I am about to rewire some electrical stuff in my 1990 5.0 like the headlights and electric fan and ****. I just wanna know what gauge wire I should use and what to watch out for.
i sorta hate to say it - but if you are not sure of this, are you pretty decent with electrical systems? i would hate for you to do something that might mess up or cause a fire.
you need to let us know what draw you have on your components - how many watts/amps draw do your headlights draw (in case you dont have a stock set up).
how many amps does your fan draw? also how many amps at start up?
and how far are the runs of wire going to run?
sorry if you know what is up and im being cautious - like i said, you dont want to burn a harness or more!
Do keep Hissin50's warnings in mind about knowning how much current a device draws when you choose wire sizes, switches and fuses. Look for the current rating on switches, since many are light duty, and will not safely carry the current for some applications.
Choose wire size based on continous running current. Fans wiil draw 1.5 - 2 times the running current on startup, so you will need a slow blow fuse or circuit breaker for them. If a fan draws 30 amps running, startup may be as much as 60 amps. However, you don't need wiring for 60 amps, just 30.
Check out www.dccontrol.com for a really nice fan controller. It elminates the startup surge and eases the load on the electrical system.
If you plan on having an electric fan, you need a 3G or other alternator with 130 amp output. The stock alternator will not supply enough current to run the fan & the rest of the electrical equipment.