into it at the farthest point away from the bulb and run my own wire from there to the connector going to the ECU.

And, while I have you, did you read the bit about the "return" for the speed control's input? The only difference I can find between the Bullnose horn pad and the '96 one is that the "return" is ground on the Bullnose and a non-grounded DG/O wire on the '96. You used a later column, so was your return a DG/O wire or ground?

[85lebaront2]

Bill - That's exactly the socket I'm using - far left bulb. But the gauge bezel I'm using has SHIFT in there, so I need to change it out.

I don't see that the low side of my bulb is connected to anything as I don't have the infernal mileage module. But I can't find where the wire goes so will cut into it at the farthest point away from the bulb and run my own wire from there to the connector going to the ECU.

And, while I have you, did you read the bit about the "return" for the speed control's input? The only difference I can find between the Bullnose horn pad and the '96 one is that the "return" is ground on the Bullnose and a non-grounded DG/O wire on the '96. You used a later column, so was your return a DG/O wire or ground?

Probably was the DG/O as the whole interior came out of a 1996 crew cab.