are the wires all the same on most of these throughout the years? how would one connect this unit to a set of gauges that were not originally on the car?

 

If you have a test light. Put the lead to a ground and pbrobe the back of the wires at the switch with it still pluged in and lights on. the test light should light up when you find the wire powering the cluster and dash lights to dubble check turn lights off the test light should turn off with them then just tap in to the wire how ever you like

 

alright, dimmer switch wiring is basically the same, the big difference is that 88-89 has a relay inside the dimmer switch, 90-91 has the relay mounted beside the steering column instead of inside the switch. Follow the wiring from the 90-91 switch to find the relay.

Took me a long time to find that info when I was swapping clusters.

 

i am mainly concerned because i have an eg dash(ya i know lol) in my car...assuming it is a 3 or 4 wire setup?

 

it is a three wire set-up.
3 into the relay, 3 out to the switch.
hope that helps

 

power, ground, and sending unit im assuming.

 

power (red blk)
ground (blk)
and a wire from the dash lights (red)

ah i see. so the lights would have a normal ground, and that red wire is what they get power from I think? then the control switch is just a variable resistor, and changes the amount of current coming from the red/blk which goes out through the red. ground is just ground for the switch.

although I'm just guessing here.

edit: reading that all, i guess the red wire would be sending current, and could be called a sending unit

 

yes, but, when dealing with autometer gauges(only 1 white and 1black wire) it gets kind of hard to figure out which to attach the red(or current controlling) wire to.

 

looking at the diagram a little closer, it makes more sense that you'd hook it to a red/blk and a red wire.
the diagram shows gauge lights being connected to the red/blk and the red wire, where as the black wire is just grounded. these are the ones going into the relay, not the switch.

 

any pics?

 

Connect the White wire for the auto meter gauge lights to the red/black wire for them to dim like stock ones or connect the white wires to the red wire for them to come on full bright all the time the black wire for the lights can go to a common ground some place

 

so thats it? either dim or bright? no adjusting in the middle allowed? :/

 

If you tap in to the red/black wire they should dim with the dimmer switch. Just licke stock gauge lights. But if you tap in to the red wire they will just come on with the lights and you will not be able to dim them. the red wire is constent 12v when lights are on. The black wire is ground. and the red/black wire is the wire that carrys the verrying volteage from the the dimmer to make the lights brighter or dimmer

 

ah, now i see. man this is gonna be a bitch wiring up 7 to 8 gauges lol

 

there's a link to the crx shop manual, has all the circuit diagrams you'd need, in a wonderful pdf format!
takes a while to find it.

 

where can i find a manual?!