electrical gremlins

[thisfords4u]

I think you all are going to tell me bad ground, but here goes.
90 ranger, 93 ex complete wiring harness and dash and 4.0.
the problem: truck running- gauges operate normally, turn on head lights and the volt gauge pegs left or neg. and dash lights don't work. turn on blower fan and volt gauge does the same, but now the turn indicator lights both come on and the dash lights will fluctuate with the turning of fan switch with the headlights on checked voltage at battery and its 14.3 all the time while switching different things on ( and volt gauge pegs left/neg..
so if its a ground, which one. the 4.0 swap has been flawless and everything functioning normally for 2 1/2 years now.
the only thing different in last month is I hadn't hooked up dome lights or door switch lights, but that was just plug them in and go.
So any and all help is appreciated, thank you.

 

[97RangerXLT]

Bad grounds are a good place to start.

But keep a bottle of Holy Water and a priest nearby just in case.

AJ

 

[Keith44]

+1 on the priest and holy water.

IMO, start at the firewall. Be certain nothing was damaged during the swap. Next check the grounds and spaghetti that live behind the dash and the inner trim pieces I call the "kick panels" located in the foot area under the dash. Verify the instrument cluster is plugged in correctly. Lastly, start chasing the wiring through the steering column.

Best of luck with this one.

 

[thisfords4u]

I did have the cluster out a few week ago looking for the dome light plug in. could I have put one of the cluster plug ins backwards? I thought they would only go in one way.

 

[enjr44]

I am somewhat confused. You said that you had the cluster out last month and did some work. Did the problem start then or did it work correctly for a month and then go bad??

Used to date a NASCAR mechanic's daughter. He always said that when you fixed something and something else quit, go back and undo what you "fixed", cause you broke it.

 

[thisfords4u]

yes, had the cluster out. but everything I touched was plug and play.

 

[Nhaz]

the weirdness of the problems whispers to me DC power finding a new path to ground.

so yah bad ground. where? who knows backtrack on your work.

 

[thisfords4u]

headlight switch disconnected, turn signal etc dcd, changed heater speed control relay spring thingy, new fan switch, dash lights and turn indicators still come on with fan switch and charge gage pegs 0,, and grounds checked so what gives, what am I missing?

 

[thisfords4u]

I took inst clstr out and I get power on the grnd term on c221 position 1(BK) 57 when the fan switch is in any position but off..
looking at the schematic there doesnt appear to be a grnd to the ignition switch, am I mistaken? it says both s200 and s201 are 75mm from branch line to ignition switch, but I'm not finding a ground to the switch. HELP....

 

[thisfords4u]

found it.. lets just say, operator error. I found that the explorer connector 213 had a rather large ground in it that's supposed to go to ground 204. the ranger side of the connector did not have that ground wire. I spliced in and ran it to the 204 location and all fixed now. so this WAS MY FAULT because when I first put it together I was using the explorer "out" portion for temp dome light operation, then a month or so ago my son wanted the door switches to work the dome so that's when I found the original truck connector. but didn't realize it didn't have the ground in it. so 14 hours wasted looking for my own screw up thinking it was something else...

 

[97RangerXLT]

Glad you got it figured out, and no Holy water or clergy needed

AJ