Completely lost trying to wire my 2002 LS1 into my FC

[93rat]

Im electronically retarded. Im not being modest. I literally don't have a basic understanding of electrical components or how they work.

I sent my GM harness off to ronin and had them tear through/simplify it for me a few months ago. I am now done with the majority of the mechanical work for my build, and need to start splicing this harness into the body. The problem is, I CANNOT make sense of the ronin directions (not a dig at them. Again, Im electronically retarded). I can't even find the ignition-on wire, much less decipher the very few wiring diagrams I had been able to find for the FC. I definitely have searched, but I need the super dumbed down version. The dumb-dumb version. We're talking picture-book stupid. Everyone in the threads I've found seems to be helped by diagrams/directions that sound similar to mandarin to me.

Am I just better off taking this in somewhere to have it wired? I felt confident in my ability to learn how to do this, but I am completely overwhelmed and feeling defeated after the last 8 months of this build. If anyone has any helpful links or pictures, it would be much appreciated.

[cool]

where are you located?

[W.tungsten]

I feel ya, wiring is very intimidating at first, but as you go it becomes easier and easier. Honestly, once you have the +12V switched on with ignition everything else should be ok. Sounds like they grab an ignition-on from near the ignition switch (key). If you're scared of breaking into the harness for now what you can do is go into your fuse box and check for a circuit that goes +12v with ignition on.

Do you have a multimeter?

[largeorangefont]

I can send you my wiring notes if that might help.. it is where I tapped into everything for the harness.

[sciff5]

Before wiring my Ls1 in my FC I had sat once with a friend observing him wire a fuel pump and I had wired an Amp directly to the battery with an inline fuse.
Suffice to say I was a little light on wiring experience, and I made it through.


What you need to understand is how a relay is wired, and they all work the same, whether they're controlling your Fan or your fuel pump.
Once you've got the concept of wiring a relay down, its just about finding a good source for 12v constant (could be the battery it's self with an inline fuse if you wanna do it ghetto) and 12v switched power (could get it from the ignition switch it's self also with an inline fuse if you want the most simple/ghetto fab solution)

It's better to use the 12v constant and 12v switched thats provided by the existing engine harness though so it's under the right fuse for easy diagnosis later, again the difficulty here is not the concept, it's just finding the right damn wires/pins after looking through stupid wiring diagrams. This is what takes time and seems so intimidating, but it isn't it's just a pain in the ass scavenger hunt.

But if you can do the above, The only other wires needed are the tach which just requires finding the wire, again just a scavenger hunt for the right wiring diagram

[93rat]

where are you located?

Im in St. Louis, MO.

I feel ya, wiring is very intimidating at first, but as you go it becomes easier and easier. Honestly, once you have the +12V switched on with ignition everything else should be ok. Sounds like they grab an ignition-on from near the ignition switch (key). If you're scared of breaking into the harness for now what you can do is go into your fuse box and check for a circuit that goes +12v with ignition on.

Do you have a multimeter?

I do have a multimeter, but im going to have to learn how to use it properly

I can send you my wiring notes if that might help.. it is where I tapped into everything for the harness.

If you have them handy, that would be much appreciated. Anything would help at this point.

Before wiring my Ls1 in my FC I had sat once with a friend observing him wire a fuel pump and I had wired an Amp directly to the battery with an inline fuse.
Suffice to say I was a little light on wiring experience, and I made it through.


What you need to understand is how a relay is wired, and they all work the same, whether they're controlling your Fan or your fuel pump.
Once you've got the concept of wiring a relay down, its just about finding a good source for 12v constant (could be the battery it's self with an inline fuse if you wanna do it ghetto) and 12v switched power (could get it from the ignition switch it's self also with an inline fuse if you want the most simple/ghetto fab solution)

It's better to use the 12v constant and 12v switched thats provided by the existing engine harness though so it's under the right fuse for easy diagnosis later, again the difficulty here is not the concept, it's just finding the right damn wires/pins after looking through stupid wiring diagrams. This is what takes time and seems so intimidating, but it isn't it's just a pain in the ass scavenger hunt.

