Dim Component lighting - any fix?

[captngaryr]

I am convinced that the NSX is the most well designed car ever built. I think history has shown over the last 19 years that it has very few design flaws. However, there is one glaring fault that is driving me nuts. The display lighting for the audio system, clock and climate control are barely visible in daylight, and if the headlights are on during the day, the displays are invisible. I often run my headlights during the daytime to make me more visible to SUV moms talking on their cell phones. I thought about disconnecting the "lights on signal" from the above components and running it through some sort of hidden switch, but there isn't really any one place to break the signal. Has anyone solved this problem, already?

Thanks,
Gary

 

[Miner]

Is the brightness knob turned all the way up?

 

[shawn110975]

yea take the radio out and cut the dimmer switch wire, this will make the radio think your lights are off all the time, but when its night time the radio will be real bright. which it will not look good, to me anyway.

another option is take the radio apart. just the face plate where the lights are on the curcuit board, all the bulbs have this amber rubber boot over them, you could take them off and now the bulb will be white. and brighter during the day. now the only remaining problem is the screen, which is something else. the lens for the screen is tinted and there is not much you can do about that.

3rd option keep the stock radio and put in an aftermarket, but even then finding one that is amber in color will be impossible,

4th option, get your windows tinted, if they are already then I am not sure where you live but getting a portion of your windsheild tinted will help as the sun beats directly down on the radio will help, some states dont allow this but Florida they do.

 

[captngaryr]

I wish it was that easy, but the brightness knob (dimmer) only controls the instrument brightness, not the components (stereo, clock and climate control).

Gary

Is the brightness knob turned all the way up?

 

[captngaryr]

Hi Shawn,
Yes, I could cut the wire to the radio, but I would need to cut the wire to the clock and the climate control, too. Unfortunately, there is not one common wire that would cut all three without cutting the signal to other instruments which shouldn't be cut. I wanted to cut one wire and run it to a switch (or a photo sensor) so I could restore the signal at night when the displays might be too bright. Not impossible, but I was hoping for a simpler solution. Your other options require I modify all three components, which isn't very attractive to me. Tinting the windows is illegal in Rhode Island, and won't be effective with the top off (targa).

Thanks for the suggestions,
Gary

yea take the radio out and cut the dimmer switch wire, this will make the radio think your lights are off all the time, but when its night time the radio will be real bright. which it will not look good, to me anyway.

another option is take the radio apart. just the face plate where the lights are on the curcuit board, all the bulbs have this amber rubber boot over them, you could take them off and now the bulb will be white. and brighter during the day. now the only remaining problem is the screen, which is something else. the lens for the screen is tinted and there is not much you can do about that.

3rd option keep the stock radio and put in an aftermarket, but even then finding one that is amber in color will be impossible,

4th option, get your windows tinted, if they are already then I am not sure where you live but getting a portion of your windsheild tinted will help as the sun beats directly down on the radio will help, some states dont allow this but Florida they do.

 

[Miner]

I wish it was that easy, but the brightness knob (dimmer) only controls the instrument brightness, not the components (stereo, clock and climate control).

Gary

800 posts, 10 years of ownership. I think after a while, I must have gotten used to it. Or maybe I don't drive enough at night anymore with the NSX to notice.

Miner

 

[captngaryr]

Actually, the biggest problem is driving during the day with the lights on.
Gary

800 posts, 10 years of ownership. I think after a while, I must have gotten used to it. Or maybe I don't drive enough at night anymore with the NSX to notice.

Miner

 

[anesthesia]

hi Gary, i know how you feel, im in same situaction, when i first bought car, i notice the clock and instrument not that bright especially when lights on, so i thought maybe battery is weak or not enough cca so i changed out new battery with higher cca but same story no improvement, so over the year i learn to just live with it.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

This is the most comprehensive post I have seen on the subject. It details the fix refered to above.

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65364&highlight=dimmer+fix


This will keep the lights at full intensity regardless of the headlights being on or off. But..... I do not think it will make them brighter them they are, so it is not quite what you are looking for, onbly half way.

Regards,
LarryB

 

[captngaryr]

Hi Larry,
Thanks so much. While I did try a search for this info, I apparently didn't search as well as I thought. Thanks for the info. It confirms the direction I was going to proceed. Great stuff.

