Customer Access Circuits

[kndlkstms]

I've been digging around under my daughter's 2012 TC and found the customer access wires , 2 pass thru and 3 "fused" tiny wires . Missing is a "battery saver relay" CJB position #128 , 10 amp mini fuses at F155 , F 144 and F 149 . Also missing is the 25 amp fuse in position F 10 in the BJB under the hood .

I rigged a temp fuse in F10 and the F149 wire got "hot". Turned the ignition on and F144 got "hot". But no relay to feed F155 (battery saver) circuit .

My FORD parts guy looks up the cartoon , a bunch of sketches of different relays and CBs . No function description ,no real way to find the relay . Is it generic or specific to the battery saver circuit ?

He says " bring in a part and we'll try to match it " ....... ? I'm glad I don't have his job , or have to try to fix these cars that way . He was going to ask the techs today if they had any guesses .

So my question is ..... does any body in 1st gen TC land have this or installed this circuit ???? What relay did you use ???? The socket looks like the others in the CJB .

Thanks for any help bros .

PS , my service manager advised that those tiny wires ( from F155 , F144 , F149 ) are meant to signal relays , not to carry current .

[103west43rd]

Hello kndlkstms. My 2010 wiring diagram does not have any of the circuits you describe. If any forum members have a 2012 wiring diagram, I hope they jump in and help. I do have a question. I do not understand what you mean by "battery saver relay position CJB #128"? My CJB wiring diagram only shows 35 positions. Maybe I can help. Where is position 128 in the CJB? There are four groups of relays in my CJB. From right to left, a group of six, group of three, group of four and one single relay. If I had to guess, i would say the group of six or the group of four are where the missing relay belongs. Let us know.

[kndlkstms]

Say hey TCers. First I'm working with a 2012 Prem XLT Wagon , My 2010 doesn't even have a red "socket" in the black fuse block . I looked at another '10 and same story . I'm going by the 2012 owners manual showing fuse/relay positions . And the O manual positions start at #117 and go to #182 .

The zone in question is the group of 6 big squares in the center area .

Today's up date : Parts Ed had no luck with the guys . We looked at the cartoon again and picked a relay that looked like the one . Part is located in NY , $70. + , naw . I went out a checked with a mechanic that had loaned me older Ford manual CDs , explained the story . Gave me a relay that he had in his tool box . Plugged it in and .... the circuit worked (test lite) .

My concern is relay current draw thru the G E M that does the battery saver function ( battery saver turns off the dome / map lites ) .This is why I want to find the exact relay .

As for our 2010s , I think the first few boatloads were minimally outfitted Cargos . After these Wonderful little vans caught on ,the public wanted more features, Taxi package , this "Customer Access Circuits Modified Vehicle Wiring (61s)" that I'm working with . And on.

Tomorrow I'm going to plug in all the fuses and the relay , hook up somre generic relays to the tiny signal wires . Got to figure out a Battery hot to tap into at the fuse box .The goal is to run powered USBs for the tablet Nav scheme rigged up over the 3 A/C registers . Also put in another Cig liter in the rear drivers side. Got a 12 V Mattress pad to help with the winter chill to run off of an auxiliary battery.

[DonShockley]

..... Missing is a "battery saver relay" CJB position #128 , 10 amp mini fuses at F155 , F 144 and F 149 . Also missing is the 25 amp fuse in position F 10 in the BJB under the hood .

......So my question is ..... does any body in 1st gen TC land have this or installed this circuit ???? What relay did you use ???? The socket looks like the others in the CJB .

Thanks for any help bros .

PS , my service manager advised that those tiny wires ( from F155 , F144 , F149 ) are meant to signal relays , not to carry current .

In my drawings for the 2015, the Battery Saver feature seems to be another one of those items that is associated with certain options and the supporting circuitry and connections are only likely to be present if that option was included.

