Let me try asking in this section:

A newbie here, seeking assistance.

The truck in question is a 2002 F-250 Super Duty XLT w/V-10 Triton and ATw/OD.

I want to install an hour meter and running lights. To do so I need to locate in the engine bay a wire that provides 12v power ONLY WHEN IGN IS ON.

Can you tell me what color wire to look for, where it is located and what it is connected to?

I would also be interested in similar info as regards a wire that provides 12v power at all times, whether the ign is on or off.

I ask as my truck did not come with any docs of any kind, and repair manuals are on the way. I do not know what the repair manuals will have in terms of wiring diagrams?

Thanks!

 

Do you have to mount it in the engine compartment? You could come off the fuse box inside under the dash and use fuse taps.

 

Red. COPS, injectors, plus half a dozen or more other sensors and actuators.

The big red wire on the battery positive terminal is the most obvious.

 

On aircraft the engine hour meter (hobbs meter) normally is ground through an oil pressure switch, so it only run when the engine is running.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com...owtos/834a.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbs_meter
Jim

 

Thanks for the advice and link. It never dawned on me to use the oil pressure switch for the ground. Makes sense.

The last truck I had the meter on the ground was on the firewall, and the power came from the wiper motor lead.

Incidentally, the meter I am installing is in fact a real, bona fide Hobbs meter. I was surprised the Wiki calls it a generic term. I do not know that the folks at Stewart-Warner would agree with that?

 

Now I shall totally reveal the level of my ignorance. What is "COPS?"

 

Coil On Plugs

 

Ok, got it. Thanks! Another bit of automobile terminology.