Engine Ron Francis aka The Detail Zone and their Ford harnesses are beyond poor quality.Here's why.

CAMTWO1070

Active Member
Dec 17, 2021
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NY
Hello all:

Just wanted to post an infomercial type post regarding the etrociousness of how Scott Bowers the president of Ron Francis and The Detail Zone butchers their wiring harnesses and calls it high quality..

Beware of Ron Francis's Detail Zone line of Ford wiring harnesses...They aren't what they're supposed to be and if you're at wits ends with your mechanic or your own wits end chasing gremlins it's not the mechanic ;- with 85% not even being from non-ford sensors/etc or even your fault...;- its Scott Bowers fault due to being deficient in wiring skills/quality harnesses and that Ford wiring harness you bought from him that I exposed here for all to see and witness for themselves kinda says it all.....!!

First off from day 1 in the ordering phase I had nothing but nitemares when dealing with Scott Bowers of RF and DTZ but Im not gonna get into that..

What Im going to get into is how Scott Bowers of RF and DTZ designed his Ford harnesses and its evident in every pdf for every harness made....

First off look at this Schematic made by TMoss ...Although it has minor errors the schematic is one of the best to go by for the years posted on it..
88-91_5.0_EEC_Wiring_Diagram1.gif


If you look at circuits #37/57 which are 12v voltage reference wires not power wires;-youll see everything that is on that 12v reference circuit on #37/57...Theres quite alot and notice how all are tapped off of 1 single wire and branches off near the ECU....This is for a specific reason for the computer to operate correctly...

Next notice where the power for the 02 sensors are coming from on the schematic....Its on a different circuit apart from #37/57 isnt it?

On pin #4 the IDM circuit Ford put a 22k ohm resistor roughly 6" from the ECU connector...Scott Bowers didnt put this resistor and on the IDM circuit without that 22kohm resistor the circuit is getting full unfiltered power and thats bad.

Next thing youll notice is how many seperate grounding points the ECU/fuel injection harness has..It has 4 seperate grounding points actually 5 if you seperate the 02 sensor grounds..If you see pin #49 and #20 those grounds are highly specific...

Pin #49 controls the HEGO circuit by being a pulse regulated ground.

Pin #20 is the case ground and it also is the ground for the TFI /coil circuit shielding.

Pins #40 and #60 are called clean ECU grounds and are used to keep the sensors on the same base ground level....Dirty O2 sensor grounds can't be grounded into a clean ECU ground circuit!

If you look at the harness wiring directions from Ron Francis/The Detail Zone theres only 1 ground! Thats wrong as Ive already pointed out...

So when Scott Bowers melded all of the grounds together he made the ECU very suceptable to High amounts of RF interferrence and voltage spikes too as none of the relays he uses are diode suppressed to control flyback and gives no protection to the TFI shielding too...

The way he grounded the Ford EEC-IV system is all wrong and shows how deficient Scott Bowers knowledge of the Ford EEC systems really is.

Screenshot 2022-10-20 140149.jpg


Screenshot 2022-10-20 140319.jpg


Not all grounds are created equal in the EEC-IV system Scott Bowers!!,,,If they were there would all be 1 ground wire in our cars from the factory;-wouldnt it?

Heres how Scott Bowers took the dedicated #37/57 12v reference circuit and chopping it up into 3 different relay circuits [A,C&D]and also melding the dirty 02 heater power wires with the Mass Airflow Meter at relay A..This is all wrong and added alot of r/f intereffernce using all those general purpose non-diode protected relays.... My battery read 12.5 volts and the 12v wire going to the MAF was reading 11.73 volts with the fuse and the noisy relay and 12.47volts lightly tapping on the relay after being energized a full 45 mins straight.....

Lots will say to the voltage difference ;-"so what its close enough";-But the ECU doesnt see it that way with everything else reading proper voltage ..........LOL

Screenshot 2022-10-03 122937.jpg


Heres what Scott Bowers HIGH Quality circuits look like in person. Scott Bowers put fuses with very light and very loose & awefully gripping terminals coupled to very crappy quality relay terminal blocks with crimps that look like they were done by Helen Keller herself!. Crimps like that won't last 5 years on a daily driver that sees a full 4 seasons!!

IMG_20221010_115023.jpg



This is what proper wire terminal crimps looks like below...Notice how the lowest part of the terminals are crimped to the protective covering for strength and support..

