Anyone having this FiTech Issue?

[work765]

Thanks Chris

Another question to anyone:
So basically every time I go to start it up when it's cold it won't start up unless I prime it 3-4 times. If I turn the car off and then on again immediately it will fire up. But if I wait only 30 mins. I will have to prime it it again a few times. It just turns over but won't start start.

So I called tech today and they said it sounds like I don't have 12volts to the crank. He said specifically the white wire. I hooked the white wire up to the wire I have going to my radio/ignition. Where do you guys have your white wire?? Can I check that easily with a meter?

Also my handheld doesn't always lite up right away. It will be gray or white and not come on until the car is fired up and I unplug and replug it. He said its probably a weak batter. Thoughts?

 

[bteutsch]

I ran my white wire to the green/red stripe wire that's on the back of the key switch. Really I actually ran a wire from the green/red wire at the key switch to a relay I mounted near the battery. Then ran the white wire from the relay. Shouldn't matter as long as you get a good 12 volts in run and start. I haven't had any issues with the handheld not powering up. I can't remember if it automatically lights up or if I have to tap the joystick button first, but it always comes right on. Never had to unplug it and plug it back in. I don't see why you couldn't check voltage with a meter at both the white wire, and possibly the power wire for the handheld.


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[work765]

I ran my white wire to the green/red stripe wire that's on the back of the key switch. Really I actually ran a wire from the green/red wire at the key switch to a relay I mounted near the battery. Then ran the white wire from the relay. Shouldn't matter as long as you get a good 12 volts in run and start. I haven't had any issues with the handheld not powering up. I can't remember if it automatically lights up or if I have to tap the joystick button first, but it always comes right on. Never had to unplug it and plug it back in. I don't see why you couldn't check voltage with a meter at both the white wire, and possibly the power wire for the handheld.


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Maybe this is a dumb question. But I have my white wire spliced together with my radio into that ignition wire.

If the radio has a draw and the fitech has one. Will that reduce the over all power? Does it work that way?


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[bteutsch]

I would not think that it would affect it. But you might try using another source just to test it out. I initially ran my white wire off of the resistor wire running to the coil. At the coil positive. It ran fine but I worried about the voltage dropping with the resistor wire. I think most of the power is supplied by the red wire in the FITECH harness. So check that wire also. I think the white wire signals the unit to turn on. Anything is possible at this point, could be a defective handheld or power issue, ignition switch etc. Keep testing it until you can narrow it down. You may could run the white wire directly to the battery just to test it.


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[ChrisC74]

Thanks Chris

Another question to anyone:
So basically every time I go to start it up when it's cold it won't start up unless I prime it 3-4 times. If I turn the car off and then on again immediately it will fire up. But if I wait only 30 mins. I will have to prime it it again a few times. It just turns over but won't start start.

So I called tech today and they said it sounds like I don't have 12volts to the crank. He said specifically the white wire. I hooked the white wire up to the wire I have going to my radio/ignition. Where do you guys have your white wire?? Can I check that easily with a meter?

Also my handheld doesn't always lite up right away. It will be gray or white and not come on until the car is fired up and I unplug and replug it. He said its probably a weak batter. Thoughts?

I am on my second handheld. The first one had a bad connection where the wires inserted. If I put pressure to the side in the plug it would power up but when I let go it would shut off.

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[DirtDonk]

...So I called tech today and they said it sounds like I don't have 12volts to the crank. He said specifically the white wire. I hooked the white wire up to the wire I have going to my radio/ignition. Where do you guys have your white wire?? Can I check that easily with a meter?

Definitely change it to another location. Just in case.
Normally your radio does NOT have power in START because it's on the ACC terminal of the ignition switch. Don't remember what harness you have (White is not a factory color for the radio I don't think?) but if the ignition switch is stock then the function is very likely the same
The only wires that have power in both RUN and START are the Red w/green and Green w/red that come from a common point on the ignition switch. All other wires are dead in START (except for the start wire of course.).

...If the radio has a draw and the fitech has one. Will that reduce the over all power? Does it work that way?

Yes it does work that way. With a new or well designed harness, this is not much of an issue. But with an old factory harness with possibly undersized wires, old tired connections and corroded points all over the place, it's usually not a good idea to share duties on one circuit if if can be avoided.
Like adding more circuits with moderate to heavy draws directly to the ignition switch, this should only be done if you absolutely have to.

