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JohnIL · 10-03-2022, 10:10 PM

I gave up on the garbage 1990's stereo and threw it in the trash. I tried to make it work, I really did. The antenna had a short and was getting lousy reception. I replaced the antenna and the stereo "worked" for one day. After taking the truck for a short drive, something inside the stereo went kaput and the only sound coming from the speakers was a faint humming. While it was working, the speakers were so tinny that it was almost unlistenable anyway. It just wasn't worth fooling with any more. So, out it went. As I removed the stereo, it became clear that it was a cast off from some other project car. There were scratches all over the case and the whole chassis was loose. It's no wonder it didn't work well. Future stereo plans include a modern touchscreen head unit with Android Auto for phone calls and navigation. In the meantime, no tunes is better than crappy tunes. Removing the rats nest of poor stereo wiring cleaned up the interior tremendously.

Next, I turned my attention under the hood to the battery cable situation. This little project snowballed a bit, but in the end, the truck is MUCH better off. When the engine swap was done, they used cheap off-the-shelf 4 gauge battery cables. And, after a few years, the cables were nicked and fraying. I know that lots of cars and trucks left the factory with 4 gauge cables, but on other projects, I've watched thin battery cables literally melt because of overheating. I'm just not willing to take that chance.

I started by installing a set of power and ground busses to the inner fender, next to the battery location. We used the same busses on my son's car when we did the LS swap and I really like the way they worked out. The power and ground from the battery get connected to the busses and everything else gets terminated at the busses. It makes for a much tidier (and safer) wiring job than attaching all of the accessory leads direction to the battery terminals.

With the power and ground busses in place, I moved on to the ground cables. The old 4 gauge ground cable went directly from the negative battery terminal to the top alternator bracket. This is a factory arrangement and it grounds nicely. But, it's ugly and it put the ground cable up on top of the engine directly in the way of hands, tools, fan blades, etc. We can do better. So, I made up a new 2 gauge ground cable routed from the lower alternator bracket to the new ground bus. The lower location let me route the cable down along the inner fender out of the way. Next, I made up a new 2 gauge ground cable from the bus to the battery. That buttoned up the negative side.

While I was in the area of the Alternator, I addressed the undersized charging wire. At some point in the past, there must have been a charging problem. Rather than relying on the charging wire in the engine harness, someone had installed a dedicated charging wire from the charging stud on the alternator to the positive terminal of the battery. That's not a bad thing. It gives the electrons a direct route to the battery. The problem is, they used a 14 gauge wire. That's WAY too small. They basically created a fuse. If the charging wire in the wiring harness ever failed, the 14 gauge charging wire would have glowed like a lightbulb filament until it caught on fire and burned the truck to the ground. I replaced it with a new 10 gauge wire, which matches the gauge of the charging wire in the harness. Here's where things started to snowball. When I tried to tighten the nut on the charging stud, the stud itself started spinning inside the alternator case. No wonder there was a charging problem!!! This prompted a trip to O'Reilly for a new alternator.

Next, I moved on to the positive side. The old 4 gauge cable went directly from the starter solenoid to the positive battery post. I started by making up a new 2 gauge cable from the battery to the new positive bus. While I was at it, I installed a battery disconnect switch to make future maintenance easier and safer. Then, I made up a new 2 gauge cable from the bus to the starter solenoid. More snowballing. When I attempted to tighten the nut on the solenoid terminal, the terminal spun inside the solenoid housing. Sound familiar? At some point, somebody WAY over tightened all of these terminals. I suspect they were attempting to solve the aforementioned charging problem. So, after another trip to O'Reilly, I have new starter. Yes, I could have just replaced the solenoid, but the starter Bendix was pretty questionable and a whole new starter was cheap insurance.

Thanks to the new cables, alternator, starter, the engine jumps to life and the voltmeter reads a healthy 13.5-14 volts.

