Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums  

PARTS NEEDED:

Functional Tripminder computer with its connector and wiring
Fine grit (around 800) Sandpaper
4mm deep socket for a 1/4” drive ratchet
A good cutting and crimping tool
Tap splices (2) and Butt connectors (6-7)
Extra 14 or 16 gauge wire, two different colors preferred
Electrical and Vacuum Trouble Shooting Manual (EVTM) for your vehicle (HIGHLY recommended)

Cut the Tripminder loose with its connector on the back intact. Take a look at the wires on the back of the Tripminder. Notice how there are more pins in the harness than there are wires. Here are what the pins correlate to and their wire colors.

Pin 1: EMPTY
Pin 2: EMPTY
Pin 3: Ignition Power (light blue/black stripe)
Pin 4: Dimmer (light blue/red stripe)
Pin 5: Power (light green/yellow stripe)
Pin 6: Fuel Flow Input (light blue/pink stripe)
Pin 7: Ground (black)
Pin 8: Speed Input (dark green/white stripe)
Pin 9: Ground (black)
NOTE: the wire colors may differ slightly from year to year.
NOTE: Pin 7 and Pin 9 may or may not be connected together at the factory

Once you acquired a junkyard Tripminder, it would be wise to test it outside the car to verify it works. Hook up power, ground, and ignition. If the unit works you will see “12:00 RESET” on the display. Try the buttons. If some or all of the buttons don’t work, do not worry.

This is how you fix the buttons: take apart the computer (when turned off, in a static electricity free area) and clean the metal contacts of the buttons with that sandpaper. The Tripminder comes apart pretty quickly. A flathead screwdriver inserted into the four slots on the sides will separate the case into a front and a back side. Pull the back from the front and unfold the computer’s circuit boards. It unfolds like an accordion: I never said this was a well-engineered computer!

The last board is bolted to the front of the Tripminder via four 4mm bolts. Unbolt these and pull the circuit board free of the Tripminder. You will now see the other side of the circuit board: seven little push buttons (metal, not the plastic ones) that surround the vacuum fluorescent display of the Tripminder. Fold a small piece of the sand paper (sand on both the top and bottom) and GENTLY slide it between each of the seven buttons. You should be sliding the paper between the metal you see and the circuit board. Push down on the button and move the sandpaper up and down a few times. This will clean both sides and remove all corrosion/oxidation from the contacts. When this is done blow off any sand or residue with compressed air or your mouth. Reverse the disassembly process. Congratulations: you now have a brand new Tripminder computer!

Now take a look at the standard (what is currently in your car) digital clock’s wiring. When you compare this to the Tripminder you will see that you already have 5 of the 7 wires given to you! Who-hoo!

Pin 1: Ground (black)
Pin 2: Power (light green/yellow stripe)
Pin 3: Ignition (Light blue/Pink)
Pin 4: Dimmer (Brown)
NOTE: the wire colors may differ slightly from year to year.

You will need to remove the wires from your car's clock harness and splice them into the Tripminder's harness. Your brown wire (pin 4) goes to the Tripminder's brown wire (pin 4). Your black wire (pin 1) goes to the Tripminder's black (pin 9) wire. Your light blue/pink wire (pin 3) goes to the Tripminder's wire in pin 3 (colors may vary). Lastly, your light green/yellow wire (pin 2) goes to the Tripminder's light green/yellow (pin 5).

So yes, there are only two extra wires needed: all the others are there with the factory clock. One is for the fuel flow, which you will have to splice from PIN #34 at the EEC-IV engine computer. The other is the input wire for the speedometer.

For the speed input, you will have to remove the gauge cluster and disconnect its wiring harness. This is where the Ford EVTM manual will come in handy. Judging from my EVTM, the signal you want is located in circuit #150, remember its a dark green/white stripe wire. The buttstuffog performance cluster (XR-7 models) has the speed input at PIN #18. The regular cluster supposedly has it at PIN#3. Double check all wires and circuits to see if you are getting a pure speed signal from the engine computer. My 1988 model XR-7 with buttstuffog gauges had it in PIN #18 and there were two dark green/white striped wires feeding it. Your car MAY vary from this. Once you are sure you have found the right circuit, use a tap splice and connect a length of wire to this circuit. Run the wire back to the Tripminder and connect it to PIN #8 on the Tripminder. You now have speed information to your computer.