But if you can do the above, The only other wires needed are the tach which just requires finding the wire, again just a scavenger hunt for the right wiring diagram

Thanks for the direction. I will research relays and how they function, maybe that will help shed some light on this.

[largeorangefont]

First download all the wiring sections in the FSM.
Then look up a you tube video on how to use a multimeter to test for voltage, continuity etc. Use your daily driver to test yourself make sure you understand.
Look up how to wire relays
Read and reread the wiring instructions Ronin gave you.

Poke around in the car, and start identifying wires before you start connecting or cutting anything.

To get the ECU to work in the car all you need are:

Ground
12V switched power
12v constant
set up a relay for your fan(s) - ECU pulses ground for fans
Set up a relay for your fuel pump - ECU pulses 12v+ for fuel pump
Connect OBD plug to ECU, 12V constand and ground
Connect CEL lamp
Connect tach signal
Connect speedo signal

You are going to need to add a small auxilary fuse panel for the things below:

You'll need to connect things near the ignition switch. That is where you will pull 12V constant, 12V switch, and 12V to engage the starter. You'll see a few thick wires coming off of the back of it, that travel down the steering column. Those are it.

You'll need to add a fuel pump relay somewhere in the car. Adding it in the back near the driver side shock tower area is pretty easy. After adding the relay, you just have to tap into one wire to make it work.

You'll need to wire up a relay for your radiator fan.

You'll need to tap into the cluster harness to make the tach work, and whatever you do for the speedo. Also to add a CEL if you want one.


These are my notes of where I tapped into each wire on the car, with where they terminated. You'll notice there are a couple wires that change color along the way, that is because I did not have wire colors that matched factory or GM ECU wire colors.


Fuel Pump Wiring            Original blue power wire with yellow stripe used as signal wire to relay coil. Signal wire tapped behind dead pedal with 14 AWG yellow wire with black tracer, Yellow/black wire runs to ECU fuse panel in passenger footwell. ECU fuel pump signal wire 20 AWG green with white tracer runs to other side of ECU fuse panel. New fuel pump relay with integrated fuse in trunk area, wired to original E-04 plug. Relay ground wired to E-04 factory ground. 12V Power direct from battery.


Fan and relay Wiring            1 relay per fan. Left relay controls left side fan and right relay controls right side fan. Dark Blue 14 AWG wire in front chassis harness spliced to coil wire of both 40A relays with integrated fuse (green wires on relay sockets). Dark blue wire is soldered to fan signal wire from ECU harness (20 AWG green wire).  ECU pulses ground for fan control. Black wire on relay socket (other side of coil) is spliced to Yellow 14ga wire in front chassis harness. Yellow wire runs to 12v switched on ECU fuse panel in passenger footwell. White 14 AWG wire runs from fuse panel to switched 12V on steering column, see 12v switched section in wiring notes.

12V constant            This is the thick white wire with pink tracer on the ignition switch. After ignition switch plug, wire changes to all black. Red 14 AWG wire ran to black wire at ignition switch plug on steering column. Red wire ran to ECU fuse panel.(2) 20 AWG red wires from  fuse panel. 1 runs to 12V constant on OBD plug. The other is spliced to orange 20 AWG wire on ECU harness 

12V switched            This is the thick black wire with yellow tracer on the ignition switch. After ignition switch plug, wire changes to black with a white tracer. White 14 AWG wire ran to black wire with white tracer at ignition switch plug on steering column. White wire ran to ECU fuse panel and jumped across 3 ports on fuse panel. First is 12v switched to ECU, this is a pink 20 AWG wire that runs to the ECU harness. Second is Yellow 14 AWG wire for fan relay. Third is White 14 AWG wire for Accusump, this runs to center gauge panel switch.

Starter            This is the thick black wire with red tracer on the ignition switch. After ignition switch plug, wire changes to black with a green tracer. Black 12 AWG wire ran to black wire with green tracer at ignition switch plug on steering column. Black wire ran to purple 12 AWG wire on ECU harness. Purple wire runs to starter solenoid.

OBD plug            Green 20 AWG wire from ECU harness for data, red 20 AWG wire from ECU fuse panel for 12v constant, other 2 wires to ground.

