Electrical Circuitry Clean Up - Circuit/Junction Box

[Gary Lewis]

Ford will show pieces of the PDB, on the 1996 the main distribution is several pages and the engine type (gas or Diesel) makes a difference also. You have to know which parts go through it, Horn, EEC power, Fuel Pump, power feed to the ignition switch, headlight switch etc.

It's probably the one place I think Chrysler did a better job. Section 8 (appropriate for any military veterans) is electrical, 8W is wiring diagrams. 8W-10 is under hood PDC, 8W-12 is inside fuse box, 8W-15 is ground distribution.

Bill - I've used that '96 EVTM extensively, and even then bit on the PDB is hard to use. It is spread over several pages and I like to see it on one page. Which is part of why I draw my own up.

Scott - Happy to clutter.

[Machspeed]

There you go again Gary, cluttering up the site with helpful photos

Thanks for those - looked in the usual places and couldn't find a match on the terminals. Just like the ones for the Bullnose fuse box, looks like these weren't provided separately.

John - Glad to hear you found both! Though I might still use your name as an excuse to make a trip...

Gary and I both found when adding circuits to the factory fuse box that removing the crimped wires was futile. For a few I was able to pull strands out one at a time, pry the ears, and slip a new wire in there but like Gary said - soldering is the best option.

Could also see how far one can put shrink wrap up the terminal (over the new solder) without it being too bulky to fit into the box.

Gary put up all those pictures just for me! I'm so special....LOL!

Hey, you guys ever use solder sleeves?

[Gary Lewis]

Gary put up all those pictures just for me! I'm so special....LOL!

Hey, you guys ever use solder sleeves?

I've not used solder sleeves, but have wondered about them. The low temp might reduce the tendency for the solder and rosin to wick up the wire strands and cause hard spots.

But I wonder about the ability for the solder that's in there to wick on the less-than-new wires we encounter in these trucks. Is it rosin impregnated? Do you need to coat the wires with rosin?

[grumpin]

Gary put up all those pictures just for me! I'm so special....LOL!

Hey, you guys ever use solder sleeves?

There were some instances where I used those on corporate type aircraft.

IIRC, it was changing incandescent Nav lights in the wings over to LEDs. They were in the kit sent by the manufacturer.

Stuck the wires in and hit it with a heat gun.

Usually we used these, this shows how they work. Very strong crimp. You can find some knock offs on amazon and ebay, they are around $200-300.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-97498-8

[taskswap]

There were some instances where I used those on corporate type aircraft.

IIRC, it was changing incandescent Nav lights in the wings over to LEDs. They were in the kit sent by the manufacturer.

Stuck the wires in and hit it with a heat gun.

Usually we used these, this shows how they work. Very strong crimp. You can find some knock offs on amazon and ebay, they are around $200-300.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-97498-8

I use these a lot. They work great, with a few caveats:

1. There are two kinds, the melting point is a giveaway. Most (I got https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z8SD8PB) melt around 110C which is perfect any common heat gun. I've come across a few that melt much higher though, so pick your poison. Another variant requires a crimp-then-shrink. I do not recommend these. I've had problems with the brittle, pre-melt crimps making holes in the insulation.

2. Normal crimp-style butt splices are pretty much strip-and-crimp to a quick gas tight connection. You rarely need to sandpaper old wire strands even if you found corrosion up into the insulation. But these things absolutely do require clean wire. If it's not bright and shiny when you strip it, you need to cut back a bit more, or clean it up somehow.

3. Most of these are adhesive lined so they're watertight too and those are my preference.

Regardless, these things are life-savers, I have them in every toolbox. In a pinch you can terminate them with a lighter although be careful, the insulation melts much faster than normal heat shrink so keep it moving. I've done all kinds of field repairs with them.

[Gary Lewis]

I use these a lot. They work great, with a few caveats:

1. There are two kinds, the melting point is a giveaway. Most (I got https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z8SD8PB) melt around 110C which is perfect any common heat gun. I've come across a few that melt much higher though, so pick your poison. Another variant requires a crimp-then-shrink. I do not recommend these. I've had problems with the brittle, pre-melt crimps making holes in the insulation.

2. Normal crimp-style butt splices are pretty much strip-and-crimp to a quick gas tight connection. You rarely need to sandpaper old wire strands even if you found corrosion up into the insulation. But these things absolutely do require clean wire. If it's not bright and shiny when you strip it, you need to cut back a bit more, or clean it up somehow.