The fuel flow input works on the same principle. From what I have seen, all Ford products using EEC-IV computers have a “fuel flow” signal that comes from PIN#34 of the EEC computer. Judging by my car and many Lincoln Mark VII LSC owners, anyone that has done the Mass-air conversion should have no problem getting the signal either! Just remove the passenger side kick panel, slide out the computer and look for PIN#34 and a light blue/pink striped wire coming from it! Use the tap splice again and connect this wire to the Tripminder’s PIN#6. Route the wire between the glove box and the blower motor. I would suggest using a very long wire and tucking the extra length away, just in case you have to replace the blower and need that wire out of your way.

it seems that on some cars, even though the fuel flow wire is in the clock harness, at some point it is not connected to the ECU. It's a touch and go kind of thing - my car is a base 5.0 car and had the wire connected while the person that wrote me had a loaded '88 XR7 and the wire was not connected. They ran a jumper and all was fine. The ECU is behind the right kick panel.

The trip minder will work with any EEC-IV and is not calibrated by engine - it receives a signal from the ECU telling it the fuel flow rate, and it combines that rate with the time and VSS signals to provide economy, average fuel economy and fuel used numbers. It's essentially a calculator

I had my dash panel off today and still couldn't find the connector. its just not there. The wires for the clock go strait into the main harness

Just an FYI, I stripped out an 88 TC yesterday, and it didn't have the connector on the end of the clock harness. The clock wires ran directly into the main harness, so it seems the harnesses are hit and miss on these cars.

im also finding out that the TC's didnt have a signal from Pin34 to the clock harness, only the Base/LX/LS/GS cars did

Just had this PM'd to me. Then person that sent it isn't 100% sure about all T-Birds/Cougars, but in their own experience this is what they have discovered:

     Quote:
                                      In cars with the buttstuffogue clock the power wire for the 194 bulb is in place of the fuel flow wire, so cars that had the buttstuffogue clock DIDNT get the fuel flow wire at the clock harness. I pulled my tripminder one day, and was testing the wires for voltage and identifying each wire. I turned the lights on, and got 12ish volts at the fuel flow wire, lights off, 0

according to the NATO boys, in the TC's, the fuel flow wire goes up to an 8 pin connector on the firewall, which i believe is for the cruise control, i tried to use the EVTM i have on disk, and its a bit tricky, but i also traced it there, and found it on the connector actually in the car                         
So as you can see, it really ishiznit-and-miss when it comes to installing a tripminder. As with many other features in these cars, not all cars had the same wiring, and there seems to be no definitive pattern (having an LX, for example, does not guarantee you the harness). In some cars it's plug & play, in some there is no clock harness connector, in some the clock harness connector is there but the fuel flow wire is not (or is not connected to the fuel flow input on the computer), and in some that fuel flow wire is actually a backlighting wire for the buttstuffogue clock.

Regardless, I still think of this as a very easy modification, much easier than, say, installing an aftermarket stereo. All of the circuits required to make it work are already in all 80's fuel injected Fords, but in some cars you have to go looking for them. Most of the circuits required to make the tripminder to work will be in the dash by the clock, whether you have the connector or not. The tripminder needs:

Power (constant 12V)
Accessory (switched 12V)
Inst Cluster lighting (switched on with dash lights)
Ground

All of the above are at the clock, whether you've got the removable harness or not. It also needs:

VSS input (from speedometer)
Fuel flow input (from pin 34 at the EEC-IV computer)

So if you get a tripminder with the connector still attached, at the most you'll have to run two wires, one to the cluster and one to the computer. You can find all of the others at your existing clock, so if you have to, you can cut the factory clock connector off and splice on the tripminder connector.

ok,,
on to the next loto question,,,,:D

In my honest opinion, a memeber of this board has done the most unique engine swap that i can think of to date.  No one here has done this swap but him and its a 3.8 SC. If i am incorrect on this then correct me please but i cant think of anyone but him.  This car is a one of a kind.

What is this member's user name?

Prolly Spazpuppies.