Mystery Switch

[timmygyu]

Anybody know what this switch might be to? It's near the driver seat. It's says "Cole Hersee co." on it, also "Boston U.S.A.". No model number. My bus is a '96 Ford e350 shorty with a 7.3l powerstroke. Manufacturar is Thor; brand is Eldorado.





Cheers,
Tim

[bansil]

It is a disconnect switch between the battery and something

Since it has yellow plastic crimp covers I will go with 12 ga wire good for say 20 amps.

It is not factory installed

Either trace wires to find out where it goes
or turn it off and see what doesn't work.

It was probably installed because something was draining the battery down.

Good luck

[the_experience03]

Seeing stuff like that makes me so glad I'm no longer in service engineering at Ford Motor Company. The technicians would contact us about stuff like that ALL the time and we had absolutely no reference because it was added to a cutaway chassis by the bodybuilder. The tech was kind of stuck because he was supposed to fix it (and sometimes even tried to claim warranty time ) but had nothing to go on.

Upfitters are really good at doing things like using black wire...and only black wire...for EVERYTHING. Oh the fuming customers...the A/C wouldn't work (performance is lackluster on a stock E-series due to airflow restrictions)...come to find out that the aftermarket upfitter installed a second evaporator unit and tied it into the stock system without upgrading the compressor or condenser. Upfitters would by an E-250 to upfit because it was cheaper and the customer would get upset when Ford wouldn't warranty the broken suspension springs because it was 50% over the GAWR before the customer even added their own junk to it.

Speaking of Ford...there is some information out there that may be of some use to you and it is absolutely free. There is some good stuff at https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/ though a lot of it applies to newer models only. Of course, the E-series really hasn't changed all that much...

[roach711]

My rig came with that same switch. I believe it disconnects the battery ground and kills power to the bus. I figure it will come in handy as an anti-theft device.

[91 Bus Guy]

My bus didn't have one but I think it would be a good mod to add.

Keith

[timmygyu]

Thanks for the replies everybody!

bansil:

I figured it probably wasn't stock. I guess I'll trace it at some point.

the_experience03:

Yeah, all the aftermarket stuff is a PITA to figure out. I'll check out the link. Cheers...

roach711:

Thanks for the input, but it definitely doesn't do that; I turned it off and turned the bus over without trouble; everything seemed to work.

91 Bus Guy:

Every bus needs a magical mystery switch...

[Tango]

Is there an "extra" battery somewhere? I've seen similar switches used to toggle between two batteries (?). Tracking down the wiring may be the only answer though. Let us know what you find at the end of it.

[roach711]

Mine definitely disconnects the battery. Here's a link to the same switch on the Cole Hersee site:

http://www.ase-supply.com/Cole_Hersee_p/ch-2484-a.htm