I just picked up a 95 f-250 Powerstroke 4x4 5-speed from my dad. Odometer reads 380,000. My dad was great about staying on top of mechanical maintanance and issues, but not so great about electrical.

Last week the check engine light came on (the day before I got the truck), and it lost a lot of power. It still seems to run good though. I put a scanner on and got a code P1280. At the same time, the speedo started jumping around by about 5 miles an hour (so at 60mph it will jump between 55 and 65), and the cruise control doesn't turn on. Also, it seems to crank over a little bit slower and longer before it starts. I was doing some cleaning, and happen to touch a larger sized ground that is bolted on just below the e-brake pedal. It was so hot that it burned the heck out of my fingers. It starts to make its way up behind the huge aluminum bracket and goes up into a harness that seems to go up to the top of the dash. It also goes through a connector body part way up too. I guess it melted that a few years back, so my dad cut a section of wire out right there and replaced it. Well his repair has gotten super hot and is melting now too.

Any ideas what this ground is going too? My guess is that it is undersized for the loads that are being put on it. Anyone else had issues with it? I assume that it is the main ground for everything inside of the cab. If possible, I would like to find some spots where this ground splits, and add more connection points to the body. If someone has a 95 wiring schematic, that would be great. I found a schematic for 97, but in 97 this ground is on the passenger side of the truck, not the drivers side.

My plan is to get this ground issue fixed before I start messing with anything else as all the other problems may very well be related to this ground.

Any help/insight is greatly appreciated!!

Trevor

 

Change the VSS on top of the rear end with a motorcraft one. It might fix the speedo. On the cruise, check the brake lights including the third brake light. If that doesn't work, check the fuses. The ground? I don't have any idea.

 

Check both ends on the ground cables from the batteries to be sure they are clean and tight, and also if the cables are in good condition. Electricity takes the path of least resistance, so there is a bad ground some where, and it is trying to run threw that ground by the e brake, which is to small to carry the load, thus the melted wire.

 

Well I checked all of the grounds in the engine compartment. All seemed to be in great shape and nice and clean. I went inside and checked further in to the melted ground issue. The ground splits right there and runs forward up the firewall, and back rearward (didn't tear the interior apart to find out where). I cut out the melted sections, and split the ground into 2 new grounds and attached them to the grounding point. I no longer get hot wires. I also notice that the turn signals blink faster and brighter now, the blower motor spins way faster, the interior lights are much brighter now, and the speedo quit jumping around.

I still had a check engine light with code P1280. I changed out the ICP and that cleared my check engine light, and also got some of the lost power back.

Truck runs and drives great now. All I need to do now is find some rims (the factory steel painted grey rims are pretty rusty) and throw a bed box in so I can carry some tools.

 

Glad your getting it figured out!