The leak at the dipstick flange fitting started to get much worse on my 450 so I decided to tackle that job this past weekend. The kit from diesel-o-rings is great and seems to work nicely.

Since I was already messing with the truck, I decided to change out the battery positive cable since the connectors were in poor condition. I didn't have an exact replacement available but I did have the newer style '02-'03 harness laying around so I figured I'd give that one a try.

For those that don't know, the '99-'01 models have a fender mounted solenoid inside the engine compartment. Because of that, there is a branch cable with "Y" connector for the starting and charging circuits. Here is the process that I used to make the newer harness work.

1. Strip off plastic split loom from old harness exposing the cables from the passenger battery to solenoid and starter.
2. Remove plastic weave sock that protects the cable section to starter.
3. Remove split loom and plastic sheathing from new harness.
4. Cut charge wire from old harness at the passenger battery cable (lead clamp).
5. Remove starter solenoid wire from new cable assembly and replace with solenoid/charge harness from old cable assembly.
6. Replace abrasion sock and split loom, secure with electrical tape.
7. Reinstall battery cable harness as before. Use a lug block to connect the charge wire to passenger battery + terminal post.
8. Optional: Add secondary charge wire from alt to driver battery + post (with inline fuse).

And as the saying goes...."If there are no pics then it didn't happen".

 

Thanks for the pics, I was starting to doubt myself that I also bought the wrong cable for my 2001 f-350. I’m glad I didn’t now all I have to do is install it. Thanks again.

 

Sorry to bring up an old thread but when you did the swap of the cables did you also change out the ground cables as well. I found a set of cables at a junkyard and got the full set. After examining the ground cables I noticed the ground cable on the driverside is grounded to the engine block and the cable I found was mounted to the frame. Do I need to ground to the block or is the frame ok because the newer cable is too short to reach the block I would think I should be just fine by grounding to the frame since it was engineered that way in the later years.

 

It is very important when you change from the original cabling of high amperage circuits, or any circuits that you then take care of the electrical needs that may not be met by changing to a new style of cable. The grounding of the engine has to have large enough cables that the starter (400 amps?) and glow plugs (100 amps?) can operate properly and not affect electronic devices throughout the engine compartment. So by running the main battery grounds to the frame, you now need to add a ground cable of the same size from that same frame bolt to the original ground location on the engine unless a previous owner has already done this.
Larry