Another thread for R-indiglow wiring...Help Me!!!!

E-rock · Apr 13, 2003

I've searched and couldn't find the answer that I needed. I just installed my reverse indiglow gauges, and ran into a few problems. At first I couldn't get the needles the rev smoothly, so I pulled up on the needles as much as I could without taking them off (thank God!), and the second problem that I ran into was that the indiglow lights wouldn't come on. I thought my guages were bad at first. Turns out that when I snapped the housing back on, one of the connections to the gauges snapped off. No problem, I took it back apart and re-soldered the wire to the gauge. So far, I've solved all my problems except for one.....the wiring. At first I wired the power wire to the fuse that was used in JWardells how-to (also mentioned on Focus-Hacks). Well, that didn't work right....my ZX3 is a '02, and I think the fuses are in different locations. The fuse that they used is for the cig lighter in my car. I tried that, and the indiglows stay on even when the car is off and the key is out of the ignition.......not good. So I look at my fuse panel, and found another location where my headlights are, so I reconnect them there. Now the lights go out when the car is off, but they come on as soon as the car is started up with the key in the ignition. I want the indiglows to turn on when I turn the daytime/running lights/headlights on. How many amps is required to share those gauges power? The two fuses that I've tried are 20amps, but I've seen some other fuses for daytime lights that are 7.5amps. Would the gauges add too heavy a load for those fuses? OR do I have to splice a wire to the pre-existing wires that are connected to the headlight switch to get it to work the way that I want it to? If so, which wires do I splice? Any help would be appreciated....
Also....on a side note.....I used a red sharpie permanent marker to change my orange needles to red, and they look totally stock!!!!! They're perfect, and illuminate beautifully! A highly recommended mod!!!!!

[ 04-13-2003, 04:37 PM: Message edited by: E-rock ]

Silfox · Apr 13, 2003

Indiglos dont pull that much power, so you shouldnt worry about the fuses too much. If anything, you can just splice the wire from the indiglos directly into the headlight switch. Use a curcuit tester to find which wire is "switched" when the lights are on, then wire the negative to the dash metal somewhere, easy.

Good idea on the needle color change by the way, are you going to change the color on the LCD screen as well?

Nacron · Apr 13, 2003

You have to use the sidemarker fuse. Then the indiglos will go on when you turn the sidemarkers on and stay on when you turn the headlights on. They should be the 7.5 amp ones. I have mine on there. One thing I did differently was I used an inline fuse after the fuse in the fuse pannel so it's protected.

E-rock · Apr 14, 2003

Originally posted by Silfox:
Good idea on the needle color change by the way, are you going to change the color on the LCD screen as well?

Yep, I changed the Odometer to blue

. My girl's in Europe right now with my digital camera, so maybe in a week or two I can post some pics of how good it looks.

E-rock · Apr 14, 2003

Originally posted by NacronSE:
One thing I did differently was I used an inline fuse after the fuse in the fuse pannel so it's protected.

Sounds like a good idea, but I'm trying to picture how that looks. That inline fuse, is it the type that is in the long cylinder? How does it connect? I'm assuming that it has a wire on each end....one to connect to the 7.5 fuse, and one end to connect to the gauge's power wire? And what is the rating of the inline fuse that you used? Another 7.5 or higher?

Nacron · Apr 14, 2003

Originally posted by E-rock:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by NacronSE:
One thing I did differently was I used an inline fuse after the fuse in the fuse pannel so it's protected.

Sounds like a good idea, but I'm trying to picture how that looks. That inline fuse, is it the type that is in the long cylinder? How does it connect? I'm assuming that it has a wire on each end....one to connect to the 7.5 fuse, and one end to connect to the gauge's power wire? And what is the rating of the inline fuse that you used? Another 7.5 or higher?<hr /></blockquote>That's exacly it. It's like a little case with a cylinder fuse in it with 2 wires coming out of each side. I had to crimp smaller guage wire on the fuse pannel side to be able to push it in.

I just have the stock 7.5 amp fuse in there...should be ok, i've had mine on for ages.

Another thread for R-indiglow wiring...Help Me!!!!

E-rock

Silfox

Nacron

E-rock

E-rock

Nacron

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