brown wire mod question

[briwayjones]

My switch stays lit the same brightness all of the time also. It's not the type of rocker switch where the switch is translucent plastic it has a round L.E.D. light instead. When it's on it's lit and doesn't change with the power. It's wired correctly I have only two wheel drive when using it. And the way it's wired is the only way that it gives me two wheel drive.

 

[Lee S.]

My switch stays lit the same brightness all of the time also. It's not the type of rocker switch where the switch is translucent plastic it has a round L.E.D. light instead. When it's on it's lit and doesn't change with the power. It's wired correctly I have only two wheel drive when using it. And the way it's wired is the only way that it gives me two wheel drive.

Mine has a round LED on the the top of the actual rocker part of the switch...rock the switch up and the light comes on and varies with intensity in 4x4 auto. Switch it off it goes dark and i'm in 2wd having successfully cut the power via the bw to the transfer case. Other than icepounder you are the first I've heard of with a constantly lit switch. If you read thru the original bw thread, everyone who wired in lit switches were commenting how cool it was that the light varied in intensity as they watched the computer applying power to the front. The thing is that the juice running thru the bw constantly varies...if the light on the switch is properly wired it should vary as well. There should be no other source of current other than that running thru the bw. Are you sure you don't have some kind of constant 12v souce wired into your switch? Maybe you just have a different type of switch or something. I'm not discounting what you say it just seems to go against the flow of others who have installed lighted switches.

Lee

 

[briwayjones]

It sounds like I have the same type or similar switch to you. I just have the two ends of the brown wires and the ground hooked up. The ground that is hooked up is the ground wire that goes to the cigarette lighter. It's a spade connector so I just hooked it up to the switch instead of running a ground wire somewhere. That shouldn't make a difference though I wouldn't think?

 

[Lee S.]

It sounds like I have the same type or similar switch to you. I just have the two ends of the brown wires and the ground hooked up. The ground that is hooked up is the ground wire that goes to the cigarette lighter. It's a spade connector so I just hooked it up to the switch instead of running a ground wire somewhere. That shouldn't make a difference though I wouldn't think?

Okay... I'm just gonna have to admit I don't have a clue for you constantly lit switch people. Maybe a brown wire electrician will chime in. All I can say is that I have mine wired as I outlined in my previous post and everything works (including the changing of the switch light intensity) exactly as I described it. And recently, I spent a while on an ice patch on my driveway just to confirm that I had 2wd when the switch was off.

Lee

 

[icepounder]

Okay I got my x back from the exhaust shop about two hours ago ... she sounds goooood. Only problem was I specifically stated I wanted the mufflers tucked up with nothing hanging ( or as little as possible) .. even if they had to stagger them. When I got home they were side by side and hang lower than the tranny mount . I went back and they said to come back tomorrow and they'll put it up in the air.
Well it's snowing here .. no better time to check things out ! As I previously stated the switch light was on one brightness at all times. I opened the console and checked the connections ( three prong switch). Ground was to ground so I reversed the battery and accessory connections.
Low and behold it lights dimly when on in Auto but when it slipped in the snow it would flicker brighter. I put it in 4x4 High and it was bright. In 4x4 Low it was bright.
I didn't think reversing the connections would be a big deal but I guess it was. It felt great to be sliding in two wheel drive !! Now the big test will be if the left front tire spins slowly on the dyno.
Thanks to all for all the help !

 

[Lee S.]

Well it's snowing here .. no better time to check things out ! As I previously stated the switch light was on one brightness at all times. I opened the console and checked the connections ( three prong switch). Ground was to ground so I reversed the battery and accessory connections.
Low and behold it lights dimly when on in Auto but when it slipped in the snow it would flicker brighter. I put it in 4x4 High and it was bright. In 4x4 Low it was bright.
I didn't think reversing the connections would be a big deal but I guess it was. It felt great to be sliding in two wheel drive !! Now the big test will be if the left front tire spins slowly on the dyno.
Thanks to all for all the help !

Well...I'm glad you got that straightened out....I was worried about losing a few more brain cells tonight when I checked this thread. I guess that leaves briwayjones as the last of the constantly lit switch people lol.

I'm figuring now that you'll have no front wheel spin when in 2wd on the dyno. If your switch is dark (in 2wd) then there can be no current going from the TOD to the transfer case to activate the front wheels. Please keep us posted.

Lee

 

[ricstone.1]

i done this mod today on my 98 with no trobule. works like a charm. has any one noticed any gas milage diff. doing this mod???

 

[briwayjones]

I guess that leaves briwayjones as the last of the constantly lit switch people lol.

I'm special! It shouldn't hurt anything that I have it hooked up with the wires reversed though should it? It works that way and I actually like having it constantly light when it's on in that mode.

Ricstone
I didn't notice a difference in mileage.

 

[00XLS]

I'm special! It shouldn't hurt anything that I have it hooked up with the wires reversed though should it? It works that way and I actually like having it constantly light when it's on in that mode.

Ricstone
I didn't notice a difference in mileage.

I don't think anyone will notice an increase, if my thinking is correct. These transfer cases have no 2wd gear in them, their constantly in a 4wd gear, its just that the magnetic clutch isn't sending power to the front wheels but the gears are still being turned. So actually I think theres power being wasted, anyone else thinks this makes sense?

