AAW and Dakota digital questions

[shopofwax 2]

I got my AAW harness wires  run but haven't made any tie ins yet and now I ready to put my Dakota digital HDX gauges in. the only question I have is what am I supposed to do with the water temp, oil pressure wires that come from the AAW harness since the Dakota digital gauges come with there own wires for that???    Also there's a electric radiator fan wire I don't need.... just tuck them up under the dash outta site?

[Vicfreg 771]

I have a lot of posts on my AAW install in my 1970 convertible on my thread.  To answer your question, you use the Dakota wiring harness and plugs as they have water temperature and oil pressure senders that come with their kit.  For the AAW wiring, you should still route the blue and green wires (#31 and #35) to the front of the car, and save them as spares.  I used them for transmission and oil temperature gauges I put in my console.  Wires 31 and 35 go to connector AAW connector "F".    Connector F is designed to be used to feed the original Mustang dash area, so I repurposed most of that wiring.

The fan wire (#300) is fed from the fuseblock ("fan") and is a key-on-hot power feed.  You can use that for any accessory you may have that needs power when the ignition switch is in "run".  I used this for the power feed to my PWM fan controller, not my fan, as it was not large enough for that.

I have a detailed spreadsheet and block diagrams I used which may help you. I will send that along if you need it.

My advice is to not install the harness until you plan where every wire will go to and from.  It will save you rework later.  it is not a "plug and play" harness.

I also wrapped the harness once I had figured out where all the wires would go. I have attached some pics of the install. Good luck

 

 

 

[Vicfreg 771]

Oh, all of my wiring going upfront is routed through the fenderwells

 

[stangman69 17]

Ah, pictures are a beautiful think, Vic.

I scored an AAW harness a couple weeks ago on eBay for about $300 cheaper so I'm itching to get cracking on the install.

Want to sell me that used up ol' Dakota cluster so you can get the shiny new RTX version?  :)

/nate

[Mach1 Driver 560]

Nice work- whose connectors are those in the last two pics? Is that rubber or plastic hose?

[Vicfreg 771]

Hey Stangman, good luck on the AAW install.  I have lots of lessons learned.  Also have detailed spreadsheet.  I live north of Charlotte on Lake Norman.  My car is currently at Mike's (latoracing) getting some exhaust work done.  If you want to meet sometime and check out the car before I put it all back together, and take some pictures, I can meet you somewhere, or you can come my way.  PM me for details.  Vic

 

[Vicfreg 771]

'Driver....  the connectors and tubing I used are for outdoor power wiring.  Common name is "Liquidtite" or "Ultratite".  It is non-metallic flexible conduit, with liquid tight connectors.  

You can get it at Lowe's https://www.lowes.com/search?searchTerm=liquidtite        The fittings are compatible with the flex or PVC conduit.   

I didn't want grey for the fenderwell wiring, so I got 1" heat shrink and used it over the whole length of the conduit run. Came out pretty good.  

 

[bryonbush 85]

So how do the wires from the column connect to the DD box? 

[Vicfreg 771]

depends on if you have a '69 or '70

I will post diagrams shortly

 

[Vicfreg 771]

The only wires on my AAW setup that go from the steering column connector to the DD box are for the left and right turn signals.

These are AAW wires 14A,B (Lt Blue) and 15A, B (dark Blue)

14A, B hooks to the Ford column wire that is Green with a White Stripe

15A, B hooks to the Ford column wire that is White with a Blue Stripe

14A goes to DD box #31 (my number)

15A goes to DD box #30 (my number)

[Vicfreg 771]

Oh, important point, is that you grab wires 14A,B and 15A, B at AAW connector "G".  This is the connector that is used to connect the AAW harness to the original dash cluster.   As you will be using DD, then you just run the wires from connector D to the DD box.

Connector G is on AAW circuit branch 5 next to Connector F

 

[Vicfreg 771]

So summary:

1.  Column connector mates to AAW column connector in AAW circuit branch #3

2.  Connector "G" located in harness at AAW circuit branch #5 contains wires 14A,B and 15A,B.   Mating connector "G" is intended to be used to connect to stock dash connector.  If using VHX/DD box, do not use AAW stock dash connector.  Instead, route 14A,B and 15A,B directly to the VHX "left (+)" and "right (+)" connections

In my case, I pre-wired my VHX interface box and used a new 2-wire AAW connector for my wire run to the VHX box. I did this because at the time, I did not know where I was going to locate the box, and did not know how long to make my wires.    See attached photo of VHX box and my diagram that shows my intermediate connector in-between Connector "G and the VHX box.

[bryonbush 85]

Over on connector D, theres a brown wire with a white stripe. On connector F, theres an additional brown wire that can be added that's labeled "acc power". Can I add that brown wire to supply power to the DD box? And is the constant power coming from the pink wire? 

[Mach1 Driver 560]

12 hours ago, Vicfreg said:

'Driver....  the connectors and tubing I used are for outdoor power wiring.  Common name is "Liquidtite" or "Ultratite".  It is non-metallic flexible conduit, with liquid tight connectors.  

You can get it at Lowe's https://www.lowes.com/search?searchTerm=liquidtite        The fittings are compatible with the flex or PVC conduit.   

I didn't want grey for the fenderwell wiring, so I got 1" heat shrink and used it over the whole length of the conduit run. Came out pretty good.  

 

The shrink sleeving fooled me- that looks good

[Vicfreg 771]

Byron, those brown wires made me scratch my head for a couple hours.  

What I did:

The brown wire in Connector F (4E) for ACC power was originally intended to power the dash lights when in parking light or headlight mode.   I used that that wire to send to the VHX "DIM(+)" connection.  What this does is dim your fancy digital dash when the headlights or parking lights are on.

For the VHX box power wire,  I used the pink wire (39A) from connector F for the "key switched" power for the VHX box.   

For the VHX memory power, I used Wire #99 which is the AAW wire used for the Radio Memory.

[bryonbush 85]

13 hours ago, Vicfreg said:

Byron, those brown wires made me scratch my head for a couple hours.  

What I did:

The brown wire in Connector F (4E) for ACC power was originally intended to power the dash lights when in parking light or headlight mode.   I used that that wire to send to the VHX "DIM(+)" connection.  What this does is dim your fancy digital dash when the headlights or parking lights are on.

For the VHX box power wire,  I used the pink wire (39A) from connector F for the "key switched" power for the VHX box.   

For the VHX memory power, I used Wire #99 which is the AAW wire used for the Radio Memory.

So wire #99 is a stand alone according to the manual. in your picture, it shows your yellow wire coming from what looks to be Terminal "F", going to the DD box. did you run #99 to the connector, or did #99 get spliced into two so one wire can go to the radio, and the other to the connector for the DD.

hope this makes sense

[Vicfreg 771]

I used one of the AAW double wire connectors and ran wire #99 to both the radio memory and the VHX box memory.  I made quite a few intermediate connectors, as I did my wiring in phases. AAW sells a connector kit with a lot of extra connectors. I used a bunch of them.   I will see if I can find a picture of how they double up.

[Vicfreg 771]

I found it.  If you look below, you will see the AAW wire with the "radio" text on it  I ran that to a new connector, and doubled it up on one side, that went to the radio memory.  The other side went to the VHX box.

[Vicfreg 771]

You can see the F and G connectors in the picture.    The small connector in the middle is a new one I made for my head unit. It has the power antenna (blue wire) which I ran to my power amp as the "turn on" source.  The pink wire is radio key on, the yellow wire doubled up is the radio memory power wire #99.  

[bryonbush 85]

Got it thanks! 

So I have a 4r70w trans mission that needs a key on power source. It has a 5amp inline fuse built in. Im thinking of using wire #100 but is “accessory fused power source” a good option?

[Vicfreg 771]

 Hi Byron, I’m in the airport right now so I don’t have access to my drawings. One option is to use the reverse light power source that’s down at the shifter anyway.   That should always be hot when the ignition is on. I’m not sure how much power the AOD draws, but the reverse light  circuit should be able to handle 5 A,  especially if you use LEDs in the reverse lights.  I would probably eliminate the in-line fuse,  i’ll put it somewhere where you can remember where it is LOL  

 I developed a fuse list,  and power distribution diagram,  to keep track of all the various fuses and where they’re located, because many of the things I have (EFI, power amp, PWM controller)  have their own fuses. 

[Machspeed 219]

Vic,  you're beautiful, man! Thanks for posting this up!!! 

[Vicfreg 771]

No problem.  I took all of last winter to do my AAW install, with lots of accessories and custom wiring, so lots of lessons learned.

[Blue70coupe 2]

Just wondering how you (or anyone reading this) connected the gas gauge. I have the same kit but I'm having rouble getting the gas gauge to work. I have an original gas tank and fuel sender; connected the  tan wire "fuel sender," to the signal terminal on the control module with no luck. Thanks in advance for the help!

[Vicfreg 771]

If you read the instructions, VHX recommends running a ground for the gas gauge back to the gas tank.   There’s a connection on their black box for that.  I ran extra wires both to the front and back of my car.   I ran the ground wire and used one of the gas tank mounting screws to hook a ring lug to and ground it that way.   
Before you go to all the trouble, just run a jumper wire with some alligator clips see if that works.   There are also instructions in the VHX manual on how to calibrate your gas gauge.  Good luck and let me know how it works out