We have lots of rabbits here and today I noticed one came tearing out out from under the truck when my wife went to start it. Popped the hood and found droppings and two wires chewed through (Wife said later that the check engine light was on). The wires belong to the top connector one of the two connectors that are stacked above the driver side valve cover. The top connector is smaller than the one right below it.

The problem I have is that the two wires are both orange with black stripes. Each wire has two black stripes. I don't know how to splice these back together. They both enter the same connector, one on the top row of wires, one on the bottom row of wires.

Anybody know whether it makes a difference, and if so, how I go about figuring out which one mates where? I am reluctant to just try it one way for a while on a $35K truck.

Thank you,
Charlie

I have used Camphor blocks (moth balls!!) with good success in ridding rodents from under the hood. I guess that they don't like the smell! (ok, let the jokes begin).

Shrubber:D:D

If you live in town, a .22 w/ CB caps works real good. Out of town go with the Long-Rifle. :D I have used the moth balls also, but because of the smell as you say, I got the cedar scented ones. Still keeps'em out but nice to the nose. And I just laid them on the ground under the truck. Don't have to worry about them (cedar balls) getting into something they shouldn't.

Solder and heat shrink tubing.

Reminds me of when I was trying to drill through the fire-wall to install some fog lights on my old tuck. The drill slipped, and I drilled THROUGH my wiring harness. Talk about a pain in the Censored .

There were four wires that were damaged. One I can just reinsulate. Two were chewed through, and one damaged enough that I will splice back together.

It just so happend that the two wires that were chewed through were both organge with a 2 black stripes. These go to the smaller top connector on top of the driver side valve cover. The wires look identical so I am at a loss as to how to connect them back up.

One of the wires enters the top "row" of the connector, the other the enters the bottom row. I have not tried to trace the wires back to anything as they enter are bundled inside a loom.

Hopefully they are both just +12 power or something like that. Does the helm manual set have wiring diagrams that would help here. I hadn't thought I would need the manual just yet...

Thanks,

Marky,
I PM'd you last night but maybe you haven't seen it yet.
Can you tell us how many wires in the connector involved? I have the Helm's manuals and for some reason the engineers used the Orange/Black combination for multiple purposes. It supplies +12 to some injectors and is used as either the +5 reference or the common reference for a couple of sensors. If you can describe the connector, the manual has sketches of them along with wire color and function.

Hope this can help.

Thanks Bill. The trucks still in the garage and I am using the backup (79 F250) to haul the horse flesh around. I did break down and order the helms manuals today, but they might not arrive until the end of this week. If the answer can be gotten without too much work I appreciate it.

I figure that since the wires are color coded the same that means there ought to be some easy diagnostics (like one being +5 and the other reference) for me to figure them out.

There are fifteen wires entering the connector. The connector has room for 24 pins. If you are looking at the back of the male plug the wires enter the plug at top row, second wire over from the right and bottom row, second wire over from the right.

Charlie

I wanted to thank those that provided suggestions for warding off the rabbits. They can harrass the horses and kids all they want, but when they mess with the truck, its all out war.

I am using the moth balls around on the ground. I also found some stuff called Repel (animal repellant) at the local farm store. The scent is not too bad for humans, and its supposed to have a reallly bitter taste. I have that at certain locations under the hood and around the transmission. I figure the only reason they haven't bothered the other vehicles is that there is about a 1/2 inch coating of grime, oil and dust under the hood of the other vehichles. That will teach me for buying a new truck.

On Edit. It just occurred to me that I am going to have to buy a Predator now in order to read and clear the codes. Oh honey, one more thing....


Charlie

On Edit. It just occurred to me that I am going to have to buy a Predator now in order to read and clear the codes. Oh honey, one more thing....

We believe you Charlie.:D I'm sure the wife will too.

Jim

If you can tell us the exact location in the connector of the wires in question, we can tell you where they go. Then you can use a volt meter to tell which is which. Something like: "Top Row, 15th and 16 hole from the front of the truck" would work.

Charlie and I have been using PM to discuss details but will post
what I think is the answer to his problem. Pin A7 of the connector
should go to Pin A of the Barometric Sensor on one side and to
Pin C2-78 of the Engine Control Module (ECM)on the other. The
Baro Sensor sits behind the red covered block for jumper cable connections
and underneath the crossover tube.

Pin C7 of the connector will go to Pin A on the Boost
Sensor on one side and Pin C1-25 of the ECM on the other.
The drawing in the book isn't so clear as to where the Boost
Sensor is. On further searching, I found it lives under the
air cleaner outlet duct and is held in place with a stud/nut
that also holds a coolant tube in place.

WOW. It's fun trying to figure out how to use these
manuals. Most of the manuals I have had in the past
are only about the size of one volume of this set.

Today at noon I hope to "get er done". The wires that feed the male side of the connector are the ones that are broken, and I believe those feed back to the ECM. I haven't actually seen the C1, and C2 connectors on the ECM yet, but if the ECM is the thing just inboard of the forward battery tray, and C1/C2 are narrow 80 pin connectors (two rows of 40 pins), I am sure I will find them. At that point there are only a limited number of combinations for me to try before I identify them.

Really looking forward to getting the truck running again. Also looking forward to getting the manual set

Charlie

We believe you Charlie.:D I'm sure the wife will too.

Jim
Well the wife does have her radar up. My son and I just put a new flywheel, clutch, and T5 into his mustang. T5 just happend to come with a nice shifter:rolleyes:. Wife is also wondering why the clutch and tranny went out in the first place.

One thing I do have going for me is that I think the wife likes the truck as much or more than I do. She still gets a grin on her face when gets the truck for the day.

Charlie

Thanks to all and especially BillB3857 for the information and help. I would like to coin the phrase "Mackin experience" to describe the feeling you have when you finally get your truck back running strong. I may not have had the full experience, but it was pretty good after being forced to drive a rattle trap for the past week.