'85 Ranger Restomod

[85_Ranger4x4]

Wiring is such fun!

The most fun is trying to figure out what the last guy did and why... and it has been hectic so I only get little bits of time here and there to pick at it which makes wiring chases even more fun.

good job.

Thanks!

I am trying to make it s clean as I can.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Lights work but the dome light and fuel gauge are on the fritz...



Had some help...



She takes "wiring chase" to a different level. Maybe she was trying to tell me that was for the fuel sender.



The single GM weatherpack connector I thought was for the VSS was actually for the fuel sender Clearly I did it, I have that and I think the dome light finally sorted. Maybe the connector was bad or the wire was bad... I don't remember. Neither here nor there, it is going away.

BTW, if you need to test a fuel gauge connector and see which wire does what at the other end a female GM weatherpack pin fits perfectly.



Time to clean up this... mess.





Now if it wasn't almost 100* out I would go put it in and try it...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I stuck the pigtail in it, everything works fine aside from the dome light which is really dim and occasionally pops the fuse.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

There is light at the end of the tunnel... and I don't think it is a train!

Somebody (lets just blame the PO again, I don't want to talk about it) had grounded the courtesy light which would pop the fuse. Not sure why the ground branched off but I must have goofed when I switched the courtesy light to the other connector and instead of going nowhere like the PO had it I matched it to another black wire.

It has never worked since I got the truck so that will be a nice perk to have working now.

All is well, both ends of my adapter harness and the truck harness are a mirror image of the connector on the dash harness (C118 which I did not tamper with at all)



Still no idea what changed from before or even how they worked in the first place for the last 18+ years but everything is wired and working correctly now.

 

[BlackBII]

Still no idea what changed from before or even how they worked in the first place for the last 18+ years but everything is wired and working correctly now.

That's my favorite part; taking something old and broken, and making it work and be useful again.

Good job man. Looking good!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

That's my favorite part; taking something old and broken, and making it work and be useful again.

Good job man. Looking good!

Thanks!

I like fixing stuff too, it bugs me how everything worked for so long with no apparent ground and then quit though. I like to find the smoking gun to know it is fixed for good.

 

[Shran]

You have far more patience than I do. I think previous owner wiring messes are my biggest pet peeve above all else.

Kinda reminds me of my old '85 F250 - had factory electric fuel pumps that were powered through a series of relays and tied into the oil pressure sender somehow for the "hot fuel" option that was supposed to prevent vapor locking... anyway... someone had issues and wired in a toggle switch so one of the two pumps would work but the other one did not and the fuel gauge was all messed up. Needless to say it was frustrating and eventually I just decided that it worked well enough that it shouldn't ever be touched again.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

You have far more patience than I do. I think previous owner wiring messes are my biggest pet peeve above all else.

The only thing worse is when you come back to something you did years ago and have no idea why you did it that way and you can't blame anyone but yourself.

That is why I have been on a kick to clean up my wiring and document my own mods (and what the pinouts for connectors are as I come across them) In draftsight I made a rough outline of my truck and have the connectors placed roughly where they are on the truck to make finding them a little easier. Drawing it out on the computer is fun too.

And thru all this I did learn there is another harness that goes from the trans reverse switch into the dash harness to come back out thru C118 to go to the backup lights. I need to snag that yet for my upcoming transmission swap (not a do or die thing, something to watch for though)

 

[Shran]

You just reminded me that I bypassed the clutch switch on my '86 with an aligator clip almost a year ago and haven't gone back to fix it yet. I'm sure pretty guilty, haha!

 

[Bird76Mojo]

Did you get your factory ammeter working? If so, what wires from your alternator and battery, hook up to which pin/wire on which connector?


GB

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Did you get your factory ammeter working? If so, what wires from your alternator and battery, hook up to which pin/wire on which connector?


GB

If your '87 is wired like an '88 (or my '85 which has an '88 dash harness) I am pretty sure the alternator harness enters the dash harness at C109.





I have been busy chasing gremlins in the aft harness I haven't had a chance to do anything with the ammeter yet. For the ammeter it is either something wrong with the green wire or the gauge on mine. It hasn't worked for the 17.5 years I have had the truck, IIRC the Explorer alternator is the third alternator I have put on the truck.

And to complicate things somewhat I only have a idiot light now since I swapped a cluster with a factory tach.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

Thanks for the response. You've got the same info as I do it looks like.

I think the problem may be that since I removed the factory harness under the hood, the shunt was also removed.

I may have to take this thing to a hotrod shop and have them figure out how to wire the alternator to make the ammeter work.



GB

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Thanks for the response. You've got the same info as I do it looks like.

I think the problem may be that since I removed the factory harness under the hood, the shunt was also removed.

Mine has no signs of a shunt between the alternator and C109, maybe hit a JY and see if you can find one on a different harness? They don't show anything in the '88 EVTM wiring diagram either.

Anyway took it for a test drive, came home and in checking the rear lights with the flashers on the lights alternated and the right one was dimmer.

I poked around and found that the ground contact in the new light socket didn't protrude much to the bulb base and wasn't making reliable contact... so I tweaked it with a screwdriver and now it has worked perfectly for two days. Fuel gauge is also finally reliable (funny how much difference having it correctly grounded makes) and I still find myself turning on the courtesy light and marveling at the luxury of having one just because I can.

Kind of funny all the stuff I fixed because of a fix-it-ticket.

Played a little with a new phone app, the wife's three wheeler and an '86 license plate I found in my garage from my great grandparents last night.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

The 87 EVTM shows a shunt wired in between the ammeter leads. I don't know if it's in the harness itself, or if it's soldered into the ammeter connection on the back of the cluster.

Glad to hear you got your lights working correctly. Pic looks good. Also, thanks for the assistance.


GB

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The 87 EVTM shows a shunt wired in between the ammeter leads. I don't know if it's in the harness itself, or if it's soldered into the ammeter connection on the back of the cluster.

Thanks!

I was still on my idiot light page, looks like the shunt should be near if not with the gauge.

Interesting it looks like the green and yellow wires do different things between the two clusters: