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Spare wire from engine compartment to instrument panel

July 12, 2014, 10:58:03 pm

My 95 U240 has dual speed fans on radiator.  It also has a temperature controlled(220 deg.) high/low switch for the fans.  They default to low speed.  I have ran a wire across the floor from the ground side of the high/low switch to the dash and hooked it to a light switch and in turn is connected to ground.  So when the light switch is on the ground is connected to the high/low switch which is begin held in low speed by the temp control switch(solenoid intergized).  When the light switch is off the ground is removed from the high/low switch, deintergizing the solenoid and causing the fans to run on high speed.  I want to replace my wire across the floor with a spare wire in the wiring harness.  How do you find one?  It must run from engine to dash.

Pat,

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Re: Spare wire from engine compartment to instrument panel

Reply #1 – July 12, 2014, 11:17:40 pm

FOT thought you might want to do this so they left extra wires in the wiring harness. On my coach I found them under the dash on the drivers side and in a wiring loom in the engine compartment. Do a search for extra wires and you should get several post with pictures for where you can find the wires.

And here is the thread

extra wires

On my coach I used one of the extra wires to power a light to let me know when the radiator switched from low speed to high speed.

see ya
ken

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Re: Spare wire from engine compartment to instrument panel

Reply #2 – July 12, 2014, 11:26:29 pm

I started by finding one of the bundles in the engine compartment.  It was on the driver's side near the wiring for the tailer connection wiring.  Yours may be different.  Then I connected a wirer tracer to one of the wires (it sends a signl along the wire you chose.) Then up fron the probe detects the signal and gives of a sound which gets louder as you get closer to the other end of the wire and a strong noise when you get to the wire.  Made finding the spare wires up front easy.

Roger

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Re: Spare wire from engine compartment to instrument panel

Reply #3 – July 12, 2014, 11:37:57 pm

Just noticed you said your high speed mode comes on at 220˚. That sounds way too high. Mine comes on at about 190˚-195˚. I don't blame you for putting the override switch in. You might want to check with Foretravel and find out what temp the high/low switch should be cutting in.

It saves fuel by cutting in later (it takes less fuel to power the fans in low speed mode) but 220˚ doesn't make sense to me.

see ya
ken

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Re: Spare wire from engine compartment to instrument panel

Reply #4 – July 12, 2014, 11:39:35 pm

Go to the engine compartment with your wire schematic.  Find the wire bundle and start looking at the wire numbers on the wires.  As Roger said, they are probably with the trailer wires, or tail light wires.  Some might have "spare" printed on them.  The same might be on the same bundle when it gets to your dash board. 

Foretravel was nice enough to put extra wire in many of the bundles going to different area of the coach.

Check the wire numbers and compare the to the wiring diagram.

Good luck!

Mike B.

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Re: Spare wire from engine compartment to instrument panel

Reply #5 – July 13, 2014, 10:37:41 am

Without going to look at my book to get specifics, there will be a couple bundles in the back end. Wires are labeled (on mine) EX1, EX2... And then a number something like 2088.  Another bundle might be EX1 with a number like 32894.  All of the EX wires with the same numbers go to the same place either behind the dash on the drivers side or up into the overhead area above the drivers side.  There were extra wires on mine from the dash area up to the overhead as well.  The wires behind the dash will be tightly bundled and coiled up
And likely wire tied to other wires.  Clip wire ties to get at what you need.  You can always add more wireties later.

The wiring diagrams and the list of wires, their numbers, color and what they are used for is a great way to figure things out and to learn about how electical stuff works.  If you don't have a user manual try to find one, find a PDF copy or get aomeone who has one for your year and model to copy the pages for you.

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Re: Spare wire from engine compartment to instrument panel

Reply #6 – July 13, 2014, 11:55:43 am

Pat, here's photos of the extras on our 95 U-300.
Engine: I've found this bundle in the same place on our 225, 320 and this one. They are contained within a loom which is probably wire tied to other looms. You just have to clean it up down there, maybe separate the looms and look closely. I used one of these for a Jake brake switch modification. These wires terminate under the dash.
Dash: Mine are on the far left but covered by other wires. Pretty hard to find.
Above Pax Cabinet: Mine were pushed down in the recess against the wall fiberglass. This bundle runs down the wall, across the dash and terminates in the same area as the wires running from the back to the dash.

If you can't find them, Roger's wire tester method really helps.

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Re: Spare wire from engine compartment to instrument panel

Reply #7 – July 13, 2014, 11:08:17 pm

Thanks to all of you.  I will start looking for the spares under the dash first thing in the am. I will update the thread with what I find.

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Re: Spare wire from engine compartment to instrument panel

Reply #8 – July 14, 2014, 11:05:52 am

I found a wire loom at the right rear corner, had 6 wires(large red, large black, yellow, brown, purple.  Found under dash bundled together at center of dash.  Hooked it up, and now I have manual control over high/low fan speeds.  Thanks again for all the help.

Pat

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