Brent79

Ok, so i think i was the first person to do this sorta conversion and after you read this i think maybe i may be the last too!? Ok before i go into it i'll break down prices i payed for the parts. Climate console ECU ($30), Vacuum solenoids+fan controller+evap sensor+cabin sensor&motor+ ambient sensor (all $40), blend motor and wiring loom ($25) - all up cost is $95. (please note that i have not found an engine and solar sensor at this stage)

First thing i did was rip out the glovebox and its surrowned. Bolted the solenoids onto the inlet ducting. Pulled out the exsisting vacuum lines and connected the solenoids vacuum lines to the heater box connector. Removed a/c thermostat and resistor pack. At this stage i found that the hole for the fan speed controller was not large enuf too accomodate the fan speed controller heatsink which needs to sit in the evap case.
So i cut the hole larger and bolted & sealed it in. The evap sensor was pushed into the exsisting thermostat probe hole and sealed. Now came the problem i was dredding most. The blend motor. On factory ACC, the motor is located ontop of the heater case. On mine, its located on the side to the right of the flap control arm. The motor is linked with a piece of coathanger wire to the blend flap arm on the heater case, EASY! (This is not %100 effective as i couldnt get the flap arm to open all the way up! but in QLD this isnt really a major issue... runs about %70 heating)
This takes care of the glovebox side of things.

Now was time to install the various sensors and main wiring looms. Was not a major prob as i removed the entire looms from a wrecked EA ghia. So in went the ambient sensor to the front of the car. Wires need to be run for this to the dash. Then i stumbled apon a MAJOR problem.... For some reason FORD decided to make the mounting brackets for the standard and auto A/C different. This meant that the climate console wouldnt sit in the dash properly. Whats worse is that it appeared almost impossible to mount the sniffer motor too the inside of the dash coz the screws that hold it in are only accessible from the reverse side of the dash! At this stage i was running out of daylight and i had to get the dash back together.
So i omitted the motor at this stage. It looks like its going to be mounted elsewhere under the dash and an extension to the ducting will be required. To solve my problem of the console, i had to cut out 3 of the 4 mounting lungs from the climate computer. Even now it doesnt sit on the slight angle it needs to be flush with the dash surrowned. It will have to do for now.
Finally i needed to hook up all the power and lighting to the climate ECU. A slight problem here was that i couldnt get the night illumination of the buttons to work. I thought that the brown wire controlled this but when hooked up and with the park lights on, it appeared some sort of internal short as it made the LCD display and active leds dimm to nearly nothing. Hmmm - may have something to do with not having a central controller in the ole GL?

Anyway - at this stage i dont have a working solar sensor or engine temp sensor attached. I didnt find any major effects on the operation of the climate control tho. I think i will on an extremely bright and hot day tho. One thing i noticed is that for some reason the ECU turned on the compressor when i set the temp for 30 degrees? It later went off - maybe something to do with the sensors ive missed? I will figure it out tho.

So was it all worth it?? If i can get those night lights and display to fit flush in the dash then id say YES! Just a pain in the ass that ford cant make things interchangeable. I was real worried when the console didnt fit in. Made me think i had stuffed the car a/c system up all together! Does anyone know why it wont fit?? is it the actual dash supports or is it a difference in the EB models?
Did the the EB1 come with the black button'd climate computer?
Too anyone who wants to try it - go ahead. Just make sure u know a bit about electronics. If you can follow the wiring diagrams then you'll do just fine!

Cheers

Brent

galapogos01

hey brent
good to hear you got it all happening man. id love to do this to my car, ACC rocks!

the eb1 has silver buttons.

the illumination light you mention needs to go to the NEGATIVE wire of a dash light that dims when you use the dimming function of the dash lights. it makes the display dim along with the lights.

as for the night illumination, maybe theres another wire for that?

the ACC always turns on the AC compressor when its in auto mode. something i found REALLY annoying in my brothers car. you need to press the Manual (AC Off in EB2) button. this means it controls temp and fan speed but doesnt use the AC.

shitter about the mounting points. can you get a photo of the mounts?

also, the sniffer motor - where does that mount? i thought it was on the back of the plate that the trip computer clips into? that plate comes out easily. just a few screws. but you know that!

hope this helps! let me know how you go!

Jase

Xyphoid

Hey Congrats Man !
This is from what I can tell, the absolute hardest Interior/Electrical Mod that can be made to a Falcon !
Well Done and top stuff !

Brent79

Jase, from what i can tell.. the 2 stage dimming function works from the brown parklamp wire (N) which has a +12V supply when the park lights are switched on. This wire drops voltage when the dim switch is pressed. In theory if i hook up this N wire then the button lights should illuminate. Its acting like there is some sort of internal short. On my wiring diagram there are 3 wires used too control the illumination. The brown wire (N), a dimmer wire (BW) and another wire (BR) which is supposed to go to somesorta lamp control unit? To get the LCD display to light up i found i had to ground the BW wire. What function does this BR wire have? I didnt notice this wire in the loom at all. Anybody have any ideas??

Cheers

Brent

galapogos01

the BW wire is the one i believe you hook to the negative line. i thought this changed voltage with the dim setting. i read it on mattis ford performance mod page, the url has been floating around...

Brent79

Yep jase, that must be why my display is very bright coz ive grounded it. Cant figure out the button illumination tho. Im guessing its a shorting bulb so i'll check that out today :)

Brent