Ok here is what I have, I would like to note just for future reference that on the 82 F-150 ( connector lower center ) it was to actually be found on terminal # 7, ( along side a copper stranded wire, I do not know what this other wire straddling this resistance wire but I am curious to know if anyone can tell me) it was clearly marked resistor wire do not cut.

On the 86 F-150 ( upper left side ) it was found on terminal # 1 along side a copper stranded wire, I do not know what this other wire straddling this resistance wire but I am curious to know if anyone can tell me

On the 85 or 86 diesel ( upper right corner ) it was found on post # 1 but both wires going into terminal # 1 were the solid core wire, one was copper colored and the other the silver.


As you can see I went all the way back as far as I thought was necessary and cut it ( the resistance wire ) after the junction assuming that beyond this was just normal stranded wire, I do not know where these three wires went after the point that I cut, I did not bother to trace them. I should have as I am now curious after reviewing my own booklet for the aftermarket wiring harness I am using.

I guess this will be my next question, here are what I believe may be the pertinent pages












from the instruction sheet of my ready-made wiring harness, as can be seen I have a wire # 35 16 gauges red ( page 16 top of sheet first line ) that connects to the positive side of each gauge.

As mentioned I do not have a positive side marked on any of the gauges and am only planning to use common sense and role the dice.

This # 35 wire originates from fuse panel.

Where and how should I place this resistance wire within this system......I am assuming that it is a per-determined length, is that critical ( prob. over thinking ) it would seem to me though that the length would be critical, if it was not than why would they not have originally only used a much shorter piece. I am assuming this resistance wire is more costly to use and so Ford would not have used any more than absolutely necessary.

I have no idea how this resistance wire functions but the only thing I can think of is that it is a very specific wire size and make-up so, its capability of transferring the specified amount of Ohms is more of a mechanical feature built into the wire because of its characteristics, feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

Anyway if that is the case than I will just clip off a large portion of the # 35 wire and splice them together somehow.

I see Ford had a nice way of joining these 4 wires, I have not split this open yet to see how they tied them all together.

What might be the best way for me to splice these ( I am assuming # 35 / resistance ) wires together. I am without any exaggeration the worst solderer you might ever meet.

I have attached a quick sketch of how I am assuming at this point I need to wire in these gauges, I am unclear still what sort of wire I would use to cover the area from the IVR to the gauges, I represent this with a dotted line.

The more I think of it I guess that there will be 3 more connections here, one wire coming from each gauge or the wires piggybacking one another from one gauge to another. I wonder if that will be an issue with any sort of a drop?

As I have mentioned there is no more circuit tape being used so not sure what to use here. I would guess a common stranded wire since after this point it will be already have the correct voltage Ohms but that is just my guess.

I also wonder if it makes a difference though on how far from the gauges the IVR will be mounted, I guess I could mount it somewhere inside of the dash near the gauges, I think that I have read the longer the wire the more of a drop I will have so this prob. should be taken into consideration, again only an un-educated guess.

 

I will look this afternoon after church to see what is on terminal 7, but the gauges should swap year to year save for 1980, so I don't think the wire on 7 is what you want. Again, I said THINK so don't go to the bank with that.

 

I haven't read this entire thread to fully grasp what's going on here or what the questions are, but I see third-party wiring diagrams which scare me as to their correctness; I use the factory wiring diagrams and/or EVTM, they scare me a lot less.

But I see cut-off connectors, eeegad..... I need to read the thread to figure out what that is and why...

Not including 1980, to my knowledge, there are only two wiring configurations possible for these clusters:

- wth gauges (I believe the printed circuit & wiring is set up for the optionally-installed tachometer)
- with idiot lights

1980 should have the same two configurations but the wiring is different.

 

I should have maybe added that this 82 F-150 was different from most other that I have seen in that it carried two typical 80-86 gauges and then two idiot lights instead of the other two gauges.

Maybe this truck should not have been the donor for my resistance wire ? It is just the first I came too that had the most junk out of the way for me to access the harness so I went with it.

I can always go back though and get a second wire from a truck that carries all 4 gauges if that would be better.

 

Thanks for your consideration but I have a 52 Ford F-7. It was a basket case and in boxes when I received it. I have installed a 1970 351 W as a replacement engine just to make it more drivable and accessible for parts.

