Ranger XLT Standard Wiring

[Turtle]

Hi all,
We've just upgraded to a 2014 Ranger XLT and I was wondering if anyone could confirm that the standard wiring in the harness will be ok for the fridge.
I gave the dealer the Jayco wiring requirements and was informed that the 12 pin plug is already set up like that.
He proved that the fridge pins are constant 12 volts and that it was fused separatly with a 15 amp fuse.
Can anyone with this same setup comment?

 

[relgate]

Interesting. My 2013 Mazda BT50 came with a 12 pin plug but only the bottom 7 were in use. I ran my own cable to 9 and 10 for the fridge

 

[ROnEM]

@Turtle,
Great to hear some of the car manufacturers or dealers are doing the hard work for us.

Interesting on the Volvo's, they use a different pin-out configuration and use pin 5 for the running lights while in Oz we use them for electric brakes.

Thought something was wrong with the car electrics when I connected a trailer with elec brakes to the XC90 - could smell burning plastic but did not thing anything of it.

Went to use the 6x4 some time later and found no lights - had burnt out the controller for the tow plugs. $350 for a new one!

Finally worked out that Volvo use a different pin-out for the wiring when towing a horse float home and put on the headlights as it got dark! Suddenly the float started pulling up the car. Some road-side diagnostics and temp rewire got us home.

 

[Turtle]

Cumon everyone, surely someone has this setup or do I need to pioneer this?

 

[brotys]

Howdy I a auto elec and do lots of rangers for the local ford dealer some of them are and some are not buy the ones that are the wiring is not heavy duty need to replace it with at least 6 mm cable

 

[Ben Stanford]

@Turtle, I can't help with your query, but I am keen to know how the Ranger goes towing your Van. Is there much sag in the rear of the ranger when hooking the van on? I am looking at getting a XLT Ranger, and would be keen to know what you think. Cheers Ben

 

[Capt. Gadget]

@Turtle My 2014 Ranger's 12 pin plug was wired with both a constant 12v and one that only comes on when the ignition is on from the factory and my Expanda fridge is wired to the ignition controlled one, works fine for me!! The wires to both are heavier than the the other wires but from memory would say only 4mm will have a look later and let you know
@Ben Stanford mine is OK for sag with just the van on but with the back full of stuff i.e. Engles Genny, beer etc it could use some slightly stiffer springs which I think I will add

 

[Meanderthals]

Our van was ordered with an Anderson Plug from the van so we don't have that wired through the 12 pin plug. Power for it comes from the 2nd battery in the tub. Jayco did wire the ESC through the 12 pin plug but I changed that to an Anderson one as well as they specify that it be fed direct from the main car battery and to have a 30 Amp fuse, which to me is way too much potential current for even the large pins of the 12 pin plug, plus it can be disconnected for rougher road use.

 

[Marv_mart]

We have Mazda BT 50 XTR basically the same as the ranger. It came wired with all 12 pins ready for towing the van but the fridge power not isolated so potential for a flat battery when we stop for a coffee. I went down the path of getting both the Panda and the Beast wired with Anderson plugs. Fridge now powered thru Anderson when Travelling and isolates when ignition off. Have a thumper in the boot plugged into the Aux plug so charges when Travelling and isolated when stopped.
Anderson on Panda also allows for portable Solar panel plug in and let's me plug in the powered jockey to manoeuvre the van.

 

[Marv_mart]

@Turtle, I can't help with your query, but I am keen to know how the Ranger goes towing your Van. Is there much sag in the rear of the ranger when hooking the van on? I am looking at getting a XLT Ranger, and would be keen to know what you think. Cheers Ben

Ben, the BT 50 TDiesel Auto and Ford Ranger are the same chassis and diesel. Have no trouble towing Panda, in fact hardly notice it on the ball. Can tow 3500kg and can take a ball wt of 350kg. Negligible sag with Panda 14.44-5 OB

 

[Ben Stanford]

Thanks guys, appreciate the info!

 

[Derrick]

Recently went through this with at bt50 .I wired in a brake controller and while doing it put a red arc ignition controlled dc to dc charger a breakaway battery monitor wire (nsw) and a large twin from the red arc to charge the batteries via an Anderson plug . My thoughts were that the 12 pin plug would not handle the current over time especially when running fridge on 12 v while travelling. So when travelling it will charge from the tug and run only on van batteries when tug turned off . A fridge motion switch will be the next investment .When you start from scratch you will know its right .

