04 econoline diesel tach wire

I recently installed a Viper 5704v into a 2004 Ford E350. It has the 6.0 Power Stroke diesel engine. The install went very smooth thanks to the wiring info I gleaned off of this site and a couple other, so to whoever posted the info, thank you for that!

The virtual tach feature is iffy at best when using remote start. I have the wait to start time set to 15 seconds currently, but also have tested it at 30 seconds. I have crank time set to 2.0 seconds as I have read and confirm that the vehicle has factory anti grind protection.

Typically a cold start (and I mean fridged cold these days...) goes as follows:

- After pressing the remote start button and waiting the 15 seconds while the glow plugs heat up and the injectors cycle, the engine will crank for not quite one second and NOT fire up.

- After the remote start gives a second attempt, the engine will crank and fire up in less than the 2.0 seconds.

- Half of the time it will run for ten seconds and then shut down. I assume that the remote start virtual tach feature cannot determine that the engine is running and so it shuts off to try to start the engine again.

- Half the time again, the engine will start a second time (3rd "attempt") and run for 10 seconds again before shutting down. This time the two way remote makes it's audible remote start failure noise.


I have noticed that on cold mornings when it is still dark, and after a full cold soak, that the lights are dimmer for about 10- 15 seconds and I can hear the engine laboring just every so slightly under the load of the twin alternators. After this the lights get bright all of the sudden. There is also an after market ammeter and volt meter, and both with go to a full normal reading at the same moment the lights get bright. This vehicle is packed full of electronic equipment, so this doesn't strike me as odd, but I assume that this plays a part in why the virtual tach seems to have difficulty.

So here is the real question... I have read many different things about tach signals on diesels.

-Does any one here have direct experience with the 04 -06 Ford Econoline vans with the 6.0?
-Do the vans have upfitter wires like the trucks?
-Is the "PCM pin 1" at the firewall, the best place to get a tach signal or can you tap into the tach wire behind the instrument cluster?
-Are the tach signals truly "dirty" and should I just go directly for a tach signal generator like the 454T? The local install places have said they haven't sold tach generators for years and I know they do Super Duty's all the time.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

If it has anti grind try changing to voltage sense instead of smart tach and set crank time to 4 seconds

Virtual tach is not recommended for Diesels...

The way I do most Ford Diesels is that I check to see if the Truck has "overcrank" protection. What you do to check this is when you start the truck with the key, hold the key in the start(crank) position even after it starts. Listen for the starter grinding. If its not grinding then you have "overcrank" protection. Most Ford Diesels have it...

These setting will only work if you have verified the truck has "overcrank" protection:
1) Turn off engine checking mode in Menu 3 item 2
2) Change crank time to 4 seconds in menu 3 item 3

This will start the truck every time as long as you have the wait to start set for long enough as well as the truck being in working order.

If it doesn't have overcrank protection, then you need to hook up the tach wire which is WHITE/ pink at the PCM, top plug pin 1 on diesels. The PCM is located next to the master brake cylinder. You can look for it behind the cluster, but I'm not sure if its there. It probably won't hurt to pull the cluster and look/test for it. I know on the Ford Excursion its at the cluster as well.

I have looked for the white and pink wire at the PCM twice now with no success. I also looked behind the cluster and probed every wire for AC voltage. The van also has the Ford APCM for idle control and I probed those wires also.

Unless anyone can provide any better info for the location of that tach wire, I think I will just go ahead and order the 454T.

Flobee4, I switched engine checking to off in the mean time, so hopefully that will help, but I do need a tach signal in the long run. Thanks though!

Over here in Metro NY, I do this all the time with this platform with no problems. Do increase your crank time to 4 seconds though. But only if you have over-crank protection of course. Its the combination of the 4 second crank time as well as turning off the engine checking that makes it successful.