10-03-2022, 10:10 PM	#8
JohnIL Registered User Join Date: Aug 2022 Location: Central Illinois Posts: 112	Wiring Cleanup Part II I gave up on the garbage 1990's stereo and threw it in the trash. I tried to make it work, I really did. The antenna had a short and was getting lousy reception. I replaced the antenna and the stereo "worked" for one day. After taking the truck for a short drive, something inside the stereo went kaput and the only sound coming from the speakers was a faint humming. While it was working, the speakers were so tinny that it was almost unlistenable anyway. It just wasn't worth fooling with any more. So, out it went. As I removed the stereo, it became clear that it was a cast off from some other project car. There were scratches all over the case and the whole chassis was loose. It's no wonder it didn't work well. Future stereo plans include a modern touchscreen head unit with Android Auto for phone calls and navigation. In the meantime, no tunes is better than crappy tunes. Removing the rats nest of poor stereo wiring cleaned up the interior tremendously. Next, I turned my attention under the hood to the battery cable situation. This little project snowballed a bit, but in the end, the truck is MUCH better off. When the engine swap was done, they used cheap off-the-shelf 4 gauge battery cables. And, after a few years, the cables were nicked and fraying. I know that lots of cars and trucks left the factory with 4 gauge cables, but on other projects, I've watched thin battery cables literally melt because of overheating. I'm just not willing to take that chance. I started by installing a set of power and ground busses to the inner fender, next to the battery location. We used the same busses on my son's car when we did the LS swap and I really like the way they worked out. The power and ground from the battery get connected to the busses and everything else gets terminated at the busses. It makes for a much tidier (and safer) wiring job than attaching all of the accessory leads direction to the battery terminals. With the power and ground busses in place, I moved on to the ground cables. The old 4 gauge ground cable went directly from the negative battery terminal to the top alternator bracket. This is a factory arrangement and it grounds nicely. But, it's ugly and it put the ground cable up on top of the engine directly in the way of hands, tools, fan blades, etc. We can do better. So, I made up a new 2 gauge ground cable routed from the lower alternator bracket to the new ground bus. The lower location let me route the cable down along the inner fender out of the way. Next, I made up a new 2 gauge ground cable from the bus to the battery. That buttoned up the negative side. While I was in the area of the Alternator, I addressed the undersized charging wire. At some point in the past, there must have been a charging problem. Rather than relying on the charging wire in the engine harness, someone had installed a dedicated charging wire from the charging stud on the alternator to the positive terminal of the battery. That's not a bad thing. It gives the electrons a direct route to the battery. The problem is, they used a 14 gauge wire. That's WAY too small. They basically created a fuse. If the charging wire in the wiring harness ever failed, the 14 gauge charging wire would have glowed like a lightbulb filament until it caught on fire and burned the truck to the ground. I replaced it with a new 10 gauge wire, which matches the gauge of the charging wire in the harness. Here's where things started to snowball. When I tried to tighten the nut on the charging stud, the stud itself started spinning inside the alternator case. No wonder there was a charging problem!!! This prompted a trip to O'Reilly for a new alternator. Next, I moved on to the positive side. The old 4 gauge cable went directly from the starter solenoid to the positive battery post. I started by making up a new 2 gauge cable from the battery to the new positive bus. While I was at it, I installed a battery disconnect switch to make future maintenance easier and safer. Then, I made up a new 2 gauge cable from the bus to the starter solenoid. More snowballing. When I attempted to tighten the nut on the solenoid terminal, the terminal spun inside the solenoid housing. Sound familiar? At some point, somebody WAY over tightened all of these terminals. I suspect they were attempting to solve the aforementioned charging problem. So, after another trip to O'Reilly, I have new starter. Yes, I could have just replaced the solenoid, but the starter Bendix was pretty questionable and a whole new starter was cheap insurance. Thanks to the new cables, alternator, starter, the engine jumps to life and the voltmeter reads a healthy 13.5-14 volts.