0a09fbcd888edebceed9831b2b76bab1__05796_zoom.jpg


Now look at the picture I posted above the proper crimp picture also the same one below ...Scott Bowers crimps dont look anything like the examples I posted;-do they?

I hope Scott Bowers sees this post because he needs to give everyone who purchased his Mickey Mouse Ford harnesses a refund and an apology.....

Notice the yellow wire piece attached to a red wire after the fuse block thats circled in highlighter in the picture below..

That yellow wire is the "Keep Alive Memory" [KAM] wire placed into the harness wired in after a fuse..KAM wires are supposed to come directly from the battery and contains a "FUSEABLE LINK"..Not a Fuse!

Everytime I used to hit a bump in the highway or go over train tracks the fuse at that circuit glitched causing havoc with my ECU!

The yellow Keep Alive Memory [KAM] wire should of been attached to the 12ga Red battery wire before the fuse block if anything!
IMG_20221010_1150231.jpg


After fixing the wrongs created by Scott Bowers my harness now works as its supposed to but for the money and what you get initially the harness isnt worth not even 1/3 the asking price and the quality in the crimps show why..........

IMG_20221007_094159.jpg
 
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So yesterday I got the other end of the stick from that crappy harness again...This time at the ECU plug itself.....When I pulled my ECU plug I hadnt noticed the abundance of silicone gaskets and a wire loom cover aswell as a wire redirect bend..

Just out of nowhere two wires slipped their pins and almost left me stranded on the side of the highway ,,,good thing O know how to jump the fuelpump with a paperclip....LOL

Anyways I had to painfully remove the harness again and replace the crappy ECU plug RF and DTZ installed and put the older but better quality plug on with soldered on pins in its place...

...

IMG_20221023_144838.jpg



If you notice theres a wire that sticks out thats brownish with alot of shrink sleeving...Thats pin #4 the IDM circuit and inside that shrink sleving is a 22k0hm 1/2 watt 1% tolerance resistor....

IMG_20221022_194710.jpg

IMG_20221023_231034.jpg
IMG_20221024_021910.jpg

That 22kohm resistor is very important to have if anyone has a stickshift vehicle and are using the GRAY TFI module you need one installed atleast 4-6" coming out of the ECU plug or just like my oldschool literature shows....Its called an Ignition suppression resistor.Its circled in blue.

Screenshot 2022-10-22 200154.jpg


When you take a multimeter set to 20kohms you should see a value similar to this....I have 1 probe in #4 pinhole and I probed the IDM circuit on the TFI plug aswell as on the coil plug and got the same value at both terminations...

Lack of this resistor will cause running problems also computer issues when the circuit is left unfiltered so if your meter reads 0.00 your IDM circuit is unprotected...

IMG_20221023_145334.jpg

Heres how easy it is to make one that will last a vary long time using a technique of threading the ends of the resistor into wire for stability then cut and a female terminal connector soldered onto each end then layered with 6 layers of shrink wrap to add protection aswell as rigidity to the flimsy resistor to give it longevity......

Another item thats supposed to be installed from the factory and to touch upon is another device labeled as the Radio capacitor and is circled in red...Its real technical name is the interference suppression capacitor..

Before we get into a huge debate about its intended purpose most will say it takes the alternator noise out of the radio...Ok Ill agree but Im gonna also have to disagree because if it was actually a noise suppressor for a radio it would be near the radio inline with the radios wiring..

Look at where the device is in the circuitry...The interference suppression capacitor is mounted next to the coil and is on the 12v circuit for the coil and the TFI module..Those two devices are what is actually being filtered...

The resistor is on the coil negative or IDM circuit and the capacitor is on the power feed side.....They kind of go hand in hand too...

Screenshot 2022-10-22 200154.jpg


What is interference suppression capacitor?​

Interference suppression capacitors, also known as radio interference suppression capacitors, reduce circuitry noise to a permissible level loke the high-frequency interference signals generated during operation of electrical or electronic devices. They serve as device protection by damping short line-side over-voltages that can occur in the system before they reach your ECU which causes havoc internally within the ECU like high idle issues and bogus CEL codes..


Some shots of the harness and also a shot of the harness getting ready to be hooked up to a battery and tested for issues...Continuity aswell as voltage tests checked out beautifully before even installing the harness.....

