I was looking on ebay for a aux control module for my truck. There is two different kinds that I have seen, they have the one with the buttons and display which I am guessing just displays rpm, and there is one with just buttons. Is that the only difference in the two? And some of these don't come with wiring harnesses. Could I just cut off the plug under the dash and install a weather pack connector and make my own wiring harness? And finally will this module work on all 7.3 or do they have to have a certain package to work?

 

Bump........................

 

Anybody have one of these in there trucks ?

 

There are three versions that I have seen. 2 have buttons and a display while the third just has buttons (no display). They all seem about the same size from what I remember. The one without the display is sometimes referred to as the "ambulance model". I am not sure why but technicians at the dealership call them that for some reason.

You want the wiring harness. Don't try and make your own unless you are familiar with twisted pair wiring (such as for network cables) because two of those wires are for the Standard Corporate Protocol positive and negative bus which Ford uses for module to module communication.

Either version should work on any 7.3. I have the middle model at home(the one with the display but NOT the PTO button...) and tried it in both of my F250s, my neighbor's F350 and my friend's Excursion. It worked on all trucks. I did not try it on my F450 since it already has a toggle switch on the dash for the PTO.

If you buy the version without the display, it might not have the PTO functions but it will have a "charge protect" button which will idle up the engine like you desire. I don't know if that one is able to adjust the rpm though...I've only seen one of those types before and I didn't mess with it enough to remember exactly how it works.

I have used both types of AIC that has a display screen...
Either of those models will have buttons to allow you to adjust the idle speed. There will be three presets (about 1300, 1700 and 2200) if I remember correctly. But there also is adjust up and adjust down buttons to set the idle speed wherever you want.

These things actually come in handy. I was just driving my wife's truck last night and noticed a squealing noise at a certain rpm range. It isn't noticeable at idle so I used the AIC module to adjust the idle speed until the noise returned and then opened the hood and tried to locate the source of the squeal. It sounds like one of my idler pulleys for the serpentine belt system has a bearing that is starting to go bad so I'll replace it soon. So having an AIC can be a useful diagnostic tool for certain things.

If you buy the model that has the PTO control button (second row, far left just below the RPM control button) then you will have a bunch of extra wires that you will have to bundle away because that model has features specifically designed to operate a PTO system, (which you won't have a need for).

I hope some of this info helps.

BTW....I will try and make some time this weekend to get to the bottom of the PTO enable wire issue that doesn't seem to be working for everyone. Hopefully it will be something simple that I can figure out. I'll keep you informed by posting back to that other thread when I have more info...

 

I have the one without the display.
Works awesome and you can adjust it easily. The display only shows rpm, which isn't a big deal to me.

The aux controller is tied into the ecu and uses only like 4 wires to do all the functions. If your good at wiring then you may be able to do it.

It is supposed to work on all trucks, even manuals. But with the auto trans it needs to be in park or neutral, and parking brake applied. You can't fake it... The ecu knows. I think the manual trans just needs to have parking brake applied, not sure.

 

My unit has "charge protect" and "pto" button. I don't remember there being extra wires but it's been a long time since I played with the wiring.

 

Does anybody have any extra wiring harness for one of these things? I am looking at one on eBay but none of them have a wiring harness with them.

 

Have you tried calling ford. They may happen to have one or know where to get it.

 

I have an entire system lying around somewhere. its the one with the ford oval and digital readout. It also has a long wire harness.

 

The units without the display should have four buttons.

1. RPM Control
2. Charge Protect
3. Power
4. FORD (logo)--large oval button

If you have a "PTO Control" button on a non-display model then that is something I have not seen before and would make a total of 4 different types of AIC modules. Any AIC module that has a "PTO Control" button would have a wiring harness where four wires are separated on one connector that matches the factory AIC plug under the dash and about six additional wires (loose). One of those supplemental wires would output 12v + when the PTO Control button is pressed. That wire would be connected to the PTO clutch solenoid usually located under the cab on the frame rail near the transmission.

The AIC modules that have the display will show the engine RPM by default. When "Charge Protect" is enabled then the display will show the system voltage.

 

Does anyone know if all the modules are compatible. I see years listed but I wonder if that is just fore the bracket?

 

I would venture to say they all work. I have tried both of the display versions on my own vehicles and they worked as expected.
UNTAMND has tried the non-display (ambulance) version and it works fine for him so I would think that any AIC will work with any 7.3 Power Stroke.

I believe I saw something in the manuals that said they also work for the 6.0 liter engines as well but I'll have to go back and confirm that...

 

Thanks, That what I was figuring. I did see the info on them working with the 6.0, but couldn't find anything about using an OBS AIC in a SD.

 

Well I am about ready to give up on finding one of these controllers. Every time I find a good deal on eBay, some body runs the price way up in the last 5 min. Hopefully someday I will one one of these

 

there was a OEM idle controller for sale in maine not long ago, the guy wanted $100 for it