First many thanks to 3992824, POLR BR, MGiles, fulltimer50, and Tornado for responding to my initial cry for help installing this unit.
I wanted to follow up and point out my findings during the installation and usage in hopes the next guy will have an even easier time.
First some background:
Installaion of the "Ford" (actually a company called Pacific Insight Electronics makes these,
http://www.pacificinsight.com) Auto Headlamp
Control Module with Daytime Running Lights on a 2000 Excursion Limited, 4x4, PSD. Part #F8AZ-13B218-AA.
The unit consists of a module with 8 wires and a sensor. Instructions are pretty straight forward on the install. I found no issues with the wiring application matrix. (the matrix may have been updated, some people reported possible problems with this)
A few notes up front:
1) Just as someone mentioned in one of their replies, the harness wiring is too tight to allow any splicing of wires. Do not try to cut the factory wiring and splice via the supplied connectors as the instructions show. It is much easier to remove a small part of insulation from the harness wire, wrap the module wire around this part and solder. Tape it all up when finished.
2) A metal x-acto knife is a must have for this install. Good for cutting away existing tape, helping to remove insulation, and was great for probing wires with the multi-meter, causing minimal damage to the probed wires.
Now for the installation:
1) Module Ground Wire:
Easiest one to handle. There is an existing bolt on the right side used to tie a couple of existing ground wires. Tie here for ground.
2&3) Module Low Beam Wire:
The module has 2 wires in case the vehicle has 2 separate circuits for right and left headlamps. The Excursion has only one circuit for this. In this case both low beam module wires tie to the same harness point. I soldered one module wire to the other, leaving some exposed wire to tie to the harness wire. This is one of the more difficult points to find. The appllication matrix instructs to tie this to a red/yellow stripe wire with a particular volage characteristic. There is another wire on the module (multi-function switch) that the matrix instructs to tie to a red/yellow harness wire also. Upon initial inspection of the left side harness 2 red/yellow stripe wires are obvious. If you follow one you will see that it comes off the ignition wiring however. The other wire seems to come from where it should. (multifunction switch).
Upon probing both wires I found that neither of them are the correct ones to use! If you dig deeper into the harness, removing some of the tape and conduit you will find 2 more red/yellow stripe wires that are lower guage (larger diameter) than the other obvious ones found earlier.
These are the wires to use for the 2 low beam wires and the multi-function swith wire off the module. Probe the harness wires to find which one is for low beam and which one is for the multi-function switch. Solder and tape. This was the hardest part of the install for me.
4) Module Multi-Function Switch Wire: (High/Low Beam Selector Input)
See above instructions for numbers 2&3.
5) Module Park Lamp/Headlight Lamp Wire:
This will tie to a wire on headlight switch. The 2000 Excursions do not have the assembly that allows for easy removal of the switch panel that has been described in other posts. I found the cleanest way to get at this was to remove the dash. The switch panel is held in by 3 clips.
My hands were too big to try to push in the clips by reaching in from the bottom. The dash removal is simple and an explanation has been posted in other messages. Briefly, here are the steps: 1) Revove the radio using the appropriate removal clips. I found I had to pull the clips quite a bit outward to overcome the fasteners. When unplugging any plugs be sure to use a little screwdriver to unlock them, generally from the bottom of the plug. 2) Once the radio is out there are 2 screws that need to be removed at the top of the cavity. 3) Dash will now simply pop out by carefully pulling on it. Watch for any of the pressure clips falling off the dash when removing. The tilt of the wheel and gear lever can be
adjusted to allow the dash more room to come off. Release the headlamp switch panel by pressing in the 3 clips and pop out. Find the appropriate wire and solder.
6) Module Ignition On Wire:
Right under the steering column there is a white box with a number of lower guage wires going into it. Tie to the appropriate one. This one was relatively easy.
7) Module Power (Constant +12V):
Same area as #6 above. Find the right wire and solder. Note!: You may want to disconnect the battery when working with this one. It is "hot" all the time. I decided not to disconnect the battery, but you really need to know what you are doing and be careful if you choose not to disconnect. Remember its possible to short this through the soldering iron, a strand of solder you may be holding, a ring you may be wearing, (that could cause a nice burn) etc. Might be best to just disconnect the battery to play it safe.
8) Module Parking Brake Wire:
Another easy one to find. At the parking brake there is a switch and wire totally encased in conduit. Open up the conduit to get at the wire and solder. See my notes below concerning the operation of this.
9) Light sensor:
I took a piece of weed-wacker line and fished it down where the windshield VIN number is. There is a gap there that you can pull the sensor through Tied the sensor to the line and pulled it on up. You may need to run your hand up in there to help it. It is a tight fit. If you take your dash off you can run your hand up in there and get it to go through. I protected the lens by taping some paper around it before fishing it through.
Mounting the Module:
This can be mounted a number of different ways. I found an area on the black bottom panel - on the left side that works nice. I cut out some of the insulation there and drilled the holes. Found that 1/2" 6x32 machine screws work perfect. Put one flat washer on the outside, one lockwasher on the inside and then used a locking nut. (the kind with the internal nylon washer) Fit perfect with none of the screw sticking up past the nut. (if you don't remove a section of the insulation you will have to go longer than 1/2")
Operation notes:
Everything worked as advertised right from the start. 2 items I noticed however:
1) There is a slight delay (about 5 sec.) for the daytime running lights to turn on once the vehicle is started. I called technical support and they said this was normal.
2) The parking brake will only disable the daytime running lights if engaged while the ignition is off. When the ignition is then turned on the DRL's will be disabled. If the parking brake is engaged while the truck is running, nothing will happen to the DRL's. I initially thought there was a problem when I did not see the parking brake
disengage the DRL's. (while the truck was running) Technical support straightened me out.
Hope I covered everyting.
Good Luck!
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2000 Excursion LTD, 4x4 3.73 LS, 7.3L PSD, Oxford White, PSD V8 Badging, Auto/DRL's
Linear Mode