IMG_20221023_145013.jpg


IMG_20221023_150557.jpg



Another thing I found out is that if you ground the sensors to the engine and the sensors are 2 and 3 wire units the extra grounding can play havoc with the signal recieved by the ECU from the sensors....I grounded the sensor bodies to the battery to see what happens and I got two conflicting readings......Found out that only 1 wire sensor bodies get grounded to the engine...LOL


So if you want a great running car thats like factory get yourself a 22kohm resistor from amazon and put it on pon#4 of the ECU harness by the ECU main plug ...I got 100pcs for $6 bux...

Theyre 22kohn 1/2 watt 1% tolerance for best accuracy and less waiverance.....also get a radio noise cap,relays with diodes and a diode suppressed starter solenoid and install them then remove all of the sensors and find a way to unground the sensors like CTS,IAC and AIT from the engine and let the ECU ground them and get the correct readings it needs to operate..........

Another thing to do is ground the ECU to the accessory wire coming off the battery and make a star grounding point making the engine the center of the star.......

IMG_20201209_123730174.jpg
 

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I have the PIMP harness from Ron Francis. It already had the resistor for the IDM. I did replace the relays with ones that are fly back protected. My signal ground is not tied to the other grounds.
 
Polarity issue I would think. What is fuse 18?
The company I got them from is wiring products. They are backwards. I got some German ones from eBay. They work fine. Fuse 18 controls a lot but the one that matters is your diagnostic circuit. Deliberate? I don't care much now. Ron Francis cobra -75 has worn me out. It's not like I do this for a living . I think that company is bottom rung. It's screwed my car up so bad it's just one thing after another. I'm about to sell the car for scrap. Thanks again Ron!
 
So yesterday I got the other end of the stick from that crappy harness again...This time at the ECU plug itself.....When I pulled my ECU plug I hadnt noticed the abundance of silicone gaskets and a wire loom cover aswell as a wire redirect bend..

Just out of nowhere two wires slipped their pins and almost left me stranded on the side of the highway ,,,good thing O know how to jump the fuelpump with a paperclip....LOL

Anyways I had to painfully remove the harness again and replace the crappy ECU plug RF and DTZ installed and put the older but better quality plug on with soldered on pins in its place...

...

IMG_20221023_144838.jpg



If you notice theres a wire that sticks out thats brownish with alot of shrink sleeving...Thats pin #4 the IDM circuit and inside that shrink sleving is a 22k0hm 1/2 watt 1% tolerance resistor....

IMG_20221022_194710.jpg

IMG_20221023_231034.jpg
IMG_20221024_021910.jpg

That 22kohm resistor is very important to have if anyone has a stickshift vehicle and are using the GRAY TFI module you need one installed atleast 4-6" coming out of the ECU plug or just like my oldschool literature shows....Its called an Ignition suppression resistor.Its circled in blue.

Screenshot 2022-10-22 200154.jpg


When you take a multimeter set to 20kohms you should see a value similar to this....I have 1 probe in #4 pinhole and I probed the IDM circuit on the TFI plug aswell as on the coil plug and got the same value at both terminations...

Lack of this resistor will cause running problems also computer issues when the circuit is left unfiltered so if your meter reads 0.00 your IDM circuit is unprotected...

IMG_20221023_145334.jpg

Heres how easy it is to make one that will last a vary long time using a technique of threading the ends of the resistor into wire for stability then cut and a female terminal connector soldered onto each end then layered with 6 layers of shrink wrap to add protection aswell as rigidity to the flimsy resistor to give it longevity......

Another item thats supposed to be installed from the factory and to touch upon is another device labeled as the Radio capacitor and is circled in red...Its real technical name is the interference suppression capacitor..

Before we get into a huge debate about its intended purpose most will say it takes the alternator noise out of the radio...Ok Ill agree but Im gonna also have to disagree because if it was actually a noise suppressor for a radio it would be near the radio inline with the radios wiring..

Look at where the device is in the circuitry...The interference suppression capacitor is mounted next to the coil and is on the 12v circuit for the coil and the TFI module..Those two devices are what is actually being filtered...

The resistor is on the coil negative or IDM circuit and the capacitor is on the power feed side.....They kind of go hand in hand too...

