AC Autotechnic Indiglo - 99 EX - How?

[CivicRacerX]

It's a 99 EX Manual, and I got these AC Indiglos as a birthday gift, but
How on earth do I install the damn gauges? I've never seen it wired the way they have it with this little black "Epicenter" box, no switches even though it says "dimmable," and a total lack of instructions! Has anybody done this install successfully?

Thanks
CivicRacerX
[email protected]

[Swonder67]

How many wires are there to connect? 2? 3? more? All the indiglo gauges i've seen go into a relay box, with a petentiometer, and then two wires, ground, and positive (headlight wire)

[kris]

Installing Indiglo Gauges

First off, take your time. I spent almost 6 hours on mine

You should have the following handy:

Indiglo gauge kit
Phillips head screwdriver
Allen wrench
Wire stripper
Crimp connectors
Clear epoxy or two-sided tape
Test light

Before you start, its probably a good idea to disconnect your battery. This is to prevent the possibility of a short, which may make your airbag inflate. I have to admit that I didn't disconnect my battery. I needed it for the power source since I would be using a test light during the install.

Drop your steering wheel all the way down to give you the maximum amount of space in which to work. To get the gauge assembly out you first need to remove the dash piece in front of it. There are two screws in the top. Use a phillips head screwdriver (a shortie one is useful here) to remove those. There are two clips behind the dash piece, and they are in the corners. That is where the clips are, and there is one on each side. You must pull with some force to get the dash out--be careful here! I broke off the clip on the right-hand side...no biggie, I just epoxied it back on.

Next, you'll see some screws holding the gauge assembly in. There are two in the top, and two at the bottom edge. Use your phillips screwdriver to remove those and set aside.

To remove the assembly, you'll need to unplug the three sets of wires that are connected in the top. Lean the top edge of the assembly toward you, at the same time gently push the base backwards. This should give you enough room to reach in and unplug the wires. To unplug, look at each cluster and you'll see a tab. Push the tab in and pull up on the plug. The photo to the left shows the plugs unplugged from the gauges. When you have all three unplugged you can remove the gauge assembly. Gently pull it out, being careful not to scratch your steering wheel.

There are several allen screws holding the gauge assembly together. I believe there are 5 around the edge; remove those and set aside. See the white bar on the top of the assembly? There are two screws there, and they need to be removed as well. You can't take the assembly apart without removing that white bar, which houses two light bulbs. Unhook the wiring there from its little hook, and separate the two halves of the gauge assembly.

The indiglo gauge faces had holes in the middle that were big enough to slip over the needles. I didn't have to remove any of the needles, which was a timesaver! The gauge faces need to be held down with something once you get them on. If you don't secure them they will slide around. What's worse, they can bulge in the middle, causing your needles to catch on them and not move! I used clear epoxy, placing a dot of it near the center of each face to prevent bulging. I tested each needle to make sure it had freedom to move. Nudge the needle with your finger--it should move easily and not stick on the face. I then put a few dots of epoxy around the edge of each face to secure them. You can use two-sided tape on your gauges if you prefer.

Once you have the faces on you can put the two halves of the assembly back together. Make sure all inside surfaces are clean before putting the allen screws back on. Leave the wiring from the faces hanging out where you can reach them; they do not go inside the assembly.

The kit comes with a flip switch that you use to change the face color from blue to green. Also, there is a dimmer switch to adjust the brightness. I did not wish to drill a hole in my dash to install these, so I cheated and put them behind the plastic dash, underneath the steering wheel. They do not show, and they are accessible for whenever I wish to change the color or brightness. Yeah, its the lazy way, but it works for me! hehe

The indiglo gauge kit comes with a box that has several wires coming out of it. My kit had four wires that the gauges themselves plug into, yet I only had three faces. That meant one wire went unused. Like I mentioned above, the flip switch and the dimmer just got tucked behind the dash, in the open area underneath the steering wheel. That leaves the red wire (power) and black wire (ground) to deal with...

The black wire needs to be ground to a piece of metal. I fastened the black wire to a little open-end connector (sorry, I don't know the proper name for it) and put it behind a screw in the fuse box. If you look at the bottom left corner of the photo you'll see a little yellow connector behind a screw. That is where I connected the ground wire (see the black wire coming from it?). The red wire gets connected to a power source, and I chose to wire it into the parking lights. That way, the gauges come on whenever the parking lights come on. Before you can test for the parking light fuse, you'll need to reconnect the three plugs to the top of the gauge assembly. Just lay it on the steering wheel column and plug them in. Do not worry about getting the assembly put back in place yet since you aren't quite done. You just need the plugs to be plugged in so you'll have a power source.

This part is where I got some extra help. I turned on the parking lights, and they used the test light to find which fuse lit it up. A test light looks something like a screwdriver and has a light bulb inside it. There is also a ground wire attached to the test light, and we clipped it to the door hinge of the car. With the parking lights on, they would stick the tip of the test light into each fuse, searching for the one that would illuminate the light bulb. Once he found the correct fuse he took a split connector and connected the red power wire to the parking lights wire. The connector he had wasn't small enough for the red wire from the gauge kit. I had a piece of spare wire in the trunk so we used it since it was thicker. Once the wiring was done, I turned on the parking lights. You shoulda seen the big grin on my face to see the gauges light up in indiglo!

With the wiring done you are ready to put everything back together. Unplug the three plugs--you'll reconnect them in a moment. I pushed all the wires to the back as much as I could and put the gauge assembly back in its hole. Make sure you put the base in first, and leave the top facing you. Take the three plugs and plug them back in. Take your four screws for the assembly and put them back in. Put the two bottom screws in first. You may need to push fairly hard on the top of the assembly in order to get the upper two screws back in. Take the dash piece and push the clips into place. Take the remaining two screws and reinstall them, adjust your steering column, and you're done!

Hope that helps some? maybe not, but oh well.

[CivicRacerX]

Thanks for the instructions, I think you just saved me tons of time. One last question: My box shows the blue/green arrow pad to switch the colors, but 1.) I didn't get that with my kit (of course they forgot to send me the dimmer knob too, so they probably just forgot my switch as well) and 2.) What lead would the blue/green switch connect to?
Thanks again for all your help, hopefully this is my last question!