The following bit is just a guess based on looking at how some of the wiring was done inside the salvaged engine compartment fuse block I tore apart. Inside the fuse box, there were several solid junction bars that not only provided power at the line side of all the fuse slots, but also line power to several of the relays. Then the trigger power for several of the relays was powered from the load side of one of the other fuses that was for a circuit that was switched. I was a bit confused was I tried to pull a terminal only to find that there were two wires attached. Once was a lead cut off when the wiring harness was cut, presumably to supply the circuit's stated purpose elsewhere in the vehicle. But the other was leading to another spot within the fuse block itself and was going to the relay spots. I didn't track down the pin number or diagram, so it's just a guess that it was the trigger wire for the relay. But that's the only reason I can think of to have small wires from other circuits going to relays with big high capacity power wires.

Here's a photo of the underside of the fuse block and you can see some of the groups of wires tied together. Almost all of these were associated with the relay supply and control. Most of the relay outputs were single wires, although some relay outputs triggered other relays. I suspect the F155 , F144 , F149 fuses are intended to trigger an add-on accessory relay panel with the main supply power coming straight from the battery. I did see some such panels offered online when I was researching my own upgrades. My needs were best suited by a small unit intended for motorcycles. As soon as I saw it I knew it was the perfect solution for what I wanted to do.

The fuse box construction is also why I wired up my own circuits the way I did. I don't like to tap into the closest existing wires when I am adding extras. I had to do that on prior vehicles and was always worried I could affect something else. So back then I always tried to use the cigarette lighter sockets when I could. My reasoning was that these likely had extra protection and isolation from the rest of the vehicle circuitry since us dumb customers were intended to hook up all sorts of stuff there anyway. But the TC is the first vehicle I've had where these are hot at all times and not switched, and this did not suit my needs so I started looking at a different way to do things.

I figured if the load side of the fuses are there, the wiring inside the fuse box (and the supply to the fuse box) was likely properly sized to be able to supply the load. At the time, I hadn't purchased the scrap fuse box so didn't know it was bus bars although I had a suspicion it was done that way. This was because during my checks of the three rows of fuses in the cargo area fuse box, one entire row was constant on while the next entire row was switched. I forget which the third row was, but it too had the same for all fuses in the row. That's why I chose to put those circuit taps where I did. The upfitter diagram seemed to use the Taxi circuit spots so that's where I did my taps and sized the wires to support at least the same current as the fuse rating in the manual. Researching the wire sizing also caused some confusion. The Ford wires were smaller than I would have expected for the associated fuse wiring based on my experience with home DIY. Researching auto DIY gave slightly different size/amp figures but still not as big a difference as I was seeing on the Ford OEM wiring. I finally did come across a Ford document that listed their size/amp ratings which were higher (presumably due to the wire quality) which better matched what I was seeing installed. That was part of the reason I stepped up to a higher quality wire ordered online instead of using the normal wires purchased from the local auto parts store. I wanted to keep the quality up and make sure the fuses were the only weak spot.

BTW: If you end up deciding on doing the taps the same way I did, I can hook you up with the parts fairly cheaply. Once I found the high quality parts I liked, many of them had minimum order quantities of 100 so I have a ton of leftovers. It made my job cost a bunch initially, but if I can help others avoid the same by providing the small quantities needed and offset some of my costs at the same time, everybody wins. I keep meaning to put together a "For Sale" type thread offering them up to other forum members needing them but haven't gotten around to it.

[kndlkstms]

Hey Don , thanks for the flip-flop. The more I read / see of the 2014/15 TCs the more I think the two generations are completely different , only sharing the name . I unbolted the CJB and turned it around to see the pretty colored spaghetti mess ( this is were I found all the wires for the Customer Access ) . This 2012 has the feed wires spliced to feed the fuses like most in the past years, not the new hotness feed "bars" like yours .

I suspect Ford has mated just enough wire to feed the load at the end. Little wire , little bulb. Bigger bulb , bigger wire .Saving weight . The wiring harness is now 13 lbs lighter and now we need 48 lbs of GEMs and relays to turn on a blinker ????

I've wanted to put in a switched dome lite in the rear of both of our 1st gen TCs but I'm afraid to mess with the GEMs . I'm still thinking 'bout it though .

I can see better in your picture the wire terms , they are just like the ones I pulled from an old harness I had . I even dug out some double female ones - no wire ?

Good idea to post an "For Sale" for those spares , some of this stuff near impossible to find .

For now I'm going to get a minifuse tap thingy for the front of the box , until I can get a salvaged 1st gen fuse box .