Screenshot 2022-10-22 200154.jpg


What is interference suppression capacitor?​

Interference suppression capacitors, also known as radio interference suppression capacitors, reduce circuitry noise to a permissible level loke the high-frequency interference signals generated during operation of electrical or electronic devices. They serve as device protection by damping short line-side over-voltages that can occur in the system before they reach your ECU which causes havoc internally within the ECU like high idle issues and bogus CEL codes..


Some shots of the harness and also a shot of the harness getting ready to be hooked up to a battery and tested for issues...Continuity aswell as voltage tests checked out beautifully before even installing the harness.....

IMG_20221023_145013.jpg


IMG_20221023_150557.jpg



Another thing I found out is that if you ground the sensors to the engine and the sensors are 2 and 3 wire units the extra grounding can play havoc with the signal recieved by the ECU from the sensors....I grounded the sensor bodies to the battery to see what happens and I got two conflicting readings......Found out that only 1 wire sensor bodies get grounded to the engine...LOL


So if you want a great running car thats like factory get yourself a 22kohm resistor from amazon and put it on pon#4 of the ECU harness by the ECU main plug ...I got 100pcs for $6 bux...

Theyre 22kohn 1/2 watt 1% tolerance for best accuracy and less waiverance.....also get a radio noise cap,relays with diodes and a diode suppressed starter solenoid and install them then remove all of the sensors and find a way to unground the sensors like CTS,IAC and AIT from the engine and let the ECU ground them and get the correct readings it needs to operate.......... We should beñsuinh.

Another thing to do is ground the ECU to the accessory wire coming off the battery and make a star grounding point making the engine the center of the star.......

IMG_20201209_123730174.jpg
This is wrong. We should back charge them their hourly rate
 
I'm going to pull this poc Ron Francis head ache cobra 75. I want to talk to painless harnesses but this thing has been worthless
Why do we or why are we expected to do all this so that this pos company can stay in business ? This so far beyond confusing all the stuff you are doing.. Are you an engineer ? Maybe so. I'm not and I'm pissed off at these people for putting out junk. should be class action suit against them . This has ruined my will to build and it's ruined my 90 foxbody!
 
Why do we or why are we expected to do all this so that this pos company can stay in business ? This so far beyond confusing all the stuff you are doing.. Are you an engineer ? Maybe so. I'm not and I'm pissed off at these people for putting out junk. should be class action suit against them . This has ruined my will to build and it's ruined my 90 foxbody!
You do realize Ron Francis owns Painless wiring too;-right?

If you read their warranty it keeps them in business plus they also sell other forms of electronics to India.....

Basically you have to not install or breathe on the harness to decide whether its to your satisfaction because once you try and lay it in the vehicle the warranty is out the door as they can say you could of damaged it also to mention once you mention engine running or starting issues they treat you like an idiot.............

Read the last line starting from Purchaser and/or user.....This warranty should be considered illegal by the DOJ of the state they do business from as theyre placing their shoddy quality and mistakes on the purchaser!...

All sellers of goods should be made to disclose their warranty info on their FRONT PAGE!...Not all the way in the back of the instruction sheet...

Had they put this disclaimer on the front page the disclaimer of warranty would of definately deterred me and would of promptly sent it back

Screenshot 2022-10-08 2120081.jpg


Whats funny is from what I received and see what others have too its safe to say anyone running an already made to fit Ron Francis harness/The Detail Zone harness in their Ford based hotrods and say theyre running killer I kinda question that statement especially if its not installed in a daily driver.....

Whats even funnier is Im running a Comp Cams Extreme 4x4 camshaft with less than 220 duration and a lobe sep of 111 plus w/1.7 rockers got a tad over .500" lift and with the harness installed and running on my engine for the first time it made my trucks camshaft sound larger with a way tighter lobe sep than it actually had and it actually ran pretty good with lots of power but after an hour of straight driving developed idle surging issues.....

Once I made the changes to the harness by seperating the grounds etc my balanced 410w w/11:1 compression now idles smooth as silk almost like a German made automobile even with the solid motor mounts....Thats how much RF interference was polluting my system......LOL

Heres a small video merge I made so you can hear the comparison..First 49 second half is the RF harness un-improved and the second half with all fixes......


