From Fire Rescue to Fly Fishing

bgflyguy

Member
I recently picked up a 2005 e450 6.0l ambulance with a lifeline box. I'll slowly be converting it to a weekend camping and fishing mobile. I dont know how much I'll do to the interior other than dress it up a bit, but right now I'm just trying to figure things out. The fire department pulled some add-in electronics, but left all of the emergency gear. So getting rid of that is a priority.

It did come with a binder, but after a few hours of head scratching and doubting my ability to read, I discovered it's for an older ambulance. It's very similar and has a lot of the same features, but the wiring and closet are different. It also looks like someone has been creative and added a lot more lines to a few buses.

There is also a mystery switch on the dash. Its momentary on - down, off neutral, on up. It has a red and yellow indicator as well. Any ideas?

I didnt want to post this, because my progress will probably be slower than the "slow build" thread, but I know I'll need some help figuring this stuff out. I'll try to add a few pictures as I go.
 

bgflyguy

Member
I had picked up an obdII reader and purchased TorquePro before leaving to pick up the ambulance, but i couldn't get the reader work on the drive back. I was disappointed, as I knew the 6.0l had a lot of weak points to watch out for. I had counted on being able to monitor the coolant and eot on the drive through the mountains. Luckily we made it home without issue.

I tracked down the issue to the cigar lighter and data port fuse. So, I stole a fuse from the tow lights and was finally able to get a reading. Sitting in my driveway the temps looked good(of course), but the ficm power is way low. I'm reading like 37v max. The input and logic voltage look good, so I'm guessing the power supply is toast. First thing on the list. I just hope the injectors are okay. It starts up fine, but I haven't driven 14000 lbs 6.0l before so I don't have any baseline for performance. We will see once I get a new power supply.

I also started on the stickers. These weren't as bad as I thought. A heat gun and a scraper to get it started then it just peeled off. I came back with wd40 and scrapped the adhesive off a layer at a time. I still have more to go, but I got the words! One step at a time.


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bgflyguy

Member
I pulled the two front red scene/emergency lights to check them out. They were the standard fare Whelen 900s, so I scuffed all of the rest of lenses while I waited on a little sunshine to pull them and paint. I suppose it doesn't matter too much, but it looks like the rest were really nice Whelen 900 LED lights. Unfortunetely they are red, so they still aren't much use to me, but I figure I could have gotten a bit more if I sold them as a full light. I'll still give it a try, but scuffed finish probably doesn't help their resale value. Anyone ever unload any of these? As far as I can tell, those were the only LED lights. I also have two sets of headlights and front turn signals. I didn't see any issues with the ones installed, so I don't know why I have spares. Maybe they are junk? I'll have to test them out.

I plugged it in today. It looks like everything charges and works on shore-power. However, if I have the key turned backwards everything powers up, but after a few minutes(or a certain load?) it all shuts off. I don't know if this is a feature or an overload protection circuit or what. I'll have to keep poking around. I really don't want to have to rewire everything, but that may be the only way I ever truely know how everything actually works.

I also did a little planning for the inside. I think I'll go with a queen bed(2x30"x80") and use the mattresses as a bench. I think the 30" might be a bit too deep, but my wife says it will be super comfy. It's easier as well. To start off, I'm just going to use plywood and a piano hinge so everything folds over when not in use. I'll need some supports, but that shouldn't be too difficult.
 
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bgflyguy

Member
Despite most of the world being in some state of shutdown, I can still order diesel parts from amazon and have them arrive in less than 2 days. Go figure.

I received the FICM today, and decided to give the swap a go. I watched a couple of youtube videos, so therefore I'm a pro right? It actually went pretty smoothly, but after pulling the old part out and not seeing any visible damage, I was worried it wouldn't work. Maybe the caps were slightly bulged? I also opted for the Chinese part, as it was what was available. I actually suspect that most of these are the same except for maybe BPD who makes their own. If all goes well, when I do some other upgrades, I'll probably spend the big bucks on a nice part.

Anyways, all said and done, it worked. I now see 48.5v in TorquePro. The pup didn't care though. She was busy with the flowers.


Pulled from the van with only a small amount of blood left behind.

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I like a young boy on prom night Christopher Columbus, may not have been the first to explore here.

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Four pin! What a relief.

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The old part didn't look too bad. I thought maybe if there was obvious damage I would try to replace the caps and keep it as a spare.

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A little Chinesium to the rescue!

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"Leave spots on my apples, but give me the birds and the bees"

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bgflyguy

Member
As promised, it's been slow. I've been tracing a lot of the systems and sorting truth from fiction in the binder. I believe I have a pretty good understanding of the module control. I pulled the console and replaced it with a couple of switches on the floor. I'll add more later for the exterior lighting, but I dont need all the original functionality.

I'll post some more details of what I found, but I'm excited to have the space back from the console.

