M35 dash in an m215? Trouble finding electrical fittings

[tburk49760]

I tried searching the forum to no avail. Has anyone tried to put an m35 ash in an m211 215 135 etc. etc.? My truck As the Detroit diesel 6V 53 and what I now know to be a five speed fuller transmission and therefore needs to have the gear drive tachometer. I noticed whilst searching on eBay that The m35 dash gauge cluster has spot for the tachometer. Thinking that if the dimensions are roughly the same this would solve my problem as to where to mount the tach Thoughts anyone? Also am having a very difficult time finding the connector for the back of the headlight switch and the M vehicle style turn signal lever connector. In my dream world I would find these connectors with pigtail still attached so I can work them into my what is turning out to be quite custom wire harness.

 

[Gunfreak25]

No, the M35 dash will not swap into an M211 cab. Very different dimensions. As for your connector problem your looking for a "cannon plug". This is what plugs into the back of the light switch assembly. Your only hope of finding this part with some wire left on it is from a parts truck.

Good news is, your a patient guy and sounds like you can problem solve. Do you have a copy of the TM? If not, I can post up the needed wiring diagram. The book lists each individual wire number as well as the individual pins themselves that slide into the cannon plugs. So when it comes time to splice your new connector on, it should be a simple but time consuming process of elimination. Although it's easiest with the harness removed from the truck, if you have 20' leads it can be done with a multimeter in the vehicle.

For example. Say we start with pin C coming out of the back of the light switch. Pin C aka wire 22 runs through to the rear connector at the cab floor where it connects with pin B. From B (still the same wire #22) it runs to the rear trailer receptacle which will again, be labeled pin B if you lift the cover and look at the face of the connector. So we have established 1 connection, only 20 more to go! Course this can be done backwards too. Whichever you choose.

So you can see, we don't really need the little metal tags that identify each wire number. Although it sure helps! Using the books ingeniously well crafted wire schematics we can simply start at a specific electrical source (say a headlight) and trace it all the way through to the light switch, from the light switch to the main source of power...the batteries.

 

[tburk49760]

poopie!
I will just have to fix mine and live with the tach mounted below the dash... I have the pinout diagram and a power porbe with long leads so let the deciphering begin!

 

[nattieleather]

You can make anything work. You can put an M35 dash into a M211 providing you want to do some metal work. Rework the opening to the new size. Then it will fit just fine. The connector on the back of the light switch is hard to come by. GF has the right idea get one off a parts truck. The good news is that connector is the same on a M211 as it is on a M35 as it is on a M715 as it is on a M998 so finding one shouldn't be to hard. It is an Amphenol connector made by the Amphenol company. So you could try a web search for a new one but I'd hate to think what new would cost.

 

[tburk49760]

I have a plasma cutter and I'm not afraid to use it. Although my XM215 is somewhat removed from stock already, I kind of want to keep it as close to stock appearing as I can, while also making it is usable as possible. I found a crimp on bullet connector that will push on the pins on the light switch quite readily. So my plan currently is to make all the connections I can with those push on connectors and then just keep my eyes open for the proper connector and splice it together when I can find it.

 

[Stan Leschert]

Do you have all of the TMs ?

If i can hook into a quicker connection, I'll try to post what I have.
Maybe some one who is more able can beat me to it.
If not, I'll put what I have on flash drive and ship it to PATRACY. I think that Gilles, Butch, Gunfreak and M1010 getting stuck in the muck,
have a more complete library than I, but if req .....

 

[tburk49760]

I think I have all of them. I downloaded quite a few from here and found others online, thanks...