Wiring questions

[adsm08]

Ok, this question covers a lot of ground, but overall I guess this is the best place to post it.

I am planning to do a 4.0 swap in the next year or so, and I'm trying to get everything around ahead of time to make it quicker when I actually start the work.

I would like to get it rigged for OBDII, but keeping my first gen dash is more important to me. Has anyone successfully wired up a 1st gen dash to run an OBDII system? Overall it shouldn't be horrendous, half of it should just be splicing the old connectors into the newer harness, but my biggest concern is the instrument cluster. I know that on some of the newer systems it is a module in it's own right, and if it won't talk back to the PCM the engine won't run. I dunno if that holds true for the older OBDII systems though.

So, has anyone done this successfully, and can I get a copy of your wiring notes?

 

[bronco_lou]

you should be able the remove the new harness from the dash, pull your dash and and replace with the newer harness. It will be a job but I am sure it can be done.

Louis

 

[adsm08]

Well things like the radio and fan control connectors will need to be swapped over, but yeah, for the most part it should be that easy.

Like I said, I was more worried about the IC.

 

[adsm08]

Bump....

Come one guys. I know this is kind of an AllanD level question, but somebody has to know. I'd ask my shop foreman, because I'm sure he knows the answer, but first I'll have to deal with "Why do you want to do that" and then spend 20 minutes explaining it to him.

 

[bronco_lou]

Well things like the radio and fan control connectors will need to be swapped over, but yeah, for the most part it should be that easy.

Like I said, I was more worried about the IC.

What do you mean by the IC?

Louis

 

[adsm08]

The instrument cluster.

I know that in a lot of post 2000 vehicles not having it plugged in can cause the engine to not start. I'm sure that not having an OBDII cluster will set off about a dozen network codes, but I'm more worried about making the engine run.

 

[ragajungle]

what yr is the Wiring Harness and 4L coming from? Post 2000?

I know on my 89 I drove it without the cluster while I was swapping light bulbs and dint effect the engine

 

[ragajungle]

X2 on the gen 1 dash (very cool lookin)... worste case scenario couldn't you fab up something with the exsisting dash to retrofit just the cluster from the doner truck? jus an idea...

 

[adsm08]

what yr is the Wiring Harness and 4L coming from? Post 2000?

I know on my 89 I drove it without the cluster while I was swapping light bulbs and dint effect the engine

Well, I found and bought me a dash harness from a 98.

X2 on the gen 1 dash (very cool lookin)... worste case scenario couldn't you fab up something with the exsisting dash to retrofit just the cluster from the doner truck? jus an idea...

I have been considering that, and it may well come to it if anything.



I was thinking about this the other day, trying to pull from my own body of knowledge to answer this question though, and I remembered a job I had a year or so ago, I was never able to verify the concern, but the guy said that once a week he'd hit a bump just right and his radio and IC would just completely die. There were a ton of network failure codes stored, but apparently when the cluster died the engine kept running. This leads me to believe that this just might work.