View: https://vimeo.com/770552285



Ron Francis also makes harnesses for the Factory 5 kitcars....Look at all the complaints there. especially the alternator wiring going up in flames.......LOL

Screenshot 2022-01-22 195720.jpg


Im glad I used a modified Pontiac Grand Prix harness to power mine up.......LOL

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Look at the pics below of their BLACK BOX relay box that almost set my special edition Mako Shark Corvette on fire.....You can see where two spots on the case started to melt and if I didnt smell the plastic and disconnected the battery the case would of kept melting because the fuses DIDNT blow nor did it POWER OFF............



Screenshot 2021-12-19 211615.jpg
Screenshot 2021-12-19 211549.jpg

Oh and I didnt purchase the box...It was in the car when I bought it and was the sellers crowning point of sale saying the wiring was modernized and even gave me the box which gave me issues after I already bought the TDZ-75 harness too ...........

All the one relay had to do was negatively power the dual fan Hayden controller for my electric fan relay control center and the other that melted controlled the hydraulic electric actuators on the full flip nose plus also to mention the nose actuators nor the electric fans werent even being operated either..All I did was pull the car out of the garage shut it off got out to grab some stuff plus lock up and 5 mins later went to get back in and noticed the melting plastic smell so I disconnected the battery in the quickness...Then found the melted box...

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I found out that when RF seperated the EEC-IV systems with 4 general purpose relays it threw voltage issues especially when the MAF sensor power was melded with the dirty 02 sensor power on a noisy general purpose relay...

Screenshot 2022-10-03 122937.jpg


Look at the footnotes of the relays made for the harnesses made by Tyco.....

Notice it says not for automtive use as the first opener....The harnesses arent even certified for highway use either....


In case no-one knows that general purpose relays have no room in automotive use except for foglights....Theres 3 types of relays used in auto use...

Resistive

Inductive

Capacitive

Look at the part number and see theyre exact to RF's relays they use then look at the circled footnote....

If Ron Francis tried getting the harnesses they sell certified theyd be subject to PPAP and IMDS documentation and must abide by them....

Take a gander at the MAX. Continuous Current values....Notice the hotter the relay gets the lower the amperage it can put out plus also notice the operate voltage on the coil data...Notice it says 7.8v continuous and 1.2v minimum with 12v being nominal voltage...........

Also Notice it says nothing about 14.7 volts being nominal and should....LOL

These wrong relays cost Ron Francis $2.55 each yet the right ones needed cost $9.67....What is more cost effective and most overlooked by the average joe....?...Id say lack of knowledge when dealing with relays is right up there....
Screenshot 2021-12-18 214940.jpg


After an hour of straight cruising around the relays in my harness got so hot that the smallest bump caused the truck to cut out and stall so I stepped up to Standard brand 40amp relays with built in protection diodes that helped a lil but not entirely...

IMG_20211218_215121.jpg


Everything within the EEC-IV systems 12v circuit side should be directly connected to the 12v reference circuit on pin #37 and pin #57 where they converge together........The power must be all tapped off of a single circuit with-in the circuit tree thats powered off of the EEC relay and that ame relay also has a dedicated ground that goes to the battery or the unibody behind the battery.........Just like the schematic

On the RF harness they split pins #37 and #57 and did something Ive never seen before by putting power into #37 and using #37 and #57 to distribute it...I guess Scott didnt realize that pins #37 and 57 sense what voltage is left over after being shared by the whole tree of 12v powered sensors ,injectors,coil and TFI module into the 12v reference ports to be computed also convert into 5v for the rest of the sensors that require a 5v reference...

The EEC relay is the main player that feeds the ECU system and power is transferred from battery to ECU through a small contact that gets weak and oxidized/carbonized and carbonization weakens amperage................

88-91_5.0_EEC_Wiring_Diagram1.gif


So I cut my crappy fuse /relay block system out and low n behold I also find theres a huge lack of weatherproofing and the upper wire crimps arent holding the wiring sheathing either plus all the terminals were loose.........

IMG_20221010_115023.jpg



So now I have two 40 amp relays running the system like Ford did except I didnt trigger my fuelpump relay off of the #37/#57 circuit...I did it off of the keyswitch as the green wire which is tan on the RF harness coming off of pin #22 controls the fuelpump relay via the relay ground so when the fuelpump relay gets weak the ECU relay and system isnt affected ...