So refresh my memory anyway... What chassis electrical harness is your Bronco running on? And what, if anything, have to added in the way of improved ground circuits?

Paul

 

[work765]

I have it going to a yellow with a black stripe. I just assumed it was fine to use because it turns my radio on when I turn the key to the left(when the engine is not on) but maybe this isn't 12volts?


Paul, I believe it's just a stock harness from a 76. Maybe some bad splices here and there. But I think it's stock


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[LilMixedUp]

all I know is I have read this whole post and it is scaring me... The FiTech was very high on my list of upgrade items for the daily driver, but I can't afford to be down and stranded as often as I'm reading/hearing. Guess I'll stay with good 'ol Holley for a while longer till ya'll and FiTech get all these bugs worked out.

 

[DirtDonk]

I have it going to a yellow with a black stripe. I just assumed it was fine to use because it turns my radio on when I turn the key to the left(when the engine is not on) but maybe this isn't 12volts?...

In a 40 year old wiring harness, it's only 12v if you measure it and the meter says it's 12v. Things just get old.
But the bottom line is that you don't need, or want, an ACCESSORY wire powering your ECU. That would mean it's on any time you're just sitting there listening to the radio or checking things, and as previously discussed, it's very likely not powered in START mode like your FiTech tech advisor says it needs.
In most older vehicles, and likely most newer ones as well, the accessories are not powered in START. Of course it's easy enough to test that theory with your ears and the radio on, or a volt-meter on the circuit. Or you could just go to Plan-B and connect it to one of the Green wires (Green w/red or Red w/green).

So find the Green wires coming from the back of the ignition switch and tap into one of those.
I realize that the radio circuit seems safe, as it's not a critical function in case something messes up, but the ECU is pretty critical to your engine running so no matter where you power it up from, you want it reliable and powered as expected by the computer and FiTech.

Did you add, update or at least make sure your existing ground wires on the chassis side of the wiring were up to snuff? If not, you should. Lots of discussions about it.

Since I'm a big fan of not using the old ignition switch all by itself to power up lots of new-fangled accessories, I like the idea of using the Green wire to power a relay to power the ECU. But just to get you rolling along (hopefully) tap into one of the two circuits I mentioned (carefully) and see if that helps.

Paul

 

[work765]

Is the main wire coming right off the back of the ignition switch the one with the nut and bolt? It's black and green. Is that the green one with 12volts to ignition?

There are a ton ofwires back there and it's bit of a pain to tell what's what.

And yes, I added an additional ground to the TBI.

Also I put the meter on my original splice(white wire, radio, ignition) and it read 12volts when I turned the key to the pre-start position(right). But I didn't crank it over. It was like 11 point something. I just cut the wire and figured I would do what you guys said.


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[bteutsch]

The one with the stud and nut is the accessory terminal, the all of the other connections come from the black connector that's held on by that stud and nut. The green/red stripe wire shares the same connection point as the coil resistor wire, mine is pink. It's. Wire #16 in the seabiscuit 68-71 ignition and charging system diagram.
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[DirtDonk]

Is the main wire coming right off the back of the ignition switch the one with the nut and bolt? It's black and green. Is that the green one with 12volts to ignition?

Nope. As bteutsch said, that's your accessory wire that's NOT usually powered in START. That's the origin of where your radio wire is getting it's power in fact.

There are a ton of wires back there and it's bit of a pain to tell what's what.

Where is the unit you're connecting to? If under the dash, then yes you can access the wires at the switch. But if this is all under the hood, forget turning into a pretzel under the dash and grab the Green w/red wire at the voltage regulator under the hood.

Should not be that many to the ignition switch. Only five or six if I remember.
If I remember, this is what you should have:
1. Black w/green accessory wire
2. Violet (maybe) - ground (proof-out) for the brake warning light. On the side of the switch and not coming out of the connector. Has it's own black push-on.
3. Yellow - power in
4. Green w/red - power out to the voltage regulator
5. Red w/green - power out to the ignition coil (might be pink too, but right at the switch it's "supposed" to be Red w/green. Lots of possibilities unfortunately, but it comes out of the same hole as the Green w/red wire.
And that shouldn't effect what you're doing since you really want to use the Green w/red one anyway.

You should be able to see all of these easily, but under the dash does get pretty crowded (that's probably what you meant when you said a ton of wires anyway?
If needed, pull the switch out and let it hang down on the wires while you work.
Assuming you need to be under the dash in the first place that is.

