Ford Build Thread: FrED the Ford. '98 E350 7.3 4x4 The More We Explore's Adventure Van

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
I've been having some major electrical issues lately. Some of them I have a good idea how to fix, others have me completely stumped .

1. Back in the day I replaced the plastic mechanism in the ignition switch. When I did that, I believe I damaged the clockspring . Now my horn and cruise control don't work. I'm going to replace the clockspring and see if that fixes them.

2. Door locks used to be intermittent, now they don't even pulse anymore. I replaced all lock actuators and that didn't help.

3. When engaging high beams, the entire dash goes dark (instrument panel , hvac, etc) the high beams work. Weird.

4. The "your lights are left on" chime randomly starts chiming after about an hour of driving. It eventually goes off, but it's super annoying.

5. The previous owner installed a momentary switch to bypass the automatic glow plug relay (in an effort to prolong glow plug life). The idea is not to have them heat up in the summer when it's already hot. This switch has been getting increasingly worse. It now works about 5% of the time. Unsure if the issue is the switch itself or the glow plug relay or something entirely different. The gpr is not east to get to? Though I do have a replacement with me on the road.

6. I just noticed this one last week. My drivers rear tail light isn't working with the parking lights (or the regular headlights for that matter). I've replaced the bulb. No dice. I've swapped the connector/bulb receptacle with the pass side. That didn't fix it. Weirdly enough, when I connect my airstream, the airstream's trailer lights don't turn on when I put the parking lights on (they used to), but they do turn on when I fully turn the lights on.

Most of these haopened in the past month. This leads me to believe that there is a common ground wire coming loose. I'm no electrical genius, and finding info on these vans is tricky. I've replaced the ground strap between the frame and body (It's been cut since I bought the van. No difference with the new one). Ill double-check the connection between the ground to the battery and the body.

Are tgere any other grounds I should check ? I don't easily see any others. I wonder if I have a fried circuit board/ecu somewhere. Smy wuick troubleshooting tips or simiar experiences would be great.


... I miss my tototas... too bad they never made a 1 ton van...
 

sawtooth4x4

Totally Awesome
Man your electrical issues sound like an Italian was working on that van.

My Range Rover was having similar issues. I finally found a loose ground connection when I started my engine swap project.

I would start tracing all the grounds in the engine bay and one the engine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

jeeper

Currently without Jeep
Location
So Jo, Ut
I bought a van once that had all kinds of electrical issues. Turn the blinker on, the speedo would tick type stuff. All of it was cured by a bad ground in a tail light.
 

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
Awesome, thanks guys. I'm guessing I've got a bad ground somewhere... now to find it. As you know, these vans are tricky to work on, nothing is easy to reach.

Aside from the electrical issues, I'm really enjoying the van.
 

sawtooth4x4

Totally Awesome
Cool glad you are enjoying it. I can't imagine trying to work on that thing. I've seen the the utter lack of room under the hood of one of those.

All I know, is I will never own a V8 diesel again. There is so much room in my engine bay on my Ram 2500 cummins. Its amazing. Plus it doesn't break down all the time like my old F350 6.0 did.
 

Kevin B.

Not often wrong. Never quite right.
Moderator
Location
Vehicular limbo
I've been having some major electrical issues lately. Some of them I have a good idea how to fix, others have me completely stumped .

1. Back in the day I replaced the plastic mechanism in the ignition switch. When I did that, I believe I damaged the clockspring . Now my horn and cruise control don't work. I'm going to replace the clockspring and see if that fixes them.

2. Door locks used to be intermittent, now they don't even pulse anymore. I replaced all lock actuators and that didn't help.

3. When engaging high beams, the entire dash goes dark (instrument panel , hvac, etc) the high beams work. Weird.

4. The "your lights are left on" chime randomly starts chiming after about an hour of driving. It eventually goes off, but it's super annoying.

5. The previous owner installed a momentary switch to bypass the automatic glow plug relay (in an effort to prolong glow plug life). The idea is not to have them heat up in the summer when it's already hot. This switch has been getting increasingly worse. It now works about 5% of the time. Unsure if the issue is the switch itself or the glow plug relay or something entirely different. The gpr is not east to get to? Though I do have a replacement with me on the road.

6. I just noticed this one last week. My drivers rear tail light isn't working with the parking lights (or the regular headlights for that matter). I've replaced the bulb. No dice. I've swapped the connector/bulb receptacle with the pass side. That didn't fix it. Weirdly enough, when I connect my airstream, the airstream's trailer lights don't turn on when I put the parking lights on (they used to), but they do turn on when I fully turn the lights on.

Most of these haopened in the past month. This leads me to believe that there is a common ground wire coming loose. I'm no electrical genius, and finding info on these vans is tricky. I've replaced the ground strap between the frame and body (It's been cut since I bought the van. No difference with the new one). Ill double-check the connection between the ground to the battery and the body.

Are tgere any other grounds I should check ? I don't easily see any others. I wonder if I have a fried circuit board/ecu somewhere. Smy wuick troubleshooting tips or simiar experiences would be great.


... I miss my tototas... too bad they never made a 1 ton van...

I'm with the other guys, I bet finding that bad ground will fix about half of those.
 

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
I wish I knew where to look for the ground. There are so many random places that little ECUs are tucked in to. I'll just systematically work my way from front to back. Thanks for the ideas everyone.
 

I Lean

Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
Along the "check easy stuff" line, check all the bulbs themselves--I've seen a bad brake light bulb cause all kinds of strange problems. (I think because however it broke, it was connecting something to ground that shouldn't be. Or something.)
 

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
Cool glad you are enjoying it. I can't imagine trying to work on that thing. I've seen the the utter lack of room under the hood of one of those.

All I know, is I will never own a V8 diesel again. There is so much room in my engine bay on my Ram 2500 cummins. Its amazing. Plus it doesn't break down all the time like my old F350 6.0 did.

Yeah, having a van trumps having a Cummins for me. As far as 1 ton vans go, the 7.3 Is definitely the best of the bunch, but yes, it's tight in there.
 

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
Blinker fluid is full. :)

I've checked all the main grounds, still not fixed. The door locks randomly started working today , which is good. Who knows how long till they go out again.

I heard there's an ecu/module that occasionally goes out and causes similar issues.

So far ive checked the starter, batteries, alternator, and engine block grounds, along with the body to frame ground straps.

I don't see any ground straps in the tail light sections, but I'm going to check all the bulbs now Carl, that's a great idea.

Thanks for all the tips guys. The hard part about grounds is that there are so many hidden, tiny grounds out of sight that it's tough to know if I've checked them all. Its not a jk or 4runner where you can just search on a forum and find a list of 100 others who have solced this before... now I actually need skills... which is why it isn't fixed yet. :)
 

Brad J

Registered User
Location
Woods Cross, UT
I had a 73 Nova SS that had weird Tail Light Issues. I ran a new ground wire from the battery to the tail light housings and never had any other problems.
 

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
The weird part is that the parking lights were working a month ago.

... now that I think of it... I did blow a reverse light bulb and fuse. And that's where my reverse camera is connected . ..
 

jeeper

Currently without Jeep
Location
So Jo, Ut
Steve, what kind of wood did you use for that first set of drawers you built? I am thinking about copying the idea for the bed of my truck. Any advise before I get started?
 
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