Gary

This is the most comprehensive post I have seen on the subject. It details the fix refered to above.

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65364&highlight=dimmer+fix


This will keep the lights at full intensity regardless of the headlights being on or off. But..... I do not think it will make them brighter them they are, so it is not quite what you are looking for, onbly half way.

Regards,
LarryB

 

[ftuhy]

There is an error in some of those directions - do NOT cut or the red wire to the CCU. Some versions I've seen connected that to the red/black leads, which can damage the dimmer controls for the dashboard lights. It should be all red/black. To be precise, this is a "Lights On" circuit (RED/BLK leads), and is independent of the variable dimmer circuit on the console lights(RED leads).

I looked at some of those older designs that almost worked, then traced all the wiring, and came up with a final design that has worked well for me since I installed it in Nov 2008. I made a control module that goes in between the connector to the clock, plus wiring to a photosensor (hidden in the center consol AC vent), a diode added into the CCU (a key item, because otherwise it back feeds into the dimmer circuit and messes up things), plus I (shudder) had to cut the red/black wire in the harness at the CCU and radio, and bring that back to the control module. The control module itself is very small, and simply sits in a little padding behind the clock.

What my circuit does is make the console lights act like the parking or headlights were never turned on if its bright outside. The dimmer cricuit works normally on the dashboard lights, etc.

PM me if you want me to send you some jpegs of my hand-drawn schematics, parts list and installation photos.

I see you are in RI. I'll be going to River Run and to Kids Day at Watkins Glen. You can see my design in operation if interested.

I also have a simple circuit that flashes the lights (the same ones activated by the 4-way warning flasher) when you use the keyless remote.

By the way, this console light issue drove me crazy for years. After all, my 1984 Corvette has that function and a 6 year newer NSX design didn't! I finally found time in 2008 to crawl through all the wiring, measure on/off currents in the CCU, clock and stereo "Lights On" leads, trace the CCU internal wiring that revealed a diode was needed, and then design a reliable circuit. (And yes, I'm now a retired electrical engineer.)

 

[captngaryr]

Hi Frank,
Well, I'm an older EE as well, but not yet retired. I plan on doing the same as you have done, as soon as I get the time and nerve to open the console and cut some wires. I would love to see your sketches. When I saw someone suggesting cutting into the red wire, I new they had made a mistake. Only Red/Black for me. Thanks, for the info. I will report back as soon as I get this done. I'm also interested in your keyless entry fix. It's anoying not to know whether the car is locked without watching the button. PM me if you wish.

Gary

There is an error in some of those directions - do NOT cut or the red wire to the CCU. Some versions I've seen connected that to the red/black leads, which can damage the dimmer controls for the dashboard lights. It should be all red/black. To be precise, this is a "Lights On" circuit (RED/BLK leads), and is independent of the variable dimmer circuit on the console lights(RED leads).

I looked at some of those older designs that almost worked, then traced all the wiring, and came up with a final design that has worked well for me since I installed it in Nov 2008. I made a control module that goes in between the connector to the clock, plus wiring to a photosensor (hidden in the center consol AC vent), a diode added into the CCU (a key item, because otherwise it back feeds into the dimmer circuit and messes up things), plus I (shudder) had to cut the red/black wire in the harness at the CCU and radio, and bring that back to the control module. The control module itself is very small, and simply sits in a little padding behind the clock.

What my circuit does is make the console lights act like the parking or headlights were never turned on if its bright outside. The dimmer cricuit works normally on the dashboard lights, etc.

PM me if you want me to send you some jpegs of my hand-drawn schematics, parts list and installation photos.

I see you are in RI. I'll be going to River Run and to Kids Day at Watkins Glen. You can see my design in operation if interested.

I also have a simple circuit that flashes the lights (the same ones activated by the 4-way warning flasher) when you use the keyless remote.

By the way, this console light issue drove me crazy for years. After all, my 1984 Corvette has that function and a 6 year newer NSX design didn't! I finally found time in 2008 to crawl through all the wiring, measure on/off currents in the CCU, clock and stereo "Lights On" leads, trace the CCU internal wiring that revealed a diode was needed, and then design a reliable circuit. (And yes, I'm now a retired electrical engineer.)