defi illumination wire?

[silviaguy240]

any one with a s13 have it hooked up? its the white one. not sure if i really need to do it.

[Sileighty_85]

I have them, can't recall the wires exactly, but if you wanna see your gauges its probably a good idea to hook it up, (especially if you have the Blacked out ones like mine)

[silviaguy240]

yea, im not 100% sure, but my head unit has one so im thinking its kinda the same thing, its just so you can make them dim adjustable with your stock knob. just wanted to make sure thats what it was and not the actual illumination wire.

[Sileighty_85]

if its the blacked out gauges you need to wire it to accessories that gets power when you turn on the car. If you wire it to the Illumination on the CD player, the gauges will only light up when you turn the lights on.

[g6civcx]

Can you contact the vendor or manufacturer for a wiring diagram?

[silviaguy240]

i got the book, i might have to take a better look but from what i saw wasnt much instruction on where the wire went.

[TriniGT]

Just did some searching,
Red - Constant 12v (for the memory of peak/warning/playbacks)
Orange - 12v acc.
White - 12v for lights
Black - ground

Also found this as well,

Check to see if you gauges are plug into right port behind the control unit. For the BF series, it should be plug to meter output #2 instead of #1.

[Sileighty_85]

that booklet is all the information you need, its not that hard

Can't get any simplier I wired mine up in 10 mins its running the wires to where you want them to go is the hardest part (time Consuming)

[g6civcx]

Originally Posted by Sileighty_85

If you wire it to the Illumination on the CD player, the gauges will only light up when you turn the lights on.

For LED lights this is okay, but in general not a good idea if the combined load is more than the fuse. If you keep blowing the fuse then it's a sign to run another circuit.

[Sileighty_85]

Originally Posted by g6civcx

For LED lights this is okay, but in general not a good idea if the combined load is more than the fuse. If you keep blowing the fuse then it's a sign to run another circuit.

Right I was telling him if it was the Blacked out gauges not to wire to there cuz then he will only see the gauges if he turns on his lights.

Defi's dont pull that much amps to blow fuses

[silviaguy240]

i think you're all missing my point, do you really need to wire it up? or is it just for brightness adjustment. i was saying my cd player has a similar wire for brightness adjustment, but i hooked it up without and it still works, i was wondering if the illumination wire on the control unit is the same as the illumination wire on my cd player. not really necessary. i cant test this because im in the process of pulling my motor and every thing is out of it already so i cant hook it up.

[g6civcx]

Originally Posted by silviaguy240

do you really need to wire it up?

It depends on the function of the wire. Right now it's not clear if you have a black gauge, and if the wire is used for lights on or brightness adjustment.


FYI, the car has 2 wires for lights: 1 supplies power shared with the parking lights, and 1 supplies variable grounds to adjust brightness, used only for interior lights.

Originally Posted by silviaguy240

is it just for brightness adjustment

I'm not sure yet.

Originally Posted by silviaguy240

my cd player has a similar wire for brightness adjustment, but i hooked it up without and it still works, i was wondering if the illumination wire on the control unit is the same as the illumination wire on my cd player. not really necessary

Some CD players, esp. cheap ones, don't have brightness adjustments or even lights on for that matter. They just have one brightness on all the time. Some have brightness adjustment independent of the car, like DVD players.


Has the gauge ever worked before? Is it visible during the day or at night?

Originally Posted by silviaguy240

i cant test this because im in the process of pulling my motor and every thing is out of it already so i cant hook it up.

Sure you can. Wire up the gauge with battery current and an inline fuse and see what it does. Leave the white wire disconnected and hook up switched power and ground. Then report back.

[silviaguy240]

yea they are black faced. but i still dont have my "illumination" wire hooked up on my head unit and it works and lights up just fine. the lights dont have to be on.