The top pic is the view from under the hood. The bottom pic is from under the dash. I don’t see a pink and green wire. I tried to display the wire I think it might be as prominently as possible (the pink one that says “DO NOT CUT”) Am I on the right track?
Follow the pink one up to the back of the key switch. It will change to a different type of wire.
Got it.
Are you sure it is red/green and not green/red? The green/red wire at the brake pedal (brake switch) is input power to the brake switch and is not the line you are looking for.
Go back to the ignition switch as there will be another wire on the back of the connector that is tied into the pink resistor wire. You need/want to splice into that wire.
Yes. As per your’s and Bill’s advice, I traced the pink wire up and found what I was looking for. Fyi to anyone contemplating this project, this part is a huge pain in the ass.
I would agree. It would have been easier to install the relay and leave the resistor wire in place.
DO NOT USE SCOTCHLOKS !!! These devices are guaranteed to fail !!! They knick the wires during install and then eventually the vibration breaks the wire. A hot wire lead sparking near flammable material will light your car up !
There are a lot of poor quality copies of the Scotchlok that are not well made. The gap for the copper conductor is not wide enough, and the metal is too stiff so it does tend to cut the conductor as you described. Those parts are junk. I have been in the 12 volt electronics space in about every capacity imaginable. I help create and write the MECP tests for certification of mobile electronics techs and installers. I was in charge of $30 million a year in sales of car audio accessories at Rockford Corp so I had a chance to see what really failed and what did not.
I would not recommend this type of connector for anything that requires much current. This application doesn’t. The wire used by Ford is not finely stranded, it is also alloyed with tin making it much less likely to get cut. When you strip insulation from a wire you are also going to nick the wires and probably cut a few strands. This is actually less likely with a real Scotchlok. The wires involved are not being work hardened under continuous motion. This is not a Harley we are talking about. A soldered connection that is properly made and shrink wrapped would be the first choice, but it is something that most amateurs really don’t have the skill to do. A cold solder joint, wrapped in electrical tape from Harbor freight, is far more likely to fail in dramatic fashion. If a Scotchlok does fail the wires will remain trapped and insulated inside the connector, unless it is physically torn apart.
The only thing worse that Scotch-Loks are Wire Nuts. I see both of them all the time with harnesses I have to repair…sigh
We used the T-loks when I worked as a phone tech for Bellsouth. Never had them fail, not even in harsh weather environments (heat, cold, moisture), although for exposure to elements we used a button gun with encapsulated buttons for the splice. That being said we used VERY high quality buttons, T-loks, etc. And yes, unless you use a good stripper and use the correct gauge slot for what you are stripping, you will knick just as many wires as a cheap tlok. That’s why we used the CORRECT tlok for the gauge wire we were splicing (although twisted pair phone wires are solid core).
I went through every rage-inducing scenario with my Pertronix I and Flamethrower coil on my 69 XR7 351W. I will spare you all the sordid and painful details and skip right to what ended up being the perfect and by far, the easiest solution of all. Some may say that it was unnecessary, but you can’t argue with the results. I purchased a (switchable) Pedapter unit from the Rocketman. I just unplugged the engine harness from the firewall and inserted the unit inline between the coil and ignition. Ran a 12v supply from the starter relay to power the Pedapter and connected the constant 12v line from the Pedapter to the module in the distributor, and hooked the switchable 9v supply to the coil. Didn’t have to mess with the ignition switch or dreaded “pink wire”. The Cat purred beautifully every day, every time with no overheated coil or ignition misses. You dont need the switchable unit of course, but it also serves as a theft deterrent as well. The 3rd position on the Pedapter switch cuts all power to the coil. Solved my problem perfectly and permanently for about $40 USD.
This sounds like a nice set up. Bill recommended it in a previous post but I was already committed to doing it the “traditional” way at that point. Thanks for the info