Need the boards wisdom again.

I got my boost guage working but need to add electricity for night purposes. I want to tap electrical tied into the lights of the car. One suggestion I read was to tap into the cigarette lighter since it has a night ring that lights up when the cars lights are on BUT I WAS WONDERING IS THERE AN EASIER ALTERNATIVE?

BahamaBart

 

I went to the fuse panel down on the left hand side near your feet, but its been so long since i put my gauge in that i cant remeber which one it was .

 

Come on now - don't leave me hang'in - tell me which one I need to tap into PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

 

I will take a look later on when i leave work, but im sure someone will chime in before then. Even so Ill still let you know.

 

Look at this post, #12

or, post #2

 

just wanted know what number fuse you tapped into.

tried earlier and now when i open the car door the buzzer goes off !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This gauge has been the project from hell

 

thanks for the threads.

found a grey wire w/ pink strip running down the side of the fuse pannel along with a million other wires and trapped in - so I will know tonight.

Thanks guys - once again could not have done it with out board support/guidance.

Now if I could only get the buzzer to stop when i open the car door! LOL

 

Will you guys confirm the color of the wires your are tapping into? I've not found those colors in the wiring harness nor are they listed in the Mini Cooper Service Manual 2002-2004.

Thanks

Bob

 

I found the grey w/ pink wire running down next to the fuse panel along with a bunch of other wires.

Tapped in and grounded but no light. BEFORE, I take the guage apart to check the bulb, I will rig up a light to verify the grey/pink wire and the ground.

While I was messing around with this I did something because now when I open the driver door the buzzer goes off and my clock no longer works. I can live without the clock but the buzzer is driving me crazy.

Any (helpful) thoughts on this? my wife helped by saying - " one mod too many" My neighbor suggested scarificing my wife to the mini-god and purging my house of negativity. LOL

 

We had this very issue on saturday doing my gauge.

The instructions with the Promini gauge said "Use the grey wire with the red stripe".

I happened to call them up and Ricky said there are TWO grey wires with red stripes and that you have to use a test light and/or voltmeter.

In any case, we found ONE grey wire with a red stripe, tapped into it and got no juice. Once I put the voltmeter on it, lo and behold, no juice and thus wrong wire.

For the life of me I couldn't find another grey wire with a red stripe. Luckily Uptick was there and he patiently sifted through the thick bundle above the fuse panel and found TWO grey wires with a red stripe. I took a chance, pinched into the one on the right, and flipped the lights.

The best part was the 1.5 second delayed reaction and then THERE WAS LIGHT. We all cheered pretty heartily as it was getting dark and difficult to see!

So basically the point is this:

Look for a grey wire with a red stripe, use a voltmeter, cut a little slit into the wire, secure the ground plug of the voltmeter to the 10mm bolt above the brake booster, tap into the wire and see if you get 12 volts when you flip on the lights. If you do, you're golden!

Maybe you cut a wire you shouldn't have and it might be shorting out something. When I tapped into the wrong wire I made sure to tape it up with some black electrical tape.....Hopefully you didn't yank the bundle too much and severed a wire......

 

Are you talking about the wires leading into the Tach or the wires along the drivers side steering wheel?

Thanks

Bob

 

The THICK bundle of wires is above the fuse panel on the left hand side of the footwell, you have to flip down the tray below the steering wheel to access it. I would remove that tray to give you more room as it is kind of awkard getting sockets and light down there.

It's on the left most edge of the car.

 

Thank you - the grey/red wire I taped into was in a bundle running down infront off the fuse panel. Clearly wrong grey wire!

I will guess that my buzzer/lack of clock working is due to a fuse or a relay. Originally I was attempting to tap into the "fuse" that worked the dash lights and perhaps this fiddling caused these problems.

BahamaBart

 

I use he electric source from the cig lighter and it work like a charm. No problem and easy to do, because there is only 3 wires to chose.

 

This would work fine too since the surround light turns on when you flip your lights on.......

That add-a-circuit module at Autozone or Strauss is just awesome btw....So easy to use.......

 

This connection had been mentioned but got lazy and sought an easier connection - big oooopps since I now have the buzzer going off everytime I open my car door and the clock no longer works!!!!

Clearly this is the safest route to go.

 

Double check that all your fuses are in place. Perhaps you pulled one out slightly. Also check your wire bundle to see if anything has been cut.

It was pretty easy for me to tap into the wire once I found the right wire....

 

depending on where its mounted , mine is in place of one of the ac vents so it is tapped into the grey wire with the red stripe that is located above the radio behinde the large round guage depending on how you configed your car. the same wire is located under the steering wheel , you pull the pannel down its on a hing, to the right side youll see a group of wires that go up to the center guage the same grey & red stripe wire is in there as well, use a test light to make sure you get the right one. i have an 05 mcs. this wire is the dimming wire that will power up when parking lights are on.