Ford F-Series Super Duty Trucks - Wiring Factory Auxiliary Upfitter Switches

If you are looking to use the factory upfitter switches in a Ford F-Series Super Duty Truck (F-150, F250, F350, F450, F550) then this tip may be helpful to you. 

The 4 factory switches are typically located on the lower passenger side of the dash, below the stereo.

 They can be used to power and control additional accessories, when the vehicles ignition switch is in the on position.  

The auxiliary upfitter switch wires aren't typically the wires you will clearly see right bellow the driver side steering column. 

You can typically find the wires and the relays under the plastic cover, located on the end of the driver side dash.

Once that cover is removed, you should see the black relay pack. 

You can remove the black cover to reveal the 4 auxiliary switch relays. The output wires will be located below the relay pack, coming out of factory black split loom. 

 Near the output wires, you should see a white tag that identifies the aux output wire colors with the aux switch number. 

AUX 1 - Yellow

AUX 2 - Green/Brown

AUX 3 - Violet/Green

AUX 4 - Brown 

You should be able to located the fuses for the auxiliary switches in the fuse panel to identify the max current for each switch. I believe AUX 1-2 are 30 Amps, and AUX 3-4 are 10 Amps.

If you need more room to work, you can unclip the relay pack and pull it out under the driver steering column right near the parking brake.

You can also then gain access to the wiring off the back of each auxiliary relay.

Hope this helps!

- JEREMY

Car Audio Tips 

Turn Cigarette Outlet from Constant 12V Into Switched 12V.

It's becoming more common for vehicles to come equipped with cigarette outlet plugs that don't turn off with the ignition switch. I recently had someone who didn't want his cigarette outlet to stay on all the time, and this was what I did using a standard SPDT Relay.  

This was done on a 2010-2012 Ford Fusion. Under the dash on the left side, above the driver kick panel you will see the small fuse panel. To the right of that there will be a gray harness with a 14-16 gauge Purple/Green wire, that should be the "Switched 12 Volt Accessory Wire". When you test it with a digital multi meter it should read 0 when the key is off, 12 volt in the acc. position, 12 volt in the run position, but should shut off and read 0 during crank. This diagram will work on pretty much any vehicle, the difference will be finding the "Switched 12 Volt Accessory Wire". Most of the time you can find it coming off the ignition switch, but the colors will vary. To note, it doesn't matter what wire you interrupt coming off the cigarette plug, It will work using either wire.

-Jeremy's Car Audio Tips

#caraudio #car #electronics #sandiego #12volt

02-Up Ford Expedition Tip For Retaining Overhead DVD Player When Installing Aftermarket Stereo.

If you are going to be installing an aftermarket stereo in a 2002-Up Ford Expedition you may want to check to see if the vehicle is equipped with a factory overhead DVD player. If it is, you may want to purchase a "factory overhead retention harness". If you don't, and  just leave this secondary harness as is the factory overhead will not work.

Depending on factory stereo system in the vehicle, will depend on the harness you will need. For most 2002-2004 Expeditions the Metra 70-5520AV will work, for  most 2004-2006 Expeditions non-navigation the FRD03-DVD will work, if the Expedition is equipped with a "Can-Bus" system you will need the FRD04-DVD. If you want the overhead audio to play threw the new stereo system, I would recommend getting a aftermarket stereo with rear audio inputs. Otherwise you will have to adapt the RCA's to a 3.5 Aux and connect it to the face of the stereo, assuming your new stereo has at least a audio Aux input on the face. Well, hopefully this helps!

-Jeremy's Car Audio Tips
#car #caraudio #tips #12volt #sandiego

Classic Ford Map Light Repair.

If you have a classic Ford that has one of these "map lights" that is not working. Here is the common fix. First take a digital multi meter and make sure you have 12v at the main power wire under the map light. Once you confirm the power wire is ok and the actual light bulb is good, you can move on to this step. 

this little pin switch is most likely the problem

you must first remove the plastic cover by cutting the small plastic welded points

once you carefully remove the plastic cover, be carful not to lose the spring that holds the metal conection ring in place 

you now need to clean the contacts and the copper connection ring with a wire brush, once it's free of corrosion resemble reversing the order used to dissemble 

 you will now need to find a way to keep that plastic cover in its original place, I used plastic welder glue. Super glue or a good strong quick drying glue should work just fine

And that's it!! All done, I actually really like these map lights, I wish I had one in my truck :)

-Jeremy's Car Audio Tips
#ford #fordmustang #car #caraudio #caraudiotips #sandiego #12volt