[DonShockley]

....... For now I'm going to get a minifuse tap thingy for the front of the box , until I can get a salvaged 1st gen fuse box .

PM me an address and I'll send you a couple for free. I bought a package of them off Amazon when I thought I might need to go that route. I'm happy to pass them along to somebody that might actually be able to use them.

I've got 5 of these mini-taps: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SUTYYS2?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01

and 4 of these inline holders: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N3VF76U?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01

You're welcome to whatever you think you can use.

Holy Cow! Gen 1 fuse boxes are pricey. I went back to eBay to see if the seller I got my Gen2 box from for under $20 had any Gen1 boxes available. I found a couple of the same engine fuse boxes from another seller but they were over $100 for the Gen1. I'll shell out $20 just to satisfy my curiosity about the construction even if I can't salvage the parts I'm looking for. For $100 I would need to know for sure.

Edited November 6, 2015 by DonShockley

[kndlkstms]

Oh yeah , and that's the box I really don't need . Got the "add-a-fuse" for now ,strung a 4 wire "Trailer Ribbon" inside under the dash door to door(just in case), tapped into battery "hot" and "key hot" behind the CJB to feed the "Customer Access Circuits" generic relays I might need later.

Speaking of later,,,,,the across dash, door to door steel tube structure has punched holes . i see places for generic relays to go with the " customer access circuits" wire ends , visible after the headlight switch is removed. PS.... there is a D shaped "cover" on the side of the dash panel . Pops right out . Great access to a volume of "free " space for customer "stuff".

[kndlkstms]

I got as far as I needed to go for now. Spliced into big wires behind CJB like factory ( big wire from BJB - spiders across CJB to feed fused circuits) fed them thru open relay hole up to feed relays that would be activated by " Customer Access Circuits " . Used the red-blue stripe wire (battery saver relay that I added to the CJB) to trigger an USB power supply . Battery saver turns off the circuit after 30 minutes , perfect ! Open a door start the clock again . Just what I wanted . Put another relay up there while I was at it . Those 2 wires from the "spiders" are battery hot and start/run hot , ready for the next gizmo .

When I can get an Used CJB with wires and terms to salvage then I'll install the fuses in the CJB instead of dangling in front of the CJB .

[George_97220]

> Missing is a "battery saver relay" CJB position #128 , 10 amp mini fuses at F155 , F 144 and F 149 .
> Also missing is the 25 amp fuse in position F 10 in the BJB under the hood .

That's because you didn't order the "taxi" option!
The respective leads from the CJB fuse block go to a block connector on the right side, behind the glovebox. Probably also missing.

A major disappointment for me has been the lack of extra fuse positions in this vehicle. And even if you wanted to use those three "taxi" option fuse positions to power accessories, you have to remember that they are hot in Run and Start. Fine for lights or what-have-you, but not so great for electronics. Too bad they aren't hot during Acc and Run.

Those "mini-taps" are the way to go, for low/medium current devices anyway.
In my case, I disconnected the right lighter jack and connected that 30A source to a four-fuse block mounted near the firewall, above the CJB. (On the plate where the back-up sensor module goes, if you don't order the camera. See pic.) This runs a couple of lights and a radio that is manually switched. I plan on powering the lighter jack from the battery in the back, if/when I ever get started on THAT project.

[Wingerr]

fed them thru open relay hole up to feed relays that would be activated by " Customer Access Circuits " . Used the red-blue stripe wire (battery saver relay that I added to the CJB) to trigger an USB power supply . Battery saver turns off the circuit after 30 minutes , perfect ! Open a door start the clock again. Just what I wanted.

How does the battery saver work? Is it a type of retained accessory power that triggers a 30 minute interval whenever the last door is closed?

Is the timer controlling the relay coil for the battery saver relay 128?

It looks like the socket for the relay is a single pole single throw relay, is that all it is, or is it more specialized?

I am looking to add a tap for power on a backup camera and wanted something that is accessory switched.

I was considering using one of the fuses sockets in the group 144 149 and 155 for the power, if they are suitable, but the battery saver seems useful.

[Wingerr]

Found schematic on this, showing all the details of the battery saver and fuse group.

Edited May 17, 2016 by Wingerr