Zetec stand alone engine harness

[mrmustang]

Does anyone make a stand alone engine harness for the Zetec motor? Just looking at my options for cleaning up what I have now (stock full harness) vs replacing it with something else.

 

 

 

Thanks in advance,

 

 

 

Bill S.

[xcarguy]

Bill,

 

You might try Emerald, Haltech USA or Specialist Components:

 

http://www.emeraldm3d.com/

 

http://www.haltech.com/contact/contact-us/

 

http://www.specialist-components.co.uk/engineering/

 

Also, you might shoot inis (forum name on this forum) a pm. I think he's pretty savvy on the Zetec stuff.

[super7guy]

Depending on your intended application, a couple of us run our zetec using SDS. Great service and tech support. SDSEFI.com

 

Magnets placed on either end of the crankshaft supply the timing. Options include fuel pump relay, fan relay, fast idle relay and rpm relay. They now have AFR data logging.

[mrmustang]

Thanks for the links, what I'm really looking for is a cleaned up (dieted) harness I can meld in with the stock ECU and Birkin chassis harness.

 

 

Again appreciate the leads above as well.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill S.

[JohnK]

Does anyone make a stand alone engine harness for the Zetec motor? Just looking at my options for cleaning up what I have now (stock full harness) vs replacing it with something else

Bill S.

 

This is probably only of historical/academic relevance but . . .

In 2001 I developed for a client company in Cincinnati, a very clean (read: looked like a factory-quality product and was nearly invisible when installed) harness for the Superformance S1 - Zetec installation, using (of all things) the stock Ford ECU and ALL of the pieces that supported it's interface to the engine. The rational for this was that, given the difficulty people were having getting even a "reasonable" tune on aftermarket ECU-fitted Zetecs, the factory setup ran flawlessly - even though it didn't give the owner any bragging rights about performance. Everything was stock so that you could go to your local Ford dealer and get parts or a refresh of the ECU's. As an aside, this all came about because the client bought and paid for all my development efforts after, as a demo/proof-of-concept, I jerry-rigged a car with all the pieces bungie corded in place, turned the key and the engine started and fell into a smooth idle with absolutely no complaints. Even with stuff flapping about in the wind, they drove the car around and were knocked-out by how well it behaved (driveability trumps bragging rights) Even though the S1 wasn't a real lightweight, the amount of power was just fine and the client had me make 6 harnesses for him hoping to make that the standard devliverable - oh, yes, it also passes tailpipe emissions in Ohio with flying colors, which was a big selling point at the time - absolute no registration hassles.

Anyway, as things go, there are likely some S1's and some harneses floating around out there. As long as all the pieces are from the same run (all the bits, including the connectors, are Ford proprietary and can change mid-production-year). Who knows what you might find.

Also, I did more than a little research in this area and found that,from all I've been able to learn, the Ford ECU is fundamentally different than any other ECU out there and is just fundamentally better. Period. It thinks for itself. It's amazing.

Anyway, so it goes.

[mrmustang]

This is probably only of historical/academic relevance but . . .

In 2001 I developed for a client company in Cincinnati, a very clean (read: looked like a factory-quality product and was nearly invisible when installed) harness for the Superformance S1 - Zetec installation, using (of all things) the stock Ford ECU and ALL of the pieces that supported it's interface to the engine. The rational for this was that, given the difficulty people were having getting even a "reasonable" tune on aftermarket ECU-fitted Zetecs, the factory setup ran flawlessly - even though it didn't give the owner any bragging rights about performance. Everything was stock so that you could go to your local Ford dealer and get parts or a refresh of the ECU's. As an aside, this all came about because the client bought and paid for all my development efforts after, as a demo/proof-of-concept, I jerry-rigged a car with all the pieces bungie corded in place, turned the key and the engine started and fell into a smooth idle with absolutely no complaints. Even with stuff flapping about in the wind, they drove the car around and were knocked-out by how well it behaved (driveability trumps bragging rights) Even though the S1 wasn't a real lightweight, the amount of power was just fine and the client had me make 6 harnesses for him hoping to make that the standard devliverable - oh, yes, it also passes tailpipe emissions in Ohio with flying colors, which was a big selling point at the time - absolute no registration hassles.

Anyway, as things go, there are likely some S1's and some harneses floating around out there. As long as all the pieces are from the same run (all the bits, including the connectors, are Ford proprietary and can change mid-production-year). Who knows what you might find.

Also, I did more than a little research in this area and found that,from all I've been able to learn, the Ford ECU is fundamentally different than any other ECU out there and is just fundamentally better. Period. It thinks for itself. It's amazing.

Anyway, so it goes.