3. Most of these are adhesive lined so they're watertight too and those are my preference.

Regardless, these things are life-savers, I have them in every toolbox. In a pinch you can terminate them with a lighter although be careful, the insulation melts much faster than normal heat shrink so keep it moving. I've done all kinds of field repairs with them.

Thanks. I ordered the 200-piece set and will give them a try.

[taskswap]

Thanks. I ordered the 200-piece set and will give them a try.

If you ordered that one I referenced above, that's the one I have, quick tip. Use your heat gun's highest setting, but also, shrink both sides FIRST, then come in and hit the center until you clearly see it give way. The solder is nice to have but there isn't a lot of it, it's not super strong. If you hit the whole connector at once, it can fall apart while you're holding it while it's still hot. Heating the sides first seems to glue it all together.

[Rusty_S85]

John - I like the PMGR starter. And to do it all you need to do is to move the black cable up to the top terminal and add the trigger wire to the starter on the now-vacant bottom terminal. And that's what I would do.

As for cleaning up, I see two approaches:

• Factory Box: There are several different Ford boxes available. I have a two-relay box and I'm pretty sure I have a 4-relay box. Plus, I have another 5-relay box just like the one that's going into BB right now. The two-relay box doesn't have fuses, but the 4-relay box might, and the 5-box certainly does. Plus, some of the larger boxes have a place for a megafuse.

• Aftermarket Box: Scott and some of the others are using aftermarket boxes and they have various numbers of fuses and relays. But I'm not a good source of info on those.

Now, here's my take on it. You pride yourself in keeping your truck looking stock. What I would do is to add a Ford power distribution box with at least 5 relays, a megafuse, and several smaller fuses. I believe it will fit between the battery and the jack with the megafuse pointing toward the engine. Leave the fender-mounted relay in place to trigger the starter. But put the large battery cable and the large starter cable, as well as the alternator cable, on the megafuse.

Move the headlight relays and voltmeter relays into the box, and add the one or two for the heater if you want. And use some of the fuse slots for fuses for the headlights and heater. It will look factory and only Bullnose aficionados will know the difference.

And, I'll help you do it if you want - after I get Big Blue's EFI going.

Ill be posting my aftermarket box this weekend. I ordered it when I ordered replacement header gasket set after soaking one side in engine oil last weekend.

I bought a few OE blocks but none of them had the number of fuses/relays I needed. The one I got is a chinese no name one that I am going to fix up a bit but it has modules where if I bought another box I could mix and match the number of relays/fuses but it is a 18-way box in that it has 15 relay/fuse modules and 3 threaded fuse points for Mini ANL fuses.

In total the box has 10 five pin relays and 15 ATC/ATO fuses. I thought about buying another one of these boxes to swap some relay modules as I dont need 15 fuses but I could always use extra relays how ever. But I got it cause I need the 30A-50A 5 pin relays for powering my accessories from my aftermarket EFI to my headlight relay conversion to my up coming AC compressor relay conversion to take the compressor clutch off the dealer AC switch as well as to allow my sniper to cut the power hungry york compressor off at wot.

[grumpin]

I use these a lot. They work great, with a few caveats:

1. There are two kinds, the melting point is a giveaway. Most (I got https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z8SD8PB) melt around 110C which is perfect any common heat gun. I've come across a few that melt much higher though, so pick your poison. Another variant requires a crimp-then-shrink. I do not recommend these. I've had problems with the brittle, pre-melt crimps making holes in the insulation.

2. Normal crimp-style butt splices are pretty much strip-and-crimp to a quick gas tight connection. You rarely need to sandpaper old wire strands even if you found corrosion up into the insulation. But these things absolutely do require clean wire. If it's not bright and shiny when you strip it, you need to cut back a bit more, or clean it up somehow.

3. Most of these are adhesive lined so they're watertight too and those are my preference.

Regardless, these things are life-savers, I have them in every toolbox. In a pinch you can terminate them with a lighter although be careful, the insulation melts much faster than normal heat shrink so keep it moving. I've done all kinds of field repairs with them.

That looks like a nice kit, I’m saving it for future pondering!

[Gary Lewis]

If you ordered that one I referenced above, that's the one I have, quick tip. Use your heat gun's highest setting, but also, shrink both sides FIRST, then come in and hit the center until you clearly see it give way. The solder is nice to have but there isn't a lot of it, it's not super strong. If you hit the whole connector at once, it can fall apart while you're holding it while it's still hot. Heating the sides first seems to glue it all together.

Thanks for the suggestion. And I did get the same kit, only the 200-piece one.