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[da_jokker]

If that doesn't solve it..wonder if that battery monitoring sensor that attaches the negative post is having issues? After all that is the censor that the Bronco uses to monitor everything.

I hooked my winch negative to that open hole, and I've been wondering if I should be running it directly to the battery or not. The idea of pulling that many amps through that sensor does worry me a bit.

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[zuke]

If that doesn't solve it..wonder if that battery monitoring sensor that attaches the negative post is having issues? After all that is the censor that the Bronco uses to monitor everything.

I hope my winch negative to that open hole, and I've been wondering if I should be running it directly to the battery or not. The idea of pulling that many amps through that sensor does worry me a bit.

That's a pretty fair question!

My winch negative is hooked (Well Not hooked at all at the moment..) to the opposite side of the sensor from the battery, and I have, I think, 3 pulls on it while hooked up that way. Last pull was in September. And it hasn't seemed to have caused problems with the sensor, but then we all have seen failures that aren't immediate..

Wasn't motivated enough last night to deal with the cold, so Didn't do anything with it, Just about to head to the shop now and start doing more testing...

 

[da_jokker]

That's a pretty fair question!

My winch negative is hooked (Well Not hooked at all at the moment..) to the opposite side of the sensor from the battery, and I have, I think, 3 pulls on it while hooked up that way. Last pull was in September. And it hasn't seemed to have caused problems with the sensor, but then we all have seen failures that aren't immediate..

Wasn't motivated enough last night to deal with the cold, so Didn't do anything with it, Just about to head to the shop now and start doing more testing...

Well that's good to know. It feels strange running all those amps through that sensor, but maybe with designed to handle it (Wonder what the amp rating is And actually, to amps even come into play when we're talking the negative side?)

Of course, you are having electrical problems

 

[tdiddy]

If that doesn't solve it..wonder if that battery monitoring sensor that attaches the negative post is having issues? After all that is the censor that the Bronco uses to monitor everything.

I hooked my winch negative to that open hole, and I've been wondering if I should be running it directly to the battery or not. The idea of pulling that many amps through that sensor does worry me a bit.

The Ford Performance Winch instructions (step 44 on page 28) says to connect to the negative post open hole so I would think that's the correct location.

 

[zuke]

Of course, you are having electrical problems

Boy that's the truth!

I'm guessing, But not willing to cut the sensor apart to find out... That the sensor is not reading amperage or voltage directly.. Probably an inductive or shunt setup in there..

 

[zuke]

Well, I wish I could say something conclusive from my measurements so far.

I chose 4 points for measurement as shown in this picture;

Measurement from "G" to motor was 0 ohms at all times

Cold, before removing fog ground, sitting in the shop;


A 0 ohms
B .1 ohms
C 275K ohms
D .2 Ohms

Warmed up, Ran for a while, Nothing else changed.

A 0 ohms
B 0 ohms
C 250K ohms
D 0 Ohms

Fog Ground removed, still warm;

A 0 ohms
B 0 ohms
C 82K ohms
D 0 Ohms

Cooled back down, Ground removed;

A 0 ohms
B 0 ohms
C 2k ohms
D 0 Ohms

So it looks like removing the ground (Which allows the ground plate to lay flat on the body surface) seems to make a ppretty big difference at the one bolt, but not really much difference at "D" which is the cast aluminum bracket across the top of the radiator.

Current running through the body ground was not a really useful measurement, as it varied from .6 to 8 amps in every configuration I tried, Voltage difference in the different points (with engne running and not running) were pretty variable, and didn't look to be useful measurements either..

The resistance was obviously different with the ground removed vs in place, but I don't know if these numbers are big enough to really represent a problem.

 

[da_jokker]

Well, I wish I could say something conclusive from my measurements so far.

I chose 4 points for measurement as shown in this picture;

Measurement from "G" to motor was 0 ohms at all times

Cold, before removing fog ground, sitting in the shop;


A 0 ohms
B .1 ohms
C 275K ohms
D .2 Ohms

Warmed up, Ran for a while, Nothing else changed.