 

John,

 

So, inquiring minds want to know, what would charge to duplicate the stand alone ECU harness? I guess at that point it only needs power and ground, the rest being handled by the stock Birkin wiring harness if it is anything like the stand alone system I had on my last 5.0L fuel injected FFR.

 

 

Bill S.

[Paul Hill]

Thanks for beating me to the question Bill!

I'm sure you and I are not the only ones who might be in the market for this simple solution.

[maurice1]

Hi Bill

Have you thought about giving Dick Brink a call at Texas Motorworks, since you have a Birkin it has got to be a good starting point.

Now if you were living here in Australia we have a great auto electrician who does all the harnesses for the Zetecs, Duratecs, 4AGs etc using all the original harnesses, ECU etc just shortened to fit the Birkin chassis.

Cheers

[JohnK]

"inquiring minds" might be clued in by a post that starts "This is probably of historical/academic relevance...", or perhaps be interested in a bit of perspective...

[mrmustang]

"inquiring minds" might be clued in by a post that starts "This is probably of historical/academic relevance...", or perhaps be interested in a bit of perspective...

 

Yes, I got that, but if you did it back in 2001, what is to say you could not recreate such a work of art in 2014 :auto:

 

After all, you now have 13 more years of experience in doing such things

[xcarguy]

JohnK, time to dust off the skill and work your loom magic for Bill and Paul.

[mrmustang]

JohnK, time to dust off the skill and work your loom magic for Bill and Paul.

 

I can clean up what is there, but then the car would be down for months, especially with our 800+ mile upcoming move to a "3 seasons" climate...

 

A engine harness swap would only take me a day to two days to accomplish, hence my post ISO a stand alone harness solution.

 

Since Ron Francis is only an hour or so from my place, I sent him an email asking if he wanted to take on the design and production for this ever growing market and drivetrain. Ron helped me with a one of a kind, ERA powered by a 4.6L a bunch of years ago.....We will see if he wants to or not.

 

My idea would be to drop the car off at his place and let him poke and prod around to get a feel for it. The Birkin harness is very well laid out, so is the stock Zetec, yet I feel that it could still be dieted and cleaned up a little more..

 

 

Bill S.

[Kitcat]

I got my Zetec engined Cat back from my mechanic today after an extended stay. He said:"Man you have wires going everywhere that don't plug into anything". I said next time....

[mrmustang]

Scott at Ron Francis can't even look at it until the fall, guess I'll have to clean and rewrap on my own.

 

 

Bill S.

[dallasdude]

Yes, its a pretty good size project.

[wemtd]

Slightly off topic..

- i've noticed in the above picture, and my Birkin, the loom wires are wrapped in electrical tape. Is there a better/cleaner option? Can anyone comment on the "liquid tape" sold in stores? Or am i just being anal-retentive seeing issues where they don't exist?

 

cheers

P.

[mrmustang]

Slightly off topic..

- i've noticed in the above picture, and my Birkin, the loom wires are wrapped in electrical tape. Is there a better/cleaner option? Can anyone comment on the "liquid tape" sold in stores? Or am i just being anal-retentive seeing issues where they don't exist?

 

cheers

P.

 

I would never "dip" my harness in liquid tape, god forbid you ever have to replace a wire or find a break or short.

 

 

Bill S.

[dallasdude]

Professional race harnesses are usually made from a high quality shrink tubing such as Raychem DR-25.

Home harnesses are made quite often with convoluted tubing or expando and garden variety shrink tubing. Cheaper and requires less planning especially with convoluted because you can go back and make changes to correct your mistakes and make updates....but not the pro way to do things.

BTW the harness I pictured in the thread is not one I built....it's the one that came out of one of my cars and went in the trash.

Edited March 22, 2014 by dallasdude

[xcarguy]

Slightly off topic..

- i've noticed in the above picture, and my Birkin, the loom wires are wrapped in electrical tape. Is there a better/cleaner option? Can anyone comment on the "liquid tape" sold in stores? Or am i just being anal-retentive seeing issues where they don't exist?

 

cheers

P.

 

I heat shrink on EVERY connection and wrap exposed sections of the wiring harness with split braided sleeving (available from Summit Racing):

 

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aww-510156/overview/

 

I also use cold shrink tape on the ends of the sleeving:

 

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/CTI0/85274/N0226.oap?ck=Search_N0226_-1_-1&pt=N0226&ppt=C0335

 

Here is an example of the use of all three; heat shrink (far right in photo), split braid and cold shrink tape (center).

[Dave W]

If you have a industrial electronic supplier close by check, out their spiral wire wrap. They usually have several thickness to choose from. It will expand to the different wire counts as they vary along the harness run. I also used it to protect both the brake and fuel lines. Dave W