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Installing remote entry

I'm installing a remote entry system in my 2003 Ford E350. I've found a good spot under the dash to mount the unit. Now comes the wiring.

I'll need to find 4 different wires to tap into. The door lock, the running lights, horn, and +12 continuous.

Questions on options. First, the door lock. Under the dash, very little is accessible. I'd have to remove the parking brake to get a clean shot at the wires coming in from the drivers door. I'm thinking it may be easier to remove the door panel & snake the wire in with the bundle. Thoughts & experience appreciated.

Second is the horn. If I'm not mistaken, I believe the horn works by grounding one side of a relay circuit. I'll probably pull the column cover & start hunting for the right wire. If it's a ground, any thoughts on locating which wire?

The other two wires shouldn't be too difficult. I can catch the running lights with a wire leaving the headlight switch. +12 should have multiple sources.

Yes, a proper wiring diagram would be best. It's a new van under warranty, so I don't expect to need the manuals until I'm doing my own work on it. If anyone out there has manuals & can give me some color codes, that would be great. I suspect that all the wires I need go thru the firewall in the one big bundle behind the fuse box.

-Jeff Deeney-

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Jeff Deeney
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From experience snaking the wire in with the bundle is a bad idea, at least for me. It just doesn't want to snake. The best approach is remove the door panel, jot down the door lock wire color. Locate and tap into this wire at the parking brake.

Best way is to remove the steering cover and identify it there. Pull the horn fuse and push the horn button. Use a DMM, test light, etc, since I've no diagram.

-- Milo

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Indiån §ummer

Thanks. Worked like a charm. The door bundle came in behind the kick panel, so I didn't have to remove the parking brake after all. I was able to get the wire colors just by popping out the switch section of the console.

Using the horn fuse is a great idea. Next stop is the steering column. I just discovered I need to hook up a

12V keyed source before the remote will work. What's one more wire in the column?

-Jeff Deeney-

Reply to
Jeff Deeney

You might not want to use the horn fuse. Most cars are design such that a single wire from the horn button grounds one side of the relay. The other side of the relay goes to the fuse.

In this approach it's far easier to tap into one of the relay pins, or the single wire from the horn button. Here's how to probe single wire. Connect a DMM pos side to (+) batt and the other to any wire that you suspect is the horn wire. The idea of using a DMM is that it has high impedance, which avoids damaging sensitive computers.

This is a simple wire. Since the steering cover is removed, the ignition switch is left exposed. Of the 4-6 wires bunch up at the ignition, at least one is what you want. Caution: some wires are live. :-)

Legal stuff: If probing wires from the steering wheel, most cars will mark their air bag wire in Yellow. Some BMW and a few others makes don't. DO NOT probe airbag wires. Do not sit in front of the air bag. If you're a classical music lover, use earplugs, in case a bag explode from probing the wrong wire with the wrong DMM setting - very unlikely. Optional, but you might want to remove the horn fuse to avoid disturbing the neighbors.

-- Milo

Reply to
Indiån §ummer

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