A 0 ohms
B 0 ohms
C 250K ohms
D 0 Ohms

Fog Ground removed, still warm;

A 0 ohms
B 0 ohms
C 82K ohms
D 0 Ohms

Cooled back down, Ground removed;

A 0 ohms
B 0 ohms
C 2k ohms
D 0 Ohms

So it looks like removing the ground (Which allows the ground plate to lay flat on the body surface) seems to make a ppretty big difference at the one bolt, but not really much difference at "D" which is the cast aluminum bracket across the top of the radiator.

Current running through the body ground was not a really useful measurement, as it varied from .6 to 8 amps in every configuration I tried, Voltage difference in the different points (with engne running and not running) were pretty variable, and didn't look to be useful measurements either..

The resistance was obviously different with the ground removed vs in place, but I don't know if these numbers are big enough to really represent a problem.

C does seem to fluctuate quite a bit. Did you check the grounds up by the firewall? I know there's a couple of smaller wires along the cowl edge. Actually there's probably ground wires all over the place So it may be a losing battle.

And I'm assuming you've already done the basics of making sure all the fuses are seated and the fuse box bolts and nuts are all tight? (Just because that's a known source for electrical Gremlins)

 

[da_jokker]

The Ford Performance Winch instructions (step 44 on page 28) says to connect to the negative post open hole so I would think that's the correct location.

Nice find! That's perfect, I feel better moving it there now.

Side note.. 1/0 wire is tough to work with and manipulate. May have gone with just 1 gauge if I did it over.

 

[Donkeygyrl]

First you have to find it,before you upgrade it.

 

[LockedBronco]

Nice find! That's perfect, I feel better moving it there now.

Side note.. 1/0 wire is tough to work with and manipulate. May have gone with just 1 gauge if I did it over.

Use welding wire easier to manipulate

 

[Ground_zero298]

Use welding wire easier to manipulate

Thick solder on a rolls my go to. Will try the welding wire. Thanks.

 

[zuke]

C does seem to fluctuate quite a bit. Did you check the grounds up by the firewall? I know there's a couple of smaller wires along the cowl edge. Actually there's probably ground wires all over the place So it may be a losing battle.

And I'm assuming you've already done the basics of making sure all the fuses are seated and the fuse box bolts and nuts are all tight? (Just because that's a known source for electrical Gremlins)

I'm thinking C is just not a very good choice to check, it's holding the structure to the frame, but the structure itself showed a good 0 ohms all the way across, what I should probably do is run some checks to points on the cowl and modesty panel back to the battery negative. I'll probably do that today, alhough everything acted normal on the way home last night.

I went over the fuse panel way back when I first put in the amps, because it had already been noted as a problem area then, but I went over it again yesterday as part of my checks. Didn't find anything loose, but tightened everything another quarter turn, and checked the seating of fuses. I hooked the amps and fogs backup, I redid all the wiring on the fogs, and checked for resistance and voltage drops. There was a voltage drop across the first pigtail I did, and a pin in it that wasn't latching right..

It could be a combination of multiple things, and I may have solved it already, but only time is gonna tell.

I worry about the longevity of modern car electrical systems, while reading about the many similar electrical problems others have had, several times the solution was replacement of a sub wiring harness. In ten years it will be very hard to find harnesses and the individual custom electrical connectors that are prevalent in modern cars... Hell, I can't find pins for C1400 now!

 

[LockedBronco]

Thick solder on a rolls my go to. Will try the welding wire. Thanks.

Sorry welding cable

 

[zuke]

Thinking further about it today... If I'm getting 0 ohms across the upper radiator mount, and a lot of resistance on that bolt marked as "C", Where is that ground path on the brace coming from? I think that's worthy of investigation today.

It could simply indicate that just that one bolt is isolated by paint in it's threads or something similar, or it could indicate the the entire structure the bolt goes into underneath doesn't have a good connection to ground. I'll check the bolt on the opposite side first, and then see if I can find a good point to check the area underneath the brace.

I see at least 6 bolts in the thing that it could be grounding through;

 

[BigMeatsBronco]

Interesting data point.

I wonder if the charge program is changeable in the PCM to make it a bit more aggressive..

Yes it is adjustable in forescan...OEM is set to 80% IIRC

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