NovacaineFix
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- San Diego, California
Let me see, let me see.
How does the hokey pokey song go? Take 1 step forward now take 2 steps back, do the hokey pokey and curse and swear a lot, that's what it's all about, errr something like that.
Okay, got some, if not all my electrical gremlins taken care of, even the ones that weren't causing an issue yet.
1. Did my Doghead relay mod, didn't have a problem with the OEM one (yet).
2. Did my headlight wiring update/upgrade with relays (yay)
3. Got my 100 amp sub-panel installed and working (don't worry, not using all 100 amps, that would be crazy!!)
#1 I had the OEM style square starter relay, but hadn't had any trouble with it since I have had the truck, but I know me, it will happen and in the worst place possible and at the wrong time. I'm going on a desert trek next month, so I figured as simple as it is to do, may as well do it now.
All went well and everything works as it did before. Only difference that I notice is the louder click when I go to start it. I did notice that I have the same relay for my glow plugs on the firewall.
#2 Headlight upgrade (relay mod). This came about during my last desert trek in Death Valley when I lost my headlights up in the mountain trails, fun. Without realizing and researching it 1st, like I should have, I connected my LED running lamps to a fuse tap that was connected and plugged into my headlight fuse location. Looking back, that was probably the stupidest spot I could have used for power, but I did and as many have also did, so I'm not alone. Anyway, as we all know that the headlight circuit is already somewhat overloaded, so adding another load on top of that is just asking for something to happen, and it did.
I took the LED lamps off completely, disassembled the fuse block cleaned and greased it and started to lighten the electrical load off of that circuit by doing the headlight upgrade with the Bosch style relays. Here it is before I made it all pretty like with the burnt and slightly melted fuse block.
#3 My electrical sub-panel. I needed a nice expandable and reliable source for battery power without adding a bunch of new(er) cables to the battery or the terminal block. That can start to look nasty when adding new circuits and be hard to diagnose if there is a problem, so I installed a sub-panel. Tapped off of the 12V + terminal block for battery power and fused with a 100amp Max fuse for safety. The sub-panel is made by Blue Sea (part number 5026). It has spaces for up to 12 circuits and also includes a negative bus bar and has a cover. Just so I did not overload the lead to the terminal block, I ran a 10 gage wire from the rear battery to the terminal block. It's nice because if you need to run anything it has a terminal lug and a fuse holder already in place. If you need to power a device in "key on" or "run" position you can use this to power a relay that is tapped from the ignition so that it is not a drain on that circuit.
sub panel link>>>https://www.bluesea.com/products/5026/ST_Blade_Fuse_Block_-_12_Circuits_with_Negative_Bus_and_Cover
Still got to pretty up the wires, nut the spot next to the wiper motor is just perfect for this panel.
Now about the hokey pokey part...
while doing all this, I have been fighting this nagging coolant leak. Everything in the cooling system is new, radiator, hoses, T-stat, water pump and heater core, but some mornings I come out and there is a small puddle of coolant under the truck under the filler neck/radiator cap location. Every time I look for the leak, can't find it, no traces of leakage anywhere, well until now. Found that the freeze plugs are seeping, so it look like I will be doing those pretty soon as well.
How does the hokey pokey song go? Take 1 step forward now take 2 steps back, do the hokey pokey and curse and swear a lot, that's what it's all about, errr something like that.
Okay, got some, if not all my electrical gremlins taken care of, even the ones that weren't causing an issue yet.
1. Did my Doghead relay mod, didn't have a problem with the OEM one (yet).
2. Did my headlight wiring update/upgrade with relays (yay)
3. Got my 100 amp sub-panel installed and working (don't worry, not using all 100 amps, that would be crazy!!)
#1 I had the OEM style square starter relay, but hadn't had any trouble with it since I have had the truck, but I know me, it will happen and in the worst place possible and at the wrong time. I'm going on a desert trek next month, so I figured as simple as it is to do, may as well do it now.
All went well and everything works as it did before. Only difference that I notice is the louder click when I go to start it. I did notice that I have the same relay for my glow plugs on the firewall.
#2 Headlight upgrade (relay mod). This came about during my last desert trek in Death Valley when I lost my headlights up in the mountain trails, fun. Without realizing and researching it 1st, like I should have, I connected my LED running lamps to a fuse tap that was connected and plugged into my headlight fuse location. Looking back, that was probably the stupidest spot I could have used for power, but I did and as many have also did, so I'm not alone. Anyway, as we all know that the headlight circuit is already somewhat overloaded, so adding another load on top of that is just asking for something to happen, and it did.
I took the LED lamps off completely, disassembled the fuse block cleaned and greased it and started to lighten the electrical load off of that circuit by doing the headlight upgrade with the Bosch style relays. Here it is before I made it all pretty like with the burnt and slightly melted fuse block.
#3 My electrical sub-panel. I needed a nice expandable and reliable source for battery power without adding a bunch of new(er) cables to the battery or the terminal block. That can start to look nasty when adding new circuits and be hard to diagnose if there is a problem, so I installed a sub-panel. Tapped off of the 12V + terminal block for battery power and fused with a 100amp Max fuse for safety. The sub-panel is made by Blue Sea (part number 5026). It has spaces for up to 12 circuits and also includes a negative bus bar and has a cover. Just so I did not overload the lead to the terminal block, I ran a 10 gage wire from the rear battery to the terminal block. It's nice because if you need to run anything it has a terminal lug and a fuse holder already in place. If you need to power a device in "key on" or "run" position you can use this to power a relay that is tapped from the ignition so that it is not a drain on that circuit.
sub panel link>>>https://www.bluesea.com/products/5026/ST_Blade_Fuse_Block_-_12_Circuits_with_Negative_Bus_and_Cover
Still got to pretty up the wires, nut the spot next to the wiper motor is just perfect for this panel.
Now about the hokey pokey part...
while doing all this, I have been fighting this nagging coolant leak. Everything in the cooling system is new, radiator, hoses, T-stat, water pump and heater core, but some mornings I come out and there is a small puddle of coolant under the truck under the filler neck/radiator cap location. Every time I look for the leak, can't find it, no traces of leakage anywhere, well until now. Found that the freeze plugs are seeping, so it look like I will be doing those pretty soon as well.
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