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I'm Travis, new to Ford Trucks but not new here by some strange twist of fate thanks to being a IB Tech Editor. Some of you might know me from the RX7Club as Akagis_White_Comet, owner of the legendary Project OldTree 3-rotor FC RX-7. Others may have read some of my technical articles or requested that I find a part number exclusive to Japan for their car...
Since my rotary powered baby will be undergoing an engine rebuild in the very near future, another vehicle will be handling the daily driver duties untill at least spring. So with a freshly earned christmas bonus, this fell into my lap...
It's a 1997 Ford Expedition that I acquired for almost nothing. 5.4L 4x4 XLT with Tow Package and probably one of the few that has survived 280,000+ miles WITHOUT SPITTING A SPARK PLUG. But instead, its shifter tube broke before I got her. Add a little clever hunting and the world's best parts cross-referencing genius and she'll be good to go when the snow hits.
Anyway, the plan is to keep things stock for the time being. But if I get a clever idea at 2am as I often do, you can all look forward to the awesomeness
Soon as I got her home, I found the headlights were completely dead. After some annoyance, research and a sneaking suspicion about Ohio Winters, I got to the bulb grounds (G103 and G104). Gave them a test for resistance and got 20 ohms each. Anyone familiar with Ohm's Law would know that this is bad, VERY bad.
Out came the Dremel with a sanding drum to make everything clean and shiny again, and replaced the stock bolts which were 7/8 rust with some fresh M6x1.0 stainless steel ones for reliability. Doing that restored the Flash To Pass function. I'll be replacing the ring terminals with fresh ones soon, just needed to get the grounds to work to diagnose the rest of the system.
In doing the research, I found out that the headlights don't have relay(s) on them. Coming from an automotive and electronics background, this is a big red flag in terms of electrical engineering. The lights were running with a 20 ohm resistor (bad ground) on each one and all of the current was being put through the headlight switch...pretty sure we found the problem. It explains why headlight switch failures seem to be so common on these trucks as well. Come on Ford, you know better than that...
Tracked down the schematic and it spelled out that the biggest point of failure is the switch from being overworked but not enough to blow any of the fuses. Re-drew it in KolourPaint (Yes I use Linux ) and added in the fog light wiring for clarity, then modified it so the headlight/dimmer switches trigger some relays. It'll be receiving normal 40A relays on sockets originally sourced from a Mk4 Volkswagen Jetta, leftovers from my RX-7 Haltech project.
Bracket is fabbed up, relays are mounted on it. Gonna be modifying the wiring in the morning. Added benefit is that I can hotwire them on in a pinch and bypass the switches entirely.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalytic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
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) and added in the fog light wiring for clarity, then modified it so the headlight/dimmer switches trigger some relays. It'll be receiving normal 40A relays on sockets originally sourced from a Mk4 Volkswagen Jetta, leftovers from my RX-7 Haltech project.
