# Indiglo Gauges - Simple Wire Tap



## UnderDog (Jul 14, 2002)

I just got a set of those reverse indiglo gauges off ebay and installed them today. They look a lot nicer on the car than they do in the pictures on ebay. I was impressed. I accidentally snapped the clear plastic gauge cover in half when I was taking it off. Guess I have to roam a junk yard for another one. Oh well.. too bad I can't get the Nis-Knacks HVAC gauges to match.. anyway.. back to what I was saying.

I see different suggestions on where to splice the power wire and all of them seem pretty strange. The detailed writeup, which was very good by the way, says to plug it into the fuse box and they will come on when you start the car. I see others saying to splice it behind the dimmer switch. I actually found a better way (IMHO) to do this:

There's a red/blue wire under the steering column bunched up in the harness. I had to take off the lower dash and metal plate under the steering wheel to get at it. Cut back the plastic coating and the electrical tape underneath it and there's a red wire with a blue stripe. That's the parking light lead. Poke it with a polarity tester and it should read positive when the parking lights and headlights are on and negative when they're off. Splice the power wire from the gauges into this wire and tape it off.

Now the gauges light up like the old ones do: when the parking lights are on. I don't know if other ways produce the same result, but this is the way I did it. I'll take a picture of it later if anyone has any questions.

If this helps anybody, you're welcome.


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## soiledxdesire (Mar 10, 2003)

awesome thanks for that...i wired mine up just like that write up you have posted (the fuse box one)....and i just dont like the indiglos running all the time...when i have some more time ill try to re-wire it like you have it 
thanks
me
xxx


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## 87blumr2 (Jun 27, 2002)

i hooked my guages to the guage dimmer switch. Here's the neat thing about it when i have the dimmer set to low it lights up my indiglos but when i put it to the brightest it lights up only my needles and turns off the indiglos. i have red guage lights so what happens is that my needles look like red indiglo needles ill take some pics when i get a chance. i did it on accident so if this becomes a new mod i started it, lolololol.


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## Kalel (Jun 26, 2003)

My reverse indligo gauges are aways on with or without the lights switch


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## pearsont74 (Oct 1, 2002)

ok...just to add to this..I found an easier wire to tap into and it is a switched wire that is hot only when you turn on ur lights
The wire that goes to the Hazard switch...there is a ground and a switched wire that you can tap into and these are alot easier to get to.
I just used my meters and tested around. Ill look and post the exact color wire to use.


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## dfalcon02 (Apr 9, 2003)

87blumr2 said:


> *i hooked my guages to the guage dimmer switch. Here's the neat thing about it when i have the dimmer set to low it lights up my indiglos but when i put it to the brightest it lights up only my needles and turns off the indiglos. i have red guage lights so what happens is that my needles look like red indiglo needles ill take some pics when i get a chance. i did it on accident so if this becomes a new mod i started it, lolololol. *


yeah, thats cuz you wired it to the other red wire. i forgot, its red and something else, i think yellow. but yeah, that wire is controlled by the dimmer switch. the red/ blue wire is the power wire going to the dimmer switch. thats what you tap into if you want them on with the parking lights. you can also find this wire on the back of the gauge cluster.


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## UnderDog (Jul 14, 2002)

Looks like the red/blue wire is in more places than I thought. I only knew about the one under the steering column from when I installed my keyless entry/remote starter.


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## fondoo (May 2, 2002)

is there another line i can splice to besides cigarette adapter fuse or dimmer? i also dont like the fact its always running. i only want it on when the headlights or when the interior dash board lights are up. Can anyone help??? I'm lookin forward to install my indiglo gauge this weekend.


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## Slayer2003 (Jun 4, 2003)

....i tended to deviate from those plans, only because im lazy, and i really dont need more wiring in my dash as is heh. Since i wanted it to turn on when my lights are on only, and since theres plenty of circuits on there that only come on when the lights are on, i decided to experement....

instead of doing all this wiring n taking stuff apart, i used the circuit leads from one of the speedo's lights. followed each of the leads close to where they meet on the connector, and scraped off some of that green plastic. then soldered my lead wires from the indiglows, to the pos and neg traces on the cluster. 

TADA, took me 3 minutes, and no extra connections for me to worry about


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## fondoo (May 2, 2002)

slayer2003: do you have pics?


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## Slayer2003 (Jun 4, 2003)

not atm, but i can get some to ya later today, gotta help my step-sister move out today (YAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYi mean, well, YAAAAAYYYY)


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## Russia (Jul 24, 2003)

Underdog, look in the group buy section...we have a GB going for the HVAC gauges...they arent the Nis Knacks one but another company is making them...take a look and see if you want to get them.


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## fondoo (May 2, 2002)

*indiglo INSTALLED!! WOOHOO!!*

i finally ordered myself indiglo gauges(w/o tach). i've been dying to get myself a set since they first came out and now there so cheap(Ebay)!! i've been reading up on the forum for 2 weeks on the do's and the dont's install. finally decided to install them today. i was so anxious and ready. first, i want to thank everyone for there input and Dynamitega awesome website (http://members.aol.com/dynamitega/indiglo.html).

i decided NOT to remove my needles, cuz i didnt want to buy another cluster($$) and all the problems i've been reading. i had a hard time removing the top latch from the clear plastic front. i was afraid of cracking it, so i used a dremel to free it. it was a real bitch to install over the speedometer, but with tons of patients, i got it over. gas meter and temp was fairly easy. i took a red sharpie marker and colored the needle red to get more contrast between the gauage. plugged everything back in, turned the engine on. rev-ed the engine a little and the speedometer didnt move. my heart dropped. 
i decided to drive it around to test it. what a dumbass i am, of course the speedometer wont move if the car aint moving. overall, the whole process took me about 4 hours to install. i
had to go back into the cluster and remove the emergency light covers, cuz they looked so ugly. i didnt like that white vertical line. the rest is history.

damn it looks nice!! cant wait till its dark to drive it around....


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## fondoo (May 2, 2002)

*night shots*


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## sethwas (Apr 30, 2002)

That CF bezel is real nice.

Seth


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