Electrical Connection

Billabong089

Registered User
Wheres a good connection to hook up a voltmeter? It says ignition switch but I'm not sure where to go about that... What wire do I splice into? Thanks again.
 
For mine, I spliced into ther switched acc. for the radio. I did this for a few reasons, first the voltmeter will be switched off with the car as opposed to being on a direct battery line potentially draining the battery. Second, since I had installed an aftermarket stereo I could tap into the wir without hacking up the factory wiring. Third, all the wiring is inside the car, protected from the elements.
 
Ok thanks, I hooked it up and it reads 12volts no engine, 14-15 volts with the engine on.. is that normal?

Second is it ok to hook two lights into the wire I have running... It is fused but I dont want to overload the wire and start a fire, I don't think two lights will affect it since they are probably low amperage... but I wanna make sure.
 
What kind of 2 lights are they KC daylighters or what? If they are less than an amp then yes.


Jeff
 
they are the lights on the autometer guages... just the backlight...

What the previous owner did was run a wire into the fuse box, like where the fuse goes, just stuck a wire in there and put a fuse over it so it holds the wire in... So that seemed to work fine for my voltmeter, and Im wondering If I can tap off that wire to power the lights on the autometer boost guage and voltmeter...

I think he stuck it a 15amp spot the one in the middle and according the my manual its for HEGO (heated exhaust sensors) ...


If this is like horrible or somethign please let me know lol I would rather not set my car on fire... or maybe I could use that empty fuse spot ? I think i saw something you can buy to connect a wire into the fuse box and all that...
 
Just the gauge backlights should be OK, But I tapped those into the illumination wiring that also goes to the radio. That way the gauge backlighting dims with the rest of the dash lighting via the dimmer switch.

Your voltage readings are OK.

As far as the wiring pushed into the fuse box, it might not start a fire, it depends on which blade the wire is trapped under, the supply side, or the fused side. Either way, just thinking about that type of wiring makes that dueling banjos tune play in my head......I would do it right.
 
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connectors

you can go to an auto parts store and get a connector or adapter that fits over one blade of the fuse and has a spade terminal sticking out to connect another wire to. much cleaner and safer than just shoving a wire under the fuse. Also like one of the other posts said, make sure you are connecting to the fused side, not the supply side.
 
sounds good, I'm gonna run a inline fuse 4amp as a backup...

Autometer said the bulbs are less than an amp per bulb so I guess its fine...I'm going to go out and buy the fuse thing and how can I tell what side is supply and the other..
 
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