new and need some assistance

[laack]

first time poster occasional lurker.

94 ranger 2.3l MT

I installed a sunpro tach a while back and had few problems doing so. What is driving me up the wall though is that my power source is in from the under dash fuse box and I'm using a unused slot, how ever it is hot. I spliced a toggle switch in the the line to cut the power to the tach when i'm not using the truck to avoid draining the battery, however I know i will forget at some point and come out the a dead battery. ( I often go a couple weeks without driving it, its not my primary vehicle)

Can someone please tell me a different power source to tap into that is only powered when the key is in the ignition.

for those out there that can only muster up "use search function" dont waste my time. I've been looking and my lack of results ended up with my registration and 1st post.

 

[Dylan9302]

i cant tell you which wire but maby you could try the radio power wire... it would get shut off when the key is off. I dont know if there is enough power going to this wire though...

Dylan

 

[laack]

Im definitely no genius when it comes to electronics. If i were to figure out which wire it is for the radio, would drawing more power out of it run any risk of shorting it out or blowing fuses?



On a different note, ive been looking for the pcv valve ever since i bought the truck and still cant find the damn thing. I know its somewhere on the drivers side of the engine under the intake, but i'm yet to find it. can some one tell me its exact location and best way to access it?

 

[mp3deviant721]

Im definitely no genius when it comes to electronics. If i were to figure out which wire it is for the radio, would drawing more power out of it run any risk of shorting it out or blowing fuses?

Yes. Depending on how much power your tach draws.

 

[DarkMax]

I would suggest ditching the aftermarket tach and swap in a gauge cluster with tach. No serious modification necessary unless you use a different gen cluster. If you do this, make sure you get one that isnt for a 4.0.

 

[gwaii]

the radio power wire is yellow with black stripe.it will handle tha draw of a tach with no problem.

you could also look for a red with green stripe wire,this is ignition power.it won't be on in the 'acc' position,as the radio will be.

 

[Earl43P]

A good solution is for you is to add a fuse tap (look in the electrical or HELP section) that will piggyback to a Hot in Run source's fuse slot, yet doesn't use that fuse (just shares its contacts). The radio fuse would be perfect for that if it is under the dash.

So would power windows, fog lamps, anything you can "do without" should the fuse tap cause a problem with that circuit.


And, Welcome to The Ranger Station.

If you need schematics, I have the 93s. PM your e-mail address.

 

[ASMODEAN]

Tap into the wire that powers the ashtray light. That way when you shut the lights off it wont drain the battery. Plus you will be able to dim the light in the tach.

 

[adsm08]

I have a sunpro minitach. I think I tapped my main power for it off the backup and turn signal light circuit. The only problem I have had so far is that my back-up lights are having some electrical issues and blow the fuse.

Before you worry that it's a problem with the tach, this problem started in the last few weeks. The tach has been there over 2 years. I know it's the back-up lights because I unplugged the reverse switch and it stopped happening.

 

[exbass94]

If you're concerned about the power draw from the tach, use a relay.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

IF you are confident you know how to wire things up without making a mess... I'd follow Gwaii's suggestion.

If you are not, a fuse tap and a fuse that is hot when the ignition is on would be better.

I'm not sure about Sunpro tachs, but most aftermarket tachs are more accurate than the stock tach. Why Ford would put a factory tach in an auto trans and not a manual trans vehicle still boggles my mind though.

I get tired of fixing hacked-together wiring. Please, if you need to wire something up and don't have the confidence and/or ability to do it right, please find someone who can to do it for you. Every Bronco II I've bought so far had electric issues because some hack was there before me. My F-150 was no better. For reference.... Below the first picture is the harness I took out of the dash that was sorta powering my radio when I got the truck. The second picture is what it looked like after I did it the right way - stripping wires, soldiering them together and using heat-shrink tubing.

 

[gwaii]

Tap into the wire that powers the ashtray light. That way when you shut the lights off it wont drain the battery. Plus you will be able to dim the light in the tach.

this is fine for the light in the tach(should be a white wire off the tach)but can't be used for the power to it.otherwise the tach won't work when the lights are off,and will get low voltage when the dash lights are dimmed.this could damage the tach.

i see lots of fixes like the top one(and worse)and would like to point out that marretes are only for things that don't move-like houses.don't use them.

by the way-your fix on the hack job looks good

 

[laack]

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like I'm going to have to dig out the soildering iron. I located the tray light easily enough, but I'm probably going to power it with a fuse toreduce the total risk. Is there any that are ideal for the job under the dash? None of the dash fuses are labors what they protect on the cover so I'm uncertain which is the best to hook into

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

i see lots of fixes like the top one(and worse)and would like to point out that marretes are only for things that don't move-like houses.don't use them.

by the way-your fix on the hack job looks good

Yea, I've seen worse hack jobs than that, but that just happened to be the picture I had handy. Not sure I have pictures of a lot of the other hacked up stuff I've fixed, a lot of it was done before I got a digital camera. I use solder a lot for wiring on vehicles, the only crimp-on connectors I use are ring connectors or spade connectors - no butt splices (at least not since I found two of them at the bottom of a gas tank as the reason why the pump wouldn't run - for the record I wasn't the one that put them on either).

I spent the last two years of high school learning everything I could about electrical and my first year of college was for a degree in Electrical Engineering. I only changed my major after I started thinking about where an EE degree would land me and decided I liked tinkering with electric rather than as a regular job in some windowless cubbyhole. The more hacked-up wiring I fix, the more anal I get about doing it right the first time.

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like I'm going to have to dig out the soildering iron. I located the tray light easily enough, but I'm probably going to power it with a fuse toreduce the total risk. Is there any that are ideal for the job under the dash? None of the dash fuses are labors what they protect on the cover so I'm uncertain which is the best to hook into

Best way to power it is to find a wire that is hot when the key is on. No need to use a fuse between there and the tach because the wire you'll tap into is already fused. Offhand I'm not sure what wire to suggest though.

 

[Fletch076]

To do this correctly you should take a test light to your in cab fuse panel and check all open spots with key on and off. find one that is hot with key on and no power with key off