just bought gauges but i dont know how to get power to them. i have this gay cheap plastic push button, i dont what to use it if i dont have to. i drew a picture of what it looks like

 

dimmer switch and headlight wires, READ STICKIES, AND HOW TO'S

 

read the stickies? it doesnt really tell me which wires to cut

 

just tap the power into the dimmer switch wire or the headlights.

 

would i hace to use that push button then

 

push button? i'm not postive what your talkin about, but i was just saying to wire it to a switch and mount it on the instrument bezel (the black trim piece).

either use teh existing fog wires, or run newones, either way is good.

i just dont know for sure if the aftermarket fogs will shut off with high beams like the factory ones. i know this feature is often hated by max owners.

 

I am doing a similar thing and have some questions. I'm about to tap the wires into the dimmer switch but do I have to disconnect the battery first as it says in the instructions? I don't know how to disconnect the maxima's battery cuz the nut in there has a separate piece of metal that stops it from turning. I have a 95

 

Do I absolutely need to disconnect the batter before tapping the wires?

 

I didn't, but you probably should

 

i double grounded the wire from the coolant gauge and the tach gauge to the ground to the indigo gauges. they now turn on when ever i turn on the parking/headlight stalk. no need for that cheapo push button.

 

What is the worse that can possibly happen if I don't. I really can't get that nut loose

 

10 mm wrench.. its not difficult

 

what wires did u connect to then

 

man.. its been awhile but i think.. that there is three wires coming out of the dimmer switch and its the blue center one that you can use to power your gauges.. test with voltmeter before tho

 

yea there is black blue and red in the order

 

What is the exact reason for keeping the old gauges on? Is it simply to prevent needle damage when removing them? If so, what if they were cut off? Obviously, this would render them useless in the future, but some people don't care.

 

reason is because of the little 'pins' sticking up from stock gauges... removing stock gauges will make your needles fall straight down when your car is off.. like mine =p. so if your not real **** about things like that it works

 

ahhhhhh...i'm **** too, so nevermind

 

you should technically everytime you do any electrical work... the worst that could happen is you blow a fuse... but to some newbies that means coming on here and posting that their lights arent working before they check the fuse box so do as you please but really everytime you work on your cars electrical system you should disconect the battery to prevent damaging anything

 

all i did was tap into a red wire that goes to the stock gauges so when ever i turn on my lights they light up so its not all gehtoo and crap.

 

yea thats how i did mine... im pretty sure thats how it says to do it in the stickies too... then depending on which indiglos you have that switch that is provided can swithc the color (ie blue to green) or dim the gauges

 

ya mine has a switch but u stil have to wire it into that existing line cause they need power. so either way just do that its the best way to do it. so doooo it. doo it

 

heres what you do, if youve noticed if you turn your parking lamps on(assuming you tapped into the dimmer switch) the gauges will not light up, and if you do it twice in a row, the gauges will light up. now to make this happen with just one turn, i removed the gnd trace from my water gauge, and took the gnd from the Tach to the Gnd of the gauges, and took thoes wires and used it for the ground of the water gauge. so it will turn on the tach, and then turn on the water gauge simultaniously to turn on the indiglo gauges.

 

1. What happens if you blow a fuse? How do you fix it?
2. What happens if you only disconnect the positive terminal of the battery?

 

i regret getting my indiglow gauges, my rpms keep getting stuck, and it was a pain installing them... but they look hott

 

I fixed that by sanding the other side of the needle

 

really?? how long did it take u, i hate taking that crap apart

 

I didn't take anything apart. Just put a piece of sandpaper under the short end of the needle and sand it a little bit b/c chances are that's the part making contact with the gauges at least for me it was.

 

But I have to agree I regret getting mine also especially for $36, they don't look too great. Oh well 10 years later I'll laugh when I look back.

 

i did the same thing works perfect now

 

alright i cut the green wire on the dimmier and connected the red wire from the indiglo gauges to it and the black wire to the back of the gauge cluster to the many grounds. then i hit the on switch and nothing. so i tried the connecting it to the red wire from the dimmer and nothing agian. sooo what and i doing wrong.

 

you have your lights on?

 

yes i had my lights on. then i tried just the factory way and the lights for the climate control didnt come on

 

check your fuses... mainly the 7.5 amp interior illumination fuse (labeled INT ILL and is half way down the second column). Also check the ELEC PARTS one.. also a 7.5 amp and right above the interior illumination fuse

 

wow, i should definetly try it, i was really lazy after installing them cuz it was such a pain in the rear, but thanx alot, i hope it works for me

 

Good luck with that I think it will work for you. It was a pain in the butt for me too.

Can someone tell me what you do if you blow a fuse? What happens also?

SDB318, I don't think you need to cut the wire from the dimmer because you still want them connected to the white plastic that plugs into the trim. If you didn't then it might be the gauges drawing too much voltage or something maybe? Play with the stock dimmer switch as for me the dimmer controls how much voltage goes into the A/C, clock, needles, mileage lights and gives the rest to the gauges.

 

horace.. when in the drivers seat there is a removable panel by your left leg.. remove that.. u see a list of fuses with the describtion on the panel itself. You blow a fuse? pull the suspected items fuse out and if the connection on the inside is broken/ blown in half you just replace that fuse.

Say you cross two wires and now your interior lights wont light up.. check the INT ILL fuse and pull it out with the fuse remover (white plastic peice located in fuse area to the right of fuses). There is a set of spares lined up by the fuse remover as well incase it turns up to be blown.. also availible at any auto store.

 

if my fuse was blown then wouldnt my radio not come on

 

...

im assuming you ment your bose system doesnt work because of a blown fuse? so..

check the fuses.. either the 15amp bose fuse, 10amp audio fuse, or the 7.5 amp elec parts fuse... all found on the second row of fuses

 

alright i will check that out today