 

[briwayjones]

Yeah that makes sense. There is no gear reduction for 4WD High, it uses the regular gearing. I think the train of thought on getting better mileage with the brown wire mod is that you won't have the Auto putting power to the front wheels which it may do more often than people realize. Therefore in theory giving you better mileage because it's not doing that anymore. I don't think there's a big difference though.

 

[icepounder]

Lee here is an update on my TOD mod. Get ready to fry some brain cells ! On the dyno at about 3500 RPM the front wheels started to rotate again , slowly but they were rotating. The switch is operating as per everyone else (flickering). I'm starting to wonder if this is the norm and nobody else is noticing ? It only starts to rotate at about 3500 RPM and they are turning very slowly , maybe 5 mph. In the snow I was sliding around but I doubt the RPM's were to high. The same goes for the dirt road.

 

[Lee S.]

Lee here is an update on my TOD mod. Get ready to fry some brain cells ! On the dyno at about 3500 RPM the front wheels started to rotate again , slowly but they were rotating. The switch is operating as per everyone else (flickering). I'm starting to wonder if this is the norm and nobody else is noticing ? It only starts to rotate at about 3500 RPM and they are turning very slowly , maybe 5 mph. In the snow I was sliding around but I doubt the RPM's were to high. The same goes for the dirt road.

Why did I know this was going to happen....

Allright...consider them fried. I'm guessing you're the first to actually disprove (to a point) the bw mod on the dyno. It's very odd that it works fine up to 3500rpm. I do not know what the inside of the transfer case looks like so all I can do is speculate. Maybe there is some sort of mechanical meshing of the clutches inside of the TC that only happens above a certain RPM? This would obviously be independent of the electronic control provided by the TOD via the bw. You mention that the front spins very slowly at 3500 rpm. This would leave me to believe that it's more an indication of a malfunctioning TC than it is something that was engineered into the TC by design. I'm getting into an an area that I know nothing about so I think it's best to call in the experts. Your best bet for an answer might be to copy your last post along with a link to this thread and post it in the original bw thread. You'll probably get a lot more looks from members who know a heck of a lot more about this than me. I will watch this with interest.

Lee

 

[briwayjones]

You know I wonder if this is happening to me. When doing donuts in the snow which I get up 3500 or over sometimes it would seem like the front wheels would kick in a little bit and the truck would lurch a little. I always figured it was my imagination and that the rear wheels probably caught on the pavement a little bit causing it.

 

[birdman]

dude this is crazy, I wonder if it really is doing that for everybody and it just too little of power going to the front end to notice. Lee, I vote you take yours to dyno.

 

[davesexplorer]

Tuned in to this thread! I was going to do this tonight...

 

[Lee S.]

dude this is crazy, I wonder if it really is doing that for everybody and it just too little of power going to the front end to notice. Lee, I vote you take yours to dyno.

Why Me?... I nominate birdman to take his to the dyno...do i hear a second on that?

It still looks like the bw mod works at least up to 3500 rpm as it appears that icepounder is proving with his dyno runs. I'm not sure what to make of his description of very slow front wheel spinning after 3500 rpm...you'd think that front wheels would spin a little more than very slowly if the transfer case was supplying power to the front. Who knows...maybe icepounder has discovered a 'chink' in the bw mod's armor....it would be funny after all the years people have been doing this mod.

The only reason I did the bw mod was to save a little wear and tear on my transfer case and maybe 1/2 mpg in the process. I think the real benefit of it is for the off roaders especially those that have gen 2 x's with front lockers...maybe one of those will chime in.

No dyno runs for me...

Lee

 

[birdman]

after I do bw mod I will put mine on dyno if I can get on it for free. that would be wild if people didn't know about this all this time. anyways we need so experts to help us out, come on guys.

 

[GJarrett]

I think the real benefit of it is for the off roaders especially those that have gen 2 x's with front lockers...maybe one of those will chime in.

Lee

I don't race mine or dog it hard on the street - I'm lifted on big tires and no antisway bars so I'm conservative - so I've never noticed this partial engaging above 3500 rpm at all. After reading this thread and noting that very little power seems to be transferring to your front only at high rpms, I wonder if it is not a matter of electrical power being engaged, but rather the vicious coupling effect of the ATF churning within the transfer case that is causing the front tires to begin to rotate. If that's the case, I'll bet that the actual power being sent to the front wheels is almost nil - but still enough to turn a freespinning dyno wheel. How much horsepower is actually engaging the front, irrespective of the back?

I'm locked in front with 4auto and the only thing keeping my vehicle from total mahem on hard asphalt is the brown wire mod. I've never felt it engage at all at any speed up to 85 mph. There's no way possible that any measurable power is being sent to my front at all when I have my switch flipped to off or I'd feel it.

 

[Lee S.]

Well said Gerald:

Thanks for chiming in and bailing us out here. Your viscous coupling effect explanation sounds more than reasonable to me. The bw mod lives on.

Gotta love this site.

Lee

 

[00XLS]

I had mine ON coming back to school on sunday and it does engage more than you would think. Esp when passing and the engine revs up to get power (had cruise on) the light got real bright.