 

[Turtle]

@Turtle My 2014 Ranger's 12 pin plug was wired with both a constant 12v and one that only comes on when the ignition is on from the factory and my Expanda fridge is wired to the ignition controlled one, works fine for me!! The wires to both are heavier than the the other wires but from memory would say only 4mm will have a look later and let you know
@Ben Stanford mine is OK for sag with just the van on but with the back full of stuff i.e. Engles Genny, beer etc it could use some slightly stiffer springs which I think I will add

Thanks Gadget,
I'm going to fit a fridge switch and hook it up today and measure the voltage, should be okay hey?

 

[Turtle]

I can now confirm the Ranger wiring is good for the fridge.
I have installed a fridge switch to the panda and hooked it up to my Hilux. The Hilux has a 6mmsq wire from the battery to the 12 pin plug for the fridge. This arrangement has always worked fine.
I measured the voltage at the fridge (under load) and it was 11.1 volts.
I then hooked up the Ranger and measured the voltage at the fridge and it was the same.
All good

 

[cruza driver]

Good work @Turtle you just need a thread about your Ranger now

 

[Big Fish]

Disable the smart charge feature on the ranger! I ran a dedicated power source direct from the battery with isolator switch (Anderson plug) for mine. Now power drop with that cable!

 

[crackacoldie]

Disabling the smart charge will save you a world of hurt, recommend it even if not running second batteries.

 

[Pasties]

Our van was ordered with an Anderson Plug from the van so we don't have that wired through the 12 pin plug. Power for it comes from the 2nd battery in the tub. Jayco did wire the ESC through the 12 pin plug but I changed that to an Anderson one as well as they specify that it be fed direct from the main car battery and to have a 30 Amp fuse, which to me is way too much potential current for even the large pins of the 12 pin plug, plus it can be disconnected for rougher road use.

How was your 2nd battery set up, and also your brake controller.
Steve

 

[Dove]

I also have a 2014 XLT Ranger. I find that there is some rear end sag and are considering whether to re fit my WDH even though Ford say its not needed. My Ranger was supposedly wired so that it was not effected by my van's LED tail and running lights. Not so. The left and right indicators flash at high speed when connected to the van. They seem to pulse every 4 flashes. The dealer can't fix it and gave me a patch harness used on earlier models that corrects the flash rate. It is fully wired to all 12 pins. But only with 3mm 10 amp auto wire.

When I first got the car I had an auto electrician wire in the brake controller, heavy duty 6mm cable to the no. 2 pin for electric brakes and van battery, and same heavy cable to the big pins for the van fridge. I have to use the patch harness to control the van's indicator lights but wonder whether the short length of auto cable connecting the fridge is going to be a problem???

The Ranger is a good tow vehicle but I'm really annoyed about the wiring.

 

[Meanderthals]

How was your 2nd battery set up, and also your brake controller.
Steve

Brake controller was a Redarc remote head unit originally fitted as a part of items fitted through the Ford Dealer to an outside supplier. Actually got it for free as it was cancelled when I realised that it wasn't a proportional type but the message got lost in the system and was fitted anyway. I now have a Redarc Tow Pro unit but as it was an early production one that turned out to not be compatible with the ALKO ESC. It is currently with Redarc being upgraded and then will be installed in place of the current one. Haven't decided on the dash location for the control knob yet. Although the old one was used to tow the van for about 4000 km I was relatively happy with it but realised its limitations.

The 2nd battery setup is a work in progress and is now at version 2. I had the "Smart charge" on the Ranger disabled firstly. The 2nd battery was fed via a large isolating switch and a circuit breaker and cabled to the tub to a Redarc BCDC charger and then to the 100AH AGM battery mounted in an old microwave case. Case is bolted to a sheet of Formply sitting on rubber matting. The charger is mounted on the outside of the case, as is the distribution fuse panel and the Bainbridge socket and USB box ( http://www.baintech.com.au/power-panels/baintech-new-universal-panel-ciga-merit-usb ). For version 2 I've changed the battery to one that can be connected back to the main battery for jump starting if I have another unexplained flat battery ( did seem to be caravan related ). I've also replaced the isolating switch with a Redarc ignition controlled unit ( http://www.redarc.com.au/products/product/smart-start-sbi_12v_100a/ ). If the previous flat main battery was something from the van it shouldn't happen again. Version 3 will be a different case when I sort out all the items I want connected to it, or mounted in/on it. Could end up being an old computer tower case. The reason for using the Formply was that it also had a fridge slide bolted to it and I didn't want to put holes in the tub.

There are 3 main cable runs, all with Tycab 6B&S twin core in an outer sheath and each circuit breaker protected.
1. Redarc SBI to BCDC in tub for aux battery.
2. Redarc SBI to Anderson Plug at towbar for van ESC.
3. Aux battery to another Anderson Plug for van fridge.

Yet to make up long jumper leads with one end on 175Amp Anderson Plug with similar plug at aux battery.