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Brewdiak

kodiak conversionator
nice rig, enjoy the project! the wiring can be daunting but as you've discovered is manageable - I was able to get my schematic from wheeled coach, and that along with a multi-meter and wire tracer gets the job done. i love that the wiring is all labeled along the length of each wire too!
 

bgflyguy

Member
Yeah, I feel like I have about 60% of the circuits documented, but i also have some misleading information weaved in like landmines. A lot of my wiring is striped and dotted instead of printed. I think the control isn't labeled, but the actual power is. Or atleast 60% like that :)

I have been replacing lights like a mad man, I don't think I want all of them, but I figured I'll just replace with LEDs first and then figure out what to pull entirely.

But, the big victory, is that I solved one of my mysteries. The black switch is an ignition security system to allow the keys to be pulled. I guess it's cool to leave the rig running while opening a cabinet or something. Not sure, but it will stay for now.


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68camaro

Any River...Any Place
Very nice and look forward to build, my Chinook is set up as a weekend boonedocking flyfishing rig as well. It’s been a great way to head out afterwork, boonedock then wake up on water or near it refreshed.

winters are especially nice, being able to wake up in warm rig with indoor plumbing, warm coffee and roomy dressing area.

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Brewdiak

kodiak conversionator
The switch makes sense, even ambulances get stolen. Does the engine die if the keys are out and you try to shift out of park?
 

bgflyguy

Member
Yeah, the engine cuts off if you hit the brake or shift to/through reverse.

I have a rear "closet' for waders and boots, an area for rods under the bench in the back, and I have plenty of room to tie flies. Any other additions to your Chinook?
 

bgflyguy

Member
So here are a few things I've found so far.

There is a high idle circuit somewhere that kicks the engine to 1200rpms when the parking brake is pressed, the module is on, and it is in park. I haven't found this yet, but I haven't looked too hard. It seems to work.

There is also an ignition tie in to some of the emergency light circuits. I don't know what all this does yet, so I haven't started pulling out the flashers.

The first thing I understand is that there is a Commander 350 by TST that controls power by the ignition. It also has an optional 5 minute timer that will shut down the power after the ignition has been cut for 5 minutes. This is currently on.

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One will note, there are a ton of wires connected to the input of the Commander. These are unaffected by the unit. These are mostly 12v power ports that were added to every surface they could find. Not too bad really, there will be plenty of places to charge the phone after I replace most with USB ports.

Documentation:

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Next, the output of this module is connected to the PDT 200, which handles the "Module Disconnect" this has a separate switch that can shut power to most of the module. I put this behind the drivers seat. So far, it's the only thing I have connected from the removed console. However, once again this has plenty of wires connected to the input, that are not affected by the power disconnect swictch, but are affected by the Commander ignition module.

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Documentation:

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From here, most things are powered by relay's. The control is handled by a Mark IV Load Mangaer. I this will start shutting things down if they draw too much power. I also have the documentation for this, but will have to add it later. I also don't know the control logic for the lights and other modules. Also, none of this is for the 110v circuit.

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This all seems high quality parts, I just don't know how much power it drains by just being in the circuit. I'll have to wait to see how much I keep vs. discard. I do know, that if it starts breaking I'm dumping all of it :)
 
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bgflyguy

Member
I've also been replacing all of the lights I can get with LEDs. So far just on the inside, but my goal is for at least the internal lighting and the scene lights.

I figure I have saved a few hundred watts so far :)

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For those who are interested, here are the parts I'm using:

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Each of my ceiling lights had a ge912 and a G4? bulb. This was supposed to be high/low, but now it's just bright and other bright.

I got these in "soft white" for the warm lighting:

I figured it's in an Amazon ad for LEDs they won't be that bright, but they are pretty bright and way whiter than 4k. Maybe they sent the wrong ones? These are good quality and fit in the lamp base very well. I'll probably end up just using these for the "big" lights.

For the bright light I went with these:

These are nice. I like the small package, but they don't fit the bases very well. I had to bend a lot of the leads and they just don't feel snug for bouncing around. These aren't as bright as the other lights, but are about the same "daytime" color.

Honestly the brightness difference isn't that much between the two. I know the amazon ratings has the first light "double" the brightness of the second light, but it's pretty much a wash.

Over what will eventually be the galley, there are two work lights. These were 35watt 1003 headlights, and were very bright and put off a ton of heat. I liked the idea of a bright workstation, so I replaced them with these:

Those are nice lights as well. I would guess they are the closest to performing to their spec. It could also be because they are 1' away from my face.

Lastly, I have some 12v flourescents running down the middle of the module. These have a switch by the door so until I get everything figured out in the wiring closet I wanted to keep them. I didn't find replacement lights, but I did find some 12v strip lights for pretty cheap. They had two sided tape on the back, and I just stuck them in the enclosure and wired them up instead of the ballast. You can't tell with the cover on, but once again they are just freakin bright. I'll probably go back and turn one off. Amazon said they are 4.5w, and they are bright.


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I haven't bought cheap LED lights in a few years. I played around with a bunch of different stuff a few years back, and I came to the conclusion that if it didn't have a CREE part number you could look up and find the brightness, it wasn't going to be bright. Like all things in technology, LEDs have advanced a TON. These are all fairly high quality for what I paid. Too bright to all be in the same box, but I'll worry about that another day.
 

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