Just got my new '03 HO/48RE Monday and I plan on adding a few elecrical accessories soon. In looking at the PDC under the hood, it doesn't appear at first glance that there is an easy way to tap into the PDC to get power to the accessories. On my '97 BR I was able to access the fuse panel on the left side of the I/P easily.<br><br>Has anybody done any electrical additions to their '03 yet? I want to avoid tapping into existing wiring if at all possible.<br><br>Mike<br>

 

What do you want to hook up? With the key or 12V constant? Your gonna have to tap somewhere. I have all kinds of electronic stuff on my 03. I have a remote start with keyless entry and window roll down modules on all four windows. A huge stereo system so I had to tap a few wires for power and what not let me know what you want to hookup and I'll tell ya a good spot to do it. <br>

 

For installing Apillar gauges, where is the best place to tap to the dashlight controls? I'm hooking up 3 AM Phantom gauges, I see the harness that runs up the Apillar with the dashlight wire available in it (I'm pretty sure, for the overhead console), but is there a better place to tap to for these? Thanks!

 

Alot of people have had luck using the ashtray light, or cupholder light (if equipped)<br><br>phox

 

I picked up an ignition hot from the fuse panel. If you use a meter and check the unused spots, there are several that are hot all the time and two (I think it was 37) that is ignition. I used a spade in it with an in-line fuse for my trailer battery isolation relay. There is also one empty fuse that is hot with the lights. You are right about not being able to get into any of the wiring out of the panel without pulling everything loose. Bummer. Guess we are supposed to keep our nose out of there. :P<br><br>Bob

 

[quote author=FiverBob link=board=17;threadid=10260;start=0#98553 date=1043975569]<br>I picked up an ignition hot from the fuse panel. If you use a meter and check the unused spots, there are several that are hot all the time and two (I think it was 37) that is ignition. I used a spade in it with an in-line fuse for my trailer battery isolation relay. There is also one empty fuse that is hot with the lights. You are right about not being able to get into any of the wiring out of the panel without pulling everything loose. Bummer. Guess we are supposed to keep our nose out of there. :P<br><br>Yeah, it looks that way although I would REALLY like to access the wiring at the PDC, that way I could use the existing fuses as the overcurrent protection for my gauges. On my '97, I used mini-fuse taps and tapped the fused side of the circuit. At the fuse box I could get access to switched power and also power that was controlled by the rheostat from the headlight switch so my gauge illumination worked in tandem with the I/P illumination. I havent really spent a lot of time looking at the PDC on my '03, but it looks like it ain't gonna be as easy as my BR. I suspect I may be able to loosen the PDC and drill a small hole on the underside for wire access and seal the hole with black RTV. Oh well, a good project for spring when the weather warms up a tad.<br><br>Bob<br>[/quote]

 

What I'd like to do is make the electric windows hot all the time like I did in my '01. They made this harder to do too.

 

MSimmons,<br><br>I found two wires under the dash by the light switch maze (spelled &quot;mess&quot that had the controlled voltage from the dimmer for the dash lights. You can use a splicer. I don't particularly like them because they can weaken the original wire. I also found the controlled voltage in the panel. I made a small spade adapter that works OK in the panel. <br><br>By the way - - if you place your cursor after the last &quot;quote&quot; word when you use that option, your message will appear under the original quote in large type and be easier to read. <br><br>Bob