I also found out that RF melded all of the grounds together & MAKE YOU ATTACH THE ONE AND ONLY GROUND WIRE TO THE CYLINDER HEAD! The Noisiest spot on the whole vehicle too!

What Scott Bowers did when he designed the Ford harnesses is 100% wrong as the EEC-IV system uses a 2 wire grounding system coming off of pin #40 and pin #60 and uses pin #60 against pin #40 to measure the sensor resistance utilizing the cleanest grounding area on the whole vehicle. which is behind the battery as the battery is a cathode that absorbs noise thats why theres a small wire going from the battery to the unibody thats very important....

They also meld in the dirty 02 sensor ground aswell as the pulse regulated HEGO ground that needs to be seperately grounded just like pin #20 the ECU case ground that also grounds the TFI wiring shielding loop....

Scott Bowers basically turned the whole ECU box into a noise center and evenly distributing the noise so it is uniformly detected with-in the system mmaking the wiring deficiency barely acceptable but very problematic........................

Heres how the Ford EEC-IV grounding system should be run and NO other way..............What isnt shown is the 02 sensors as theyre the grounds that get grounded to the cylinder head... Now my harness has 6 seperate ground wires...

EEC IV Grounding method.png



My truck was running killer but still had the occaisional hiccups after an hour cruising then I noticed that on pin #4 of the schematic there was a 22kohm resistor in the schematic and noticed there was no resistor on my r/f harness on the IDM circuit nor any resistance...

IMG_20221022_194713.jpg
IMG_20221024_021944.jpg


So I bought 100 of them on Amazon for $5.00 and a pack of shrink tubing from Amazon for another $5.00 and made my own resistor thats also easy to replace as I was also told by the guy at ECU Exchange that age and voltage spikes from improper jumpstarting techniques can short the resistor out and it shorts to OPEN giving the circuit unfiltered power causing issues....Most fix the problem by constantly changing the cheap sensors instead of doing further diagnostics into why the problem started and believe me theres a RIGHT WAY and a WRONG WAY to jumpstart a vehicle,,,,LOL

I found out youre supposed to put the ground wire on the alternator of the vehicle being jumped and after the vehicle has started to leave the cables on for atleast 3 mins to prevent power surges to the system and if your vehicle doesnt start that way then you have a grounding issue....

The way to confirm is this: Take a Multimeter...put the negative on the battery...open the radiator cap and start the vehicle then put the positive probe in the radiator solution and see how much electrolysis is in the system them turn on all the accessories and see if voltage increases...If voltage increases you need a better ground plus some sacrificial anode rods too......LOL

When I conferred with the guy at ECU exchange he said that things get whacky with the TFI module,ignition coil and the ECU when the circuit is subjected to full unfiltered power when using an A9L computer and a 5 speed trans or a 5 speed conversion as those harnesses utilize the resistor inside a CCD [computer controlled dwell] type TFI module and once you lose the automatic transmission and pull the baumann plug you lose the TFI modules ability to control dwell through the ECU so now you must put a non-ccd type TFI module and add the 22kohm resistor into the wiring on pin #4 on the ecu plug going to the coil,tach and TFI module..

IMG_20221023_145354.jpg



After adding the 22kohm resistor I can honestly say my vehicle now runs and drives way better and the best its ever had plus my tach needle doesnt bounce around and is reading accurately...before my RPM's read 200rpm's higher and the needle ever so slightly fluxuated like it was getting Parkinsons disease....

Heres a picture of what a factory 22kohm resistor looks like in a Mustang....
20150328_105525_jpg_36c6d9ea0d3a0c6d83e2df41c16b2c0c1f790e1d.jpg
 
Last edited:
I found out that when RF seperated the EEC-IV systems with 4 general purpose relays it threw voltage issues especially when the MAF sensor power was melded with the dirty 02 sensor power on a noisy general purpose relay...

Screenshot 2022-10-03 122937.jpg


Look at the footnotes of the relays made for the harnesses made by Tyco.....

Notice it says not for automtive use as the first opener....The harnesses arent even certified for highway use either....


In case no-one knows that general purpose relays have no room in automotive use except for foglights....Theres 3 types of relays used in auto use...

Resistive

Inductive

Capacitive

Look at the part number and see theyre exact to RF's relays they use then look at the circled footnote....

If Ron Francis tried getting the harnesses they sell certified theyd be subject to PPAP and IMDS documentation and must abide by them....