And yes, I added an additional ground to the TBI.

That's good, and seems to help some. But I really meant adding other grounds to your basic vehicle wiring. Ford didn't put enough in to begin with, and age takes it's toll on those. Those that are still left intact that is. Most people remove the body ground when they change the battery's negative cable.
Do you have a separate ground from the battery to the body? What about from the engine to the body?

Paul

 

[work765]

Brian and Paul, thanks guys!
I changed the white wire and moved it under the hood to the green/red wire. And she's starting right up!! That was the problem. Like you said Paul, maybe the wire I had it on wasn't 12volts on startup.

I owe you guys big! I wouldn't have a working bronco for sure if it wasn't for everyone on this site.

Also Paul, no I haven't Gone in and added grounds to the old the harness. I need to though. I have a decent draw. And if I leave it for two days, it struggles to start.

I'm also thinking this is the cause for my white screen on the hand held when starting from cold. This is what fitech said could be the issue. (A low battery will cause a white screen on startup )

I'll put a battery tender on it over night and start her up in the AM to see if the hand held is white or fully functional.


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[bteutsch]

Glad to hear you have it sorted out. My experience with this system so far has been, if it won't run its my fault for something I've hooked up wrong, adjusted wrong, etc. when hooked up properly, it's always worked the way it was intended. I had some ground issues as well. Added grounds to frame/body and that fixed a lot of ignition issues I was having. I have had a few problems with the FITECH sub harness and also with the command center, I have to say FITECH worked with me every step and always were happy to replace parts without question.


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[FrameOff72]

FCC PSI Drops to 0

Hey everyone, looks like everybody here had their fair share of head scratchers. Here is one to add to the list.

I am running the Fitech 400 with Fuel Command Center on a small block 302. Fires great and runs well until I get to a long hill or really punch it. After going about 10 seconds full on the throttle the thing loses power and engine runs for a bit and dies. 40+ mph I am able to coast for 5-10 seconds and usually the FCC will kick back on and run fine. I have pulled over a number of times and looked under the hood to find the FCC has 0 pressure and i have even had to give it a jump it by running a wire from the positive terminal of the battery to the positive terminal on the fcc. I only do that for a second and I am back in business. What is going on?

 

[bteutsch]

How does the power to the handheld look when this issue occurs? Just trying to see if you are losing power just to the fuel pump, or if the ECU might be losing power. I have an issue with my command center overheating. It doesn't happen going on the highway, only on slow crawling situations like low 4wd. My pump overheats and quits. When it cools off it runs fine again.


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[Biohazard]

Sounds like a bad pump. If you've ever driven a mid 2000 gm truck or suv when the pump starts going out.......yeah.......


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[FrameOff72]

The hand held continues to runs fine. Im wondering if it could be the mechanical fuel pump I have isn't pumping enough gas to the fcc. Do you know what the PSI on the intake should read?

 

[bteutsch]

3-8 I think is what it should read.


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[DirtDonk]

Sounds reasonable on the pressure. Are both gauges showing zero, or just one?
A mechanical pump might even read 0psi on the output if the float in the FCC is shutting the valve. The long uphill pull (how steep?) might just be causing the float to close off the fuel from the first pump so the second pump can't get any after the reservoir runs dry.

I wonder if re-orienting the Command Center might alleviate this. Which way is the float hanging in one of those? I haven't had one open so don't know. If the float pivot is facing forward I could see the float hanging in the up position on an uphill angle.
If you place the pivot in some other clocking position, maybe that would change the dynamic?

Not saying it can't be a pump of course. Definitely could be a weak pump not keeping up. If that was the case I would suspect the mechanical before the electric, but any pump can fail that way.
Is your engine-mounted pump an original or really old? Or perhaps even a new one that you replaced at the same time? If so, you can't rule out the new one because so much of the new stuff is crap right out of the box.

The jumper wire fixing things isn't quite consistent with the other problems, as the electric pumps are usually self-priming when they're submerged in fuel. But maybe there was just a little glitch.
Hmm, but speaking of a wiring issue, have you checked the main power feed for your electric pump to make sure it was not hot and maybe even half burned like some of the early ones were? Maybe the pump is just drawing too much current for your wiring and it only rears it's ugly head when you need the maximum flow of full throttle?
Worth looking into as well at this point I would say.

Good luck.

Paul