Illumination Wire R34

[Bomba]

Hi,

I'm currently hooking up my new headunit and I'm pretty sure the R34 wiring harness doesn't have an illumination/dimmer wire?

Is it ok to hook up my headunits wire to the cig lighters illumination wire?

Thanks

[QWK32]

thats what i'd do. saves you cutting all the tape and plastic crap of the loom on the steering column to find the wire in there. its only a signal line for the stereo so it will be ok splicing in the cig lighter light.

[Bomba]

Thanks,

I just trial fitted the unit and it seems my wiring has worked Now to put the dash back together.....

[RusH_]

Hey dude, the 34 does indeed have an illumination wire which i believe to be orange (if my memory serves me correctly), you could always use a test light to test the wires in the harness to figure out which is which

[Bomba]

I did a multimeter test and couldn't find one. I ended up splicing into the cigarette lighters wire. worked a treat, it now auto dims when I turn the lights on

[SLY-25T]

i just hooked mine up to the accessory wire. wats the dimmer do exacyly wen hooked up to the dimmer wire ??

[QWK32]

it dims the cd players back light when you turn on your lights.

[RusH_]

im pretty sure that what is going on here is a little confusion about the various wires.

typically

Yellow is 12V(constant power)

Red is accessories(key set to accessories)

Orange is Illumination(headlights)

that said, the best way to be sure is as follows:

grab a test light from super cheap or repco (no more than $10)

-switch your key to the 'on' position

-turn on the headlights

-test your wires one at a time by touching the positive prong to the wire and the negative prong to a good earth point on the chassis, (should be plenty around the head unit area)

if done correctly 3 wires should cause the test light to light up, these are your CONSTANT POWER, ILLUMINATION and ACCESSORIES.

switch off the headlights with the key still set to 'on' and test those 3 wires again, only 2 of them should work, the one that doesnt work is your illumination.(which is what allows the headunit to dim when the headlights are turned on)

i posted this in another thread, but it is probably the most definitive way to explain it