Hi, I just bought 3 defi bf series gauges and the controll unit II for my 03 wrx. I wired it up to the clock, put the control unit w/the cd player, and the gauges on the A pillar.

I'm not sure exactly which wires go to which right now but it seems to be working fine expect for the fact that they only turn on when i turn my parking or head lamps on. The first time we wired it, it turned on in accesory mode but the shut down sequence didnt perform right. Now they turn on when i turn the key to second position but only when the lights are on. A while ago when i got the car i got rid of the day time running lights, and rewired the fog lamps to work w/ the parking lights and brights.

Also defi says they have a built in brightness control. 5 for day, 5 for night. I read the little book that defi gives you and did it how they said but the brightness doesnt change. these things are freakin bright at nite, they pretty much light up the whole interior.

I'm fig that they only turn on w/ the lights b/c of something w/ the day time running lights and i'm not really sure bout the dimmer. But if there is no dimmer available, which wire would i splice a switch into to say just turn the gauge lights off, but not turn the gauges off?

Thanks in advanced,
Tyler.

 

There is no dimmer, but you can make one if you have the desire and the time. Link to voltage inverter: http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/sho...ghlight=dimmer its not perfect but it's good enough for me. You'll probably want to add another resistor in series to make it equal to the rest of your lights before dimming.

As far as proper operation, you have to make sure the red connects to constant 12v, orange to switched 12v (do NOT use the clock for this one or else you can't use the radio with the car off - your control unit will be screaming at you), white to lights, black to ground. Look at the back of the clock, it will tell you which wire is what.

Also, the BF series has to be in the "meter output 2" plug of your control unit.

 

Hey thanks on that info... ya i think i have them pluged into the output 1. i'll change that and let ya know.

orange to switched 12v (do NOT use the clock for this one or else you can't use the radio with the car off - your control unit will be screaming at you)... so if you splice into the clock wires for this your radio doesnt work? Which wire do you suggest to use then?

Oh yeah and I forgot to mention that when you turn the key off to acc mode the Controll unit still has light but the guages turn off. And I fig out today that if I shut the car off and take the keys out rite away, the gauges only do the peak and warning light shut off. everything else just shuts off right away.

thanks again,
Tyler.

 

Ok i switched the output to number 2 and the dimmer switch now works. Thanks, I prolly just didnt read what input cuz i was in such a rush to see those bad boys on. but i'm still confused as to why they turn off when the car is on and i turn the lights on.

 

The radio has nothing to do with the clock. I only suggested that because there are some instances where you'd want the car off with only the radio on. You probably don't want your gauges powered at that time. I tapped mine off fuse 13.

I don't think I'm understanding you completely but the only thing I can suggest is to take a multimeter out there and make sure your constant 12v, switched 12v, and lights 12v are behaving the way they are supposed to.

Its possible that there is something wacky in the lights circuit for the clock. When you turn the lights of the car on, the clock dims. I thought that was controlled internally in the clock, but it's possible that when you turn on your lights, the light source to the Defis is seeing insufficient voltage and turning off. Again, only a multimeter would know for sure.