Take a gander at the MAX. Continuous Current values....Notice the hotter the relay gets the lower the amperage it can put out plus also notice the operate voltage on the coil data...Notice it says 7.8v continuous and 1.2v minimum with 12v being nominal voltage...........

Also Notice it says nothing about 14.7 volts being nominal and should....LOL

These wrong relays cost Ron Francis $2.55 each yet the right ones needed cost $9.67....What is more cost effective and most overlooked by the average joe....?...Id say lack of knowledge when dealing with relays is right up there....
Screenshot 2021-12-18 214940.jpg


After an hour of straight cruising around the relays in my harness got so hot that the smallest bump caused the truck to cut out and stall so I stepped up to Standard brand 40amp relays with built in protection diodes that helped a lil but not entirely...

IMG_20211218_215121.jpg


Everything within the EEC-IV systems 12v circuit side should be directly connected to the 12v reference circuit on pin #37 and pin #57 where they converge together........The power must be all tapped off of a single circuit with-in the circuit tree thats powered off of the EEC relay and that ame relay also has a dedicated ground that goes to the battery or the unibody behind the battery.........Just like the schematic

On the RF harness they split pins #37 and #57 and did something Ive never seen before by putting power into #37 and using #37 and #57 to distribute it...I guess Scott didnt realize that pins #37 and 57 sense what voltage is left over after being shared by the whole tree of 12v powered sensors ,injectors,coil and TFI module into the 12v reference ports to be computed also convert into 5v for the rest of the sensors that require a 5v reference...

The EEC relay is the main player that feeds the ECU system and power is transferred from battery to ECU through a small contact that gets weak and oxidized/carbonized and carbonization weakens amperage................

88-91_5.0_EEC_Wiring_Diagram1.gif


So I cut my crappy fuse /relay block system out and low n behold I also find theres a huge lack of weatherproofing and the upper wire crimps arent holding the wiring sheathing either plus all the terminals were loose.........

IMG_20221010_115023.jpg



So now I have two 40 amp relays running the system like Ford did except I didnt trigger my fuelpump relay off of the #37/#57 circuit...I did it off of the keyswitch as the green wire which is tan on the RF harness coming off of pin #22 controls the fuelpump relay via the relay ground so when the fuelpump relay gets weak the ECU relay and system isnt affected ...

I also found out that RF melded all of the grounds together & MAKE YOU ATTACH THE ONE AND ONLY GROUND WIRE TO THE CYLINDER HEAD! The Noisiest spot on the whole vehicle too!

What Scott Bowers did when he designed the Ford harnesses is 100% wrong as the EEC-IV system uses a 2 wire grounding system coming off of pin #40 and pin #60 and uses pin #60 against pin #40 to measure the sensor resistance utilizing the cleanest grounding area on the whole vehicle. which is behind the battery as the battery is a cathode that absorbs noise thats why theres a small wire going from the battery to the unibody thats very important....

They also meld in the dirty 02 sensor ground aswell as the pulse regulated HEGO ground that needs to be seperately grounded just like pin #20 the ECU case ground that also grounds the TFI wiring shielding loop....

Scott Bowers basically turned the whole ECU box into a noise center and evenly distributing the noise so it is uniformly detected with-in the system mmaking the wiring deficiency barely acceptable but very problematic........................

Heres how the Ford EEC-IV grounding system should be run and NO other way..............What isnt shown is the 02 sensors as theyre the grounds that get grounded to the cylinder head... Now my harness has 6 seperate ground wires...

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My truck was running killer but still had the occaisional hiccups after an hour cruising then I noticed that on pin #4 of the schematic there was a 22kohm resistor in the schematic and noticed there was no resistor on my r/f harness on the IDM circuit nor any resistance...

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So I bought 100 of them on Amazon for $5.00 and a pack of shrink tubing from Amazon for another $5.00 and made my own resistor thats also easy to replace as I was also told by the guy at ECU Exchange that age and voltage spikes from improper jumpstarting techniques can short the resistor out and it shorts to OPEN giving the circuit unfiltered power causing issues....Most fix the problem by constantly changing the cheap sensors instead of doing further diagnostics into why the problem started and believe me theres a RIGHT WAY and a WRONG WAY to jumpstart a vehicle,,,,LOL

I found out youre supposed to put the ground wire on the alternator of the vehicle being jumped and after the vehicle has started to leave the cables on for atleast 3 mins to prevent power surges to the system and if your vehicle doesnt start that way then you have a grounding issue....

