+1 on soldering and dielectric grease. Never Never Never use a stupid butt connector, splice connector or otherwise. It will eventually fail. The worst ones I've found are the single splice male or female spade splice terminals. I have fixed so many issues with those from the P.O.. Do yourself a favor and learn how to solder and buy quality heat shrink. Get the sealing type that has the glue on the inside for outside of the cab connections.

 

How much success have you had doing this on the older ford wiring?
I ask because I cant get the solder to flow onto the strands.
Ive tried cleaning, sanding, torching, etc.
Using lead-solder? Rosin Core? Acid-clean?

 

I myself have had great success soldering to ancient Ford wiring; it's not any different than anything else. I use a method similar to teds74ford's method.

The key to soldering is heat. Heat up the joint, and let the solder flow onto the heated joint. A proper solder joint is smooth and shiny.

A joint must be properly fluxed prior to flowing solder onto it. This burns off any oxidation on the surface of the metal. Rosin-core solder has the flux inside, and the joint is fluxed as it's soldered. I sometimes flux the joint before-hand; I have a syringe of no-clean flux for this purpose. However, when it comes to flux, a little bit goes a long way.

Leaded solder does not flow any better or worse than non-leaded solder, but leaded solder does not require as high of a temperature. That's why many people say leaded solder flows better. Non-leaded solder will flow just as fine if the joint is hot enough. I personally use leaded solder so that I don't have to use as high of temperatures, but I have a homemade fume hood setup at home for doing this work. Lead fumes are hazardous.

Another important item is to have a properly tinned tip and a good iron. I have a nice Weller with temperature control that does just fine for home use. Stay away from the 30-watt Radio Shack garbage. I also recommend using dry tip cleaners, not a wetted sponge. A wet sponge lowers the tip temperature. Here's my iron:





By the way, great thread! I will add, I don't recommend using electrical tape to wrap wiring harnesses. If you ever have to undo it, you will find a gooey mess, especially if it goes in the engine bay. For harness wrap, I recommend Elliot Tape. This is what Ford used originally. It looks just like electrical tape, but it sticks only to itself, not anything else.

 

I use rosin core solder and an old UNGARmatic soldering station. I personally do the wet sponge method, followed by melting a little solder on the tip then sticking the tip to the wires. After that flows, I gradually add some more solder at that time. My clothes pin setup lets me roll the entire wiring over to solder the underside if I am having trouble with flow.

fmc400: I used the 3M to wrap my harness after I had fully redone it. I know it isn't popular-it's just what I did. I could also go on at length about zip ties or wax string tying, but I chose to just rewrap it. It is good to know about where to get the actual stuff Ford used. Thanks!

 

Aye...

IOW heat up the connection first, let it get hot enough to melt the solder. Don't try to melt solder on the iron or gun and then apply it to the wires like glue, that won't work and can give what's known as a Cold Solder Joint which will be unreliable and is more prone to cracking apart.

 

I have a question I am currently rewiring my 76 f250 and was wanting to know if you rewired the fuel selector switch? When I was pulling out the old wires and got a little carried away and removed some wires that really didn't need to be removed. So I was wondering if you would know how to wire up a fuel selector switch?

 

Wiring harness, fuel tank switch w/ dual tanks
D6TZ-9A342-A Replaced by D7TZ-9A342-A

D7TZ-9A342-A
Dennis Carpenter Obsolete, Concord, NC has 1 (704) 786-8139
Green Sales, Cincinnati, OH has 2 (800) 543-4959
Fred Grande Ford, Casco, MI has 1 (586) 749-3141

 

I an a complete rookie with electrical, and was wondering what is a good soldering gun? Thanks Joe

 

If you don't want to replace the harness go here: 1973-1979 Ford Truck Wiring Diagrams & Schematics - FORDification.net On the '76 diagrams go to page 4 section C4, that's where you'll find the fuel tank selector switch.

 

I guess I didn't word it clearly. I put a slight amount on the tip, but when I am actually soldering, I press the tip to the wires and then I feed the solder against the heated wires.

I don't have dual tanks, so I still have the stuff sitting in the box. Are you just looking for which wires are which at the switch?

 

I would be interested if you 2 would post a little in here when you get your harnesses. I would like to see how easy the different harnesses are for installation and how they compare to the factory one.

 

Refer to my post above. Mine is a Weller WES-51.

 

I saw that one on Amazon for$100ish for the digital read out. On my list if things to get. Thanks. And so ya all know this is the thread I'm most interested in.

 

Yeah I pulled the switch out but it didn't need to be removed so I guess that is a dummy mistake on my part but did your harness say where each wire went?

 

Here is my wire splicing tool I made awhile back:


What I visioned and what came weren't exactly the same, but it works.
On weaker wires, the clip can pierce through the insulation once warmed up. I like the idea of the cloths pins, but unsure if it will hold tight enough for my liking.


Anywho, What I hope this thread delivers is a compiled list of connector pin-outs (or connector faces)

Example:


This will aid in repairs and modifications. Maybe also a list of connector manufactures, part #'s, and terminal types.