Tach signal            White 20 AWG wire from ECU harness soldered to yellow 20 AWG wire and ran to instrument cluster

Speedometer signal            Dark green w/ white wire from red plug in GM engine harness, pin 50 (VSS output signal) to Purple 20 AWG wire  soldered to blue 20 AWG wire and ran to instrument cluster.

CEL            Brown with white tracer 20 AWG wire from ECU harness soldered to green 20 AWG wire and ran to instrument cluster

Diff Temp            Diff temp uses original Low Fuel Light wire - 20 AWG white wire with red tracer. Wire tapped behind dead pedal and ran to original E-04 plug in trunk area. Red 20 AWG wire from dead pedal ran to gauge, Red 14 AWG wire used from fuel pump hat to differential.

Fuel level            Factory 20 AWG wire white with green tracer used from fuel tank to gauge cluster plug.

[93rat]

First download all the wiring sections in the FSM.
Then look up a you tube video on how to use a multimeter to test for voltage, continuity etc. Use your daily driver to test yourself make sure you understand.
Look up how to wire relays
Read and reread the wiring instructions Ronin gave you.

Poke around in the car, and start identifying wires before you start connecting or cutting anything.

To get the ECU to work in the car all you need are:

Ground
12V switched power
12v constant
set up a relay for your fan(s) - ECU pulses ground for fans
Set up a relay for your fuel pump - ECU pulses 12v+ for fuel pump
Connect OBD plug to ECU, 12V constand and ground
Connect CEL lamp
Connect tach signal
Connect speedo signal

You are going to need to add a small auxilary fuse panel for the things below:

You'll need to connect things near the ignition switch. That is where you will pull 12V constant, 12V switch, and 12V to engage the starter. You'll see a few thick wires coming off of the back of it, that travel down the steering column. Those are it.

You'll need to add a fuel pump relay somewhere in the car. Adding it in the back near the driver side shock tower area is pretty easy. After adding the relay, you just have to tap into one wire to make it work.

You'll need to wire up a relay for your radiator fan.

You'll need to tap into the cluster harness to make the tach work, and whatever you do for the speedo. Also to add a CEL if you want one.


These are my notes of where I tapped into each wire on the car, with where they terminated. You'll notice there are a couple wires that change color along the way, that is because I did not have wire colors that matched factory or GM ECU wire colors.


Fuel Pump Wiring            Original blue power wire with yellow stripe used as signal wire to relay coil. Signal wire tapped behind dead pedal with 14 AWG yellow wire with black tracer, Yellow/black wire runs to ECU fuse panel in passenger footwell. ECU fuel pump signal wire 20 AWG green with white tracer runs to other side of ECU fuse panel. New fuel pump relay with integrated fuse in trunk area, wired to original E-04 plug. Relay ground wired to E-04 factory ground. 12V Power direct from battery.


Fan and relay Wiring            1 relay per fan. Left relay controls left side fan and right relay controls right side fan. Dark Blue 14 AWG wire in front chassis harness spliced to coil wire of both 40A relays with integrated fuse (green wires on relay sockets). Dark blue wire is soldered to fan signal wire from ECU harness (20 AWG green wire).  ECU pulses ground for fan control. Black wire on relay socket (other side of coil) is spliced to Yellow 14ga wire in front chassis harness. Yellow wire runs to 12v switched on ECU fuse panel in passenger footwell. White 14 AWG wire runs from fuse panel to switched 12V on steering column, see 12v switched section in wiring notes.

12V constant            This is the thick white wire with pink tracer on the ignition switch. After ignition switch plug, wire changes to all black. Red 14 AWG wire ran to black wire at ignition switch plug on steering column. Red wire ran to ECU fuse panel.(2) 20 AWG red wires from  fuse panel. 1 runs to 12V constant on OBD plug. The other is spliced to orange 20 AWG wire on ECU harness 

12V switched            This is the thick black wire with yellow tracer on the ignition switch. After ignition switch plug, wire changes to black with a white tracer. White 14 AWG wire ran to black wire with white tracer at ignition switch plug on steering column. White wire ran to ECU fuse panel and jumped across 3 ports on fuse panel. First is 12v switched to ECU, this is a pink 20 AWG wire that runs to the ECU harness. Second is Yellow 14 AWG wire for fan relay. Third is White 14 AWG wire for Accusump, this runs to center gauge panel switch.

