Calling All Wiring Gurus

[RustyPile]

Originally Posted by bcoke

Ah had no idea that the courtesy lights and door switches were stock! That's cool - they haven't worked since I bought the truck and since the hot line from the radio was tied in, it had me thinking that everything involved was after market.

I'll save all the connectors / switches but I'd like to try to delete this for now for simplicity's sake (and because I already took out the door switches and most of the courtesy light wiring).

How would I take out the dome / courtesy light circuit without messing up the brake lights or the headlight switch?....cut the orange at the fuse box, leaving the tail that goes to the headlight switch? hmmm but that would cut the break light switch....




Thanks for the tip! I downloaded this one today from the forum (https://imgur.com/a/Yfjpeqv). Definitely helpful...I'm honestly still coming up to speed on how to make sense of it all. This exercise has helped though! Tracing orange wires all over the place

The first time you try locating the ignition switch and putting the key into it, or try hooking the seatbelt, or anything else along those lines and it's pitch black dark, you'll be wishing you had left all those interior lights hooked up and working.. If you don't want the lights working right now, why not just remove the bulbs???

That contraption you found under the seat appears to be an alarm system.. Instead of using proper splicing techniques, most of those are hacked into the factory wiring system using connectors called Scotch Locs and Stay Cons.. They ruin the wiring because they damage and cut the wires causing all sorts of gremlins and nightmares.

I was an automobile mechanic for over 30 years. Certified in many fields including electrical.. You'll not get any hacking instructions from me -- I don't know how to hack.

[bcoke]

Originally Posted by RustyPile

The first time you try locating the ignition switch and putting the key into it, or try hooking the seatbelt, or anything else along those lines and it's pitch black dark, you'll be wishing you had left all those interior lights hooked up and working.. If you don't want the lights working right now, why not just remove the bulbs???

oh they didn't have bulbs haha it'd be nice if they worked, but since I usually don't need them (mostly drive this thing during the day), I thought it might help simplify...It seems like deleting that circuit might make things more complex, though, and I guess I should wire them back to keep it as stock as possible....I'll just have to figure out how to rewire the door switches...I'm not seeing any in this wiring diagram: https://imgur.com/a/Yfjpeqv. Am I missing it?

Originally Posted by RustyPile

That contraption you found under the seat appears to be an alarm system.. Instead of using proper splicing techniques, most of those are hacked into the factory wiring system using connectors called Scotch Locs and Stay Cons.. They ruin the wiring because they damage and cut the wires causing all sorts of gremlins and nightmares.

I was an automobile mechanic for over 30 years. Certified in many fields including electrical.. You'll not get any hacking instructions from me -- I don't know how to hack.

Yeah it looks like it's an alarm / remote start - has the exact same connectors as the one in the attached picture...I'd like to undo all the hacking and take things back to somewhat normal. Would you recommend just soldering / heat shrinking most connections or what?

Also I'd like to replace the fuse box with something modern while I'm doing this - those glass fuses are a pain to get out and I'd like extra space to put in connections down the road. Any recommendations?

[RustyPile]

Originally Posted by bcoke

oh they didn't have bulbs haha it'd be nice if they worked, but since I usually don't need them (mostly drive this thing during the day), I thought it might help simplify...It seems like deleting that circuit might make things more complex, though, and I guess I should wire them back to keep it as stock as possible....I'll just have to figure out how to rewire the door switches...I'm not seeing any in this wiring diagram: https://imgur.com/a/Yfjpeqv. Am I missing it?


Yeah it looks like it's an alarm / remote start - has the exact same connectors as the one in the attached picture...I'd like to undo all the hacking and take things back to somewhat normal. Would you recommend just soldering / heat shrinking most connections or what?

Also I'd like to replace the fuse box with something modern while I'm doing this - those glass fuses are a pain to get out and I'd like extra space to put in connections down the road. Any recommendations?

I described the courtesy light circuit in post #5..

As for your question concerning "something more modern"... Replace all wiring with an aftermarket system such as AAW, Painless, ect...