The first go around I installed a F.I. 302 out of a 1986 F-250 ergo the connection and familiarity with the gauge clusters and many other parts that I have chosen to use on this 52.

The 302 was too small, too many miles and was gonna throw a rod any day then, I yanked it out and bought a 68 F-350 that had the 70 351 W engine, no miles and nice and fresh.

I am replacing the original 1970 oil pressure and temp sensor with the sensors that would have come out of the 1986 F-250 so that they match the gauges.

Confused yet??? Dont feel bad, so am I

 

You prob. would not find all the pertinent info on this one thread so hopefully this will fill in the blanks............


Thanks for your consideration but I have a 52 Ford F-7. It was a basket case and in boxes when I received it. I have installed a 1970 351 W as a replacement engine just to make it more drivable and accessible for parts.

The first go around I installed a F.I. 302 out of a 1986 F-250 ergo the connection and familiarity with the gauge clusters and many other parts that I have chosen to use on this 52.

The 302 was too small, too many miles and was gonna throw a rod any day then, I yanked it out and bought a 68 F-350 that had the 70 351 W engine, no miles and nice and fresh.

I am replacing the original 1970 oil pressure and temp sensor with the sensors that would have come out of the 1986 F-250 so that they match the gauges.

Confused yet??? Dont feel bad, so am I

 

Thank-you again too everyone that adds to this thread, every time somone does I am able to learn something new.

 

The 1981 wiring diagram shows both the cluster with gauges and without gauges to have the same in-line resistor. However, it connects to Pin 1 with gauges and Pin 7 without gauges. So, you are fine with wire you got. Just measure to ensure you got enough of it and have 8 to 9 ohms.

And, my apologies for having forgotten the idiot light clusters.

 

I don't know about everyone else, but I am learning something from this thread myself. Thanks for the pictures. This is an area that rarely gives problems normally, so it's not that well known to me all the little details of it.

As far as connecting the wires, soldering is best. If you are not good at it, then practice practice. When you start tying these wires together, you end up with a pretty big knot of copper, and if you are out in the truck doing this and it's cold outside, it takes even more heat. So one of those guns works best, since it has a lot of output and can heat the wire well enough for the solder to flow. Make sure also you get the solder from radio shack that is for electronics work, not the solder for plumbing. If you are trying to solder outside when it's cold AND windy, forget it, you usually cannot get it hot enough to flow.

 

What can you say Franklin about my diagram or plan of attack and whats your opinion on the wire after the CVR or dotted line as I have shown. Thanks

 

I fully agree that soldering is the best way to connect wires, especially on a vehicle. However, something in the back of my mind says you can't solder to Nichrome wire - it won't stick. But, I would try it anyway as that is, by far, the best way to connect.

If that doesn't work you will need to use crimp connectors as I don't think it'll like a wire nut either. Again, I could be wrong there. But if you do have to use crimp connectors I would make sure you use a small enough connector that it is almost full before crimping. And I'd double the wire over if I had to in order to get the connector full.

 

Do you have one of those small 2 or 10 amp battery chargers? If you do, wire this up temporary on the bench, and use the battery charger set on 12v. Just use regular 18 or 16 gauge wire for the dotted line to the gauges. Then take a temporary wire and hook one end to the negative terminal of the battery charger(this is your "ground") and touch the other end to the empty terminal on the gauge. With the power on, the gauge should be full scale to the left or the right(I can never remember which way). When you touch the "ground" wire to the empty terminal, the gauge should swing full scale the opposite way. All the gauges should react this way.

Probably one of the other guys know, or maybe you know already, but I suppose you need to get it straight which way the gauge moves when you touch the wire, to make sure you have the + wire on the correct terminal of the gauge.

 

The gauges will go full scale if you have a zero ohm input instead of a sender. But, the gauges work off of heat so don't care about polarity. And, since they work off heat they will take some time to react. But, I wouldn't hold it on there very long as the gauge you are testing will get hot.

 

Thanks Dave, I guess I will need to re-visit you-tube and see if any new good video have been posted there for soldering. I may start a thread here if I cannot find one that's already been started just to get opinions experiences

 

I will look on-line and see if I can find someone that has tried soldering this wire and their experience. I wouldn't trust my own abilities at soldering to say for sure.

I did not know that it was so critical for the crimp connector to be full as you put it but will keep that in mind. Thanks