Starter            This is the thick black wire with red tracer on the ignition switch. After ignition switch plug, wire changes to black with a green tracer. Black 12 AWG wire ran to black wire with green tracer at ignition switch plug on steering column. Black wire ran to purple 12 AWG wire on ECU harness. Purple wire runs to starter solenoid.

OBD plug            Green 20 AWG wire from ECU harness for data, red 20 AWG wire from ECU fuse panel for 12v constant, other 2 wires to ground.

Tach signal            White 20 AWG wire from ECU harness soldered to yellow 20 AWG wire and ran to instrument cluster

Speedometer signal            Dark green w/ white wire from red plug in GM engine harness, pin 50 (VSS output signal) to Purple 20 AWG wire  soldered to blue 20 AWG wire and ran to instrument cluster.

CEL            Brown with white tracer 20 AWG wire from ECU harness soldered to green 20 AWG wire and ran to instrument cluster

Diff Temp            Diff temp uses original Low Fuel Light wire - 20 AWG white wire with red tracer. Wire tapped behind dead pedal and ran to original E-04 plug in trunk area. Red 20 AWG wire from dead pedal ran to gauge, Red 14 AWG wire used from fuel pump hat to differential.

Fuel level            Factory 20 AWG wire white with green tracer used from fuel tank to gauge cluster plug.

Wow. That is extremely helpful, and thorough. I sincerely appreciate your time. Im going to do some reading on relays/multimeters and report my progress once I get into the groove of things.

[largeorangefont]

No problem.

In all honesty it is not that hard. If you got the mechanical part done, you can do the electrical.

Between the FSM available for download, the guides here, and learning to use the multimeter and wire up relays, you'll be OK.

You'll need a fuse block, and some relays. I cheated a bit and used relays with integrated fuses for my fans and fuel pump. It cut down on some of the wiring but I have fuses in a few extra places instead of centralized in 1 or 2 locations.

There are other premade products that are a fuse block with integrated relays for $50-60 bucks as well.

And by the way I run a Ronin modified harness as well, so if you are running a 99-02 Fbody ECU, all the wiring in my notes that goes to the "ECU harness" should match, but VSS (speedo output) may be slightly different as I had to modify it.

[93rat]

No problem.

In all honesty it is not that hard. If you got the mechanical part done, you can do the electrical.

Between the FSM available for download, the guides here, and learning to use the multimeter and wire up relays, you'll be OK.

You'll need a fuse block, and some relays. I cheated a bit and used relays with integrated fuses for my fans and fuel pump. It cut down on some of the wiring but I have fuses in a few extra places instead of centralized in 1 or 2 locations.

There are other premade products that are a fuse block with integrated relays for $50-60 bucks as well.

And by the way I run a Ronin modified harness as well, so if you are running a 99-02 Fbody ECU, all the wiring in my notes that goes to the "ECU harness" should match, but VSS (speedo output) may be slightly different as I had to modify it.

More good info. I know ronin offers a fuse block, might be worth a second glance. And yes Im running a 2002 ECU, so this should be a good match. Thanks again 

[digitalsolo]

Something to remember:   Electrical wires are just pipes moving fluid.   It's just that the fluid is directional (electrons).      Not scary.   Just like pipes, you have to make sure there are no leaks (good connections) and make sure they're big enough for the flow you need.

[akirk92]

Years later and this is still helpful! I'm in the same boat as the OP, currently struggling with the wiring.  I have my harness and fusebox prepped with wires ready to join the chassis harness.  I just want some clarification, when you say

12V constant            This is the thick white wire with pink tracer on the ignition switch. After ignition switch plug, wire changes to all black. Red 14 AWG wire ran to black wire at ignition switch plug on steering column. Red wire ran to ECU fuse panel.(2) 20 AWG red wires from  fuse panel. 1 runs to 12V constant on OBD plug. The other is spliced to orange 20 AWG wire on ECU harness 

Did you cut the black wire and solder/crimp it to the red wire?  Meaning the ignition switch harness is untouched, but the other side of the connector is where you joined in the new wire?