The way to confirm is this: Take a Multimeter...put the negative on the battery...open the radiator cap and start the vehicle then put the positive probe in the radiator solution and see how much electrolysis is in the system them turn on all the accessories and see if voltage increases...If voltage increases you need a better ground plus some sacrificial anode rods too......LOL

When I conferred with the guy at ECU exchange he said that things get whacky with the TFI module,ignition coil and the ECU when the circuit is subjected to full unfiltered power when using an A9L computer and a 5 speed trans or a 5 speed conversion as those harnesses utilize the resistor inside a CCD [computer controlled dwell] type TFI module and once you lose the automatic transmission and pull the baumann plug you lose the TFI modules ability to control dwell through the ECU so now you must put a non-ccd type TFI module and add the 22kohm resistor into the wiring on pin #4 on the ecu plug going to the coil,tach and TFI module..

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After adding the 22kohm resistor I can honestly say my vehicle now runs and drives way better and the best its ever had plus my tach needle doesnt bounce around and is reading accurately...before my RPM's read 200rpm's higher and the needle ever so slightly fluxuated like it was getting Parkinsons disease....

Heres a picture of what a factory 22kohm resistor looks like in a Mustang....
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That's a lot of tech to absorb, I've always pushed for separate grounds like factory when swapping fox engines/wiring into vintage stuff. Good info even if I had a hard time following. :confused:
 
I also left out more of the fact about the crappy terminal crimps as the wires started coming out of the ECU pins at pins #17/22 and 43 causing chaos and lots of stalling then me having to jump the fuelpump relay to get home....

So I had to cut the speed density ECU plug off my old truck harness...repin it then wire it in.,...

Notice the RF harness doesnt have this Orangy-Red Silicone wire protector to help the strain on the wires going into the pins like the OEM plug has??

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That's a lot of tech to absorb, I've always pushed for separate grounds like factory when swapping fox engines/wiring into vintage stuff. Good info even if I had a hard time following. :confused:
Nothing too hard to follow if you can look at the schematic and make sense of how the 12v circuit is run from the battery to the ECU on stock applications then on a Ron Francis Harness then realizing that the grounds have a reason for having two on two seperate pins on the same ECU with one wire populated and one dedicated..

Its having experience with both harnesses too is what really helps make sense of it all exposing Scott Bowers shoddy wiring practices plus doing hands on testing and gauging whether resolutions were met by the results of those tests..................

One of my jobs for the DOD was building repairing and testing firing solution boxes for the Apache helicopter and makes the EEC-IV system look like a lightbulb filament amplifier so I know how important r/f interference can riddle electronics..........

It took the govt 65 years to recognize flyback and its effects on sensative electronics and the biggest downfall cause of the Concourde starting after the Paris crash but most will argue and say it was a fuel use issue when the fuel guzzling engines could be made more efficient those days...................LOL

What is more beyond comprehension is how I took the carbs,camshafts and timing chain with gears out of this 89 Honda 600 and made it work with a custommade ECU with EFI and utilized Camless VVT technology using a high speed linear electro hydro solenoids that use part electric and part oil pressure from the oilpump and also supplys fuel pressure to the injectors instead of using an electric fuelpump which was being done at the same time as Koenigsegg and costed me 1/164th their costs in development and I beat them to the punch with a working model too but not to make millions either as the govt said that Koenigsegg was gonna have huge issues and hurdles to overcome with the EPA so I did mine to have a 1 of a kind vintage bike that can hit top speeds of 222mph revving 20k rpm's using modern tech when in 1989 it couldnt even hit 180mph and rev 12,000 pm's plus also to mention did my accolade using Hondas bike and parts with some of my tech melded in whereas Koenigsegg was building everything from the ground up so its not ntirely a victory worth noting.......LOL...........LOL

The system is so sophisticated its firing on a 2x2 cylinder configuration in the video and everything from the valvespring area down is untouched w/26,000 miles......The head was never removed and compression rate is also variable too..........


View: https://vimeo.com/659982906

Heres what it ran like before I started the VVT project.............My original plan was to turn it into a stuntbike.....


View: https://vimeo.com/659860665


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