kiwifoz
Forum Member
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2014
- Messages
- 287
- Location
- Dunedin, NZ
- Car Year
- 1989
- Car Model
- L series
- Transmission
- 5 speed dual-range PT4WD
Because my Forester is such a dark green colour and I don't fancy being hit, I decided to fit a set of LED running lights to it. The lights I chose were bought off TradeMe for an eye-catchingly low sum, and were surprisingly well-made, an 8-led strip design with a solid plastic housing. They came with 3 wires and connectors, red, black and yellow plus the brackets and screws/bolts for mounting.
Black was easy, that went to the left engine earth. Yellow was also easy, that went to the (switched power) left parking light wire to cancel the current out and switch the DRLs off when the headlights are on (in NZ it is illegal to have more than 4 bulbs on at once - each LED strip counts as one 'bulb'). Red was the switched power source.
Now the red wire, the ignition-switched power, was where I started to get into uncharted territory. Because I'm too lazy to run a wire through the firewall (and also had no time to do so) I wanted to use an ignition-switched source from the engine bay fusebox. This caused problems as initially I couldn't find one.
So instead, my friend and I (he's an electronics genius doing a double major in physics/electronics who does a sideline in serious programming and theatre lighting, without whom I wouldn't have attempted this mod) decided to use the ACC-switched circuit for the dash clock backlight.
We got the wires tapped, plugged in the lights... and they were on. Hmmm. Checked the ignition position - off? Matt double-checks the wiring diagram (I have the full SG service manual). He realises that the circuit we were using was negative-switched, and the lights were wired for positive switching with the earth we were using - which apparently explained the fuses being in what he thought were the 'wrong places' on the diagrams.
At this point, I was kicking myself as I'd already installed the light brackets on the grill and had 4 lovely holes in it. But, after 15 minutes perusing service manual PDFs on my tablet, he came through - a ignition on, positive-switched 12v from the engine bay fuse box! Which, after much searching online I hadn't thought existed, apart from the main ignition wire (which I didn't want to use - but I think I did use it inadvertently anyway)...
This mystery power source is found behind the Air Conditioning (AC) relay, in the engine-bay fusebox. The wire you want to tap is the green wire with the orange stripe, which is fused at the main ignition fuse. This discovery was an absolute life-saver, and allowed me to complete the install of the lights simply and easily.
To avoid the nuts on the brackets coming loose, I used spring washers and then secured each nut with a dab of silicone. I also ended up soldering the vamps behind the grille as they were all slightly loose - luckily the fusebox/parking vamps were solid. All electrical connections were then waterproofed with copious duct tape. The worst part of the whole job was getting the ****ing bit of trim under the headlight on and off again - the reason I wired both lights off the one parker was because I gave up trying to remove the driver's side trim piece so I could remove the headlight. I sincerely hope I never have to take off the front bumper because they both have to come off for that job!
Vampire connectors I used for power and light switch:
The lights:
Installed (I forgot to take progress pics):
And the bit you all wanted - the wiring diagram:
Sorry about the wall of text, I tend to get carried away when writing. Mods, feel free to edit/delete/move or whatever, I know I'm new here.
I hope this helps someone/is vaguely interesting!
Black was easy, that went to the left engine earth. Yellow was also easy, that went to the (switched power) left parking light wire to cancel the current out and switch the DRLs off when the headlights are on (in NZ it is illegal to have more than 4 bulbs on at once - each LED strip counts as one 'bulb'). Red was the switched power source.
Now the red wire, the ignition-switched power, was where I started to get into uncharted territory. Because I'm too lazy to run a wire through the firewall (and also had no time to do so) I wanted to use an ignition-switched source from the engine bay fusebox. This caused problems as initially I couldn't find one.
So instead, my friend and I (he's an electronics genius doing a double major in physics/electronics who does a sideline in serious programming and theatre lighting, without whom I wouldn't have attempted this mod) decided to use the ACC-switched circuit for the dash clock backlight.
We got the wires tapped, plugged in the lights... and they were on. Hmmm. Checked the ignition position - off? Matt double-checks the wiring diagram (I have the full SG service manual). He realises that the circuit we were using was negative-switched, and the lights were wired for positive switching with the earth we were using - which apparently explained the fuses being in what he thought were the 'wrong places' on the diagrams.
At this point, I was kicking myself as I'd already installed the light brackets on the grill and had 4 lovely holes in it. But, after 15 minutes perusing service manual PDFs on my tablet, he came through - a ignition on, positive-switched 12v from the engine bay fuse box! Which, after much searching online I hadn't thought existed, apart from the main ignition wire (which I didn't want to use - but I think I did use it inadvertently anyway)...
This mystery power source is found behind the Air Conditioning (AC) relay, in the engine-bay fusebox. The wire you want to tap is the green wire with the orange stripe, which is fused at the main ignition fuse. This discovery was an absolute life-saver, and allowed me to complete the install of the lights simply and easily.
To avoid the nuts on the brackets coming loose, I used spring washers and then secured each nut with a dab of silicone. I also ended up soldering the vamps behind the grille as they were all slightly loose - luckily the fusebox/parking vamps were solid. All electrical connections were then waterproofed with copious duct tape. The worst part of the whole job was getting the ****ing bit of trim under the headlight on and off again - the reason I wired both lights off the one parker was because I gave up trying to remove the driver's side trim piece so I could remove the headlight. I sincerely hope I never have to take off the front bumper because they both have to come off for that job!
Vampire connectors I used for power and light switch:
The lights:
Installed (I forgot to take progress pics):
And the bit you all wanted - the wiring diagram:
Sorry about the wall of text, I tend to get carried away when writing. Mods, feel free to edit/delete/move or whatever, I know I'm new here.
I hope this helps someone/is vaguely interesting!
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