D Car — November 2003
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About this issue
250 available scans from D Car — November 2003, in right-to-left reading order. Japanese OCR and English translation drafts are available throughout. Drafts have not received exhaustive image proofreading; unreadable source remains recorded in the archival data.
Page 231 — English draft translation
Captions and page details
Test the lights before installation. Check that the EL gauges illuminate properly. Finish all connections and test them before installing the cluster—finding that nothing lights up after everything is assembled would be the worst!
Check
Once the wiring is finished, switch the lights on once before installing the gauges themselves, just to be safe.
Point
Checkpoints
Move the gauge needle to around the 11 o'clock position. This is where a little technique is needed.
9
Peel off the backing paper and carefully stick the panel onto the meter ring, aligning it so it sits straight.
14
345
2
夕指
← Guide each gauge needle through the matching opening in the EL panel, then lay the panel over the gauge face.
10
Reassemble the gauges and the EL panels are complete. All that's left is to connect the wiring.
15
6
← Press the panel down firmly so the double-sided tape bonds securely. Install the other two panels the same way.
Install the voltmeter and A/F meter. They fit neatly in the carbon-look meter cluster.
11
16
← The EL meter panels illuminate by themselves, so the original gauge bulbs are no longer needed. Remove them.
12
The voltmeter fits neatly to the left of the gauge cluster, and the A/F meter to the right.
17
に発
← Install the carbon-look meter ring. It simply sticks over the original ring, so installation is easy.
13
Power the EL gauge transformer from a wire that carries +12 V when the parking lights are on. Use a circuit tester to locate the correct wire.
018
↓ Tools used
A screwdriver is enough to remove and install the gauge panels. You will also need dedicated wiring tools and a circuit tester.
Use a one-touch connector to branch a power lead from the wire you identified. The transformer's black wire should be connected to the vehicle body ground.
19
This touch-panel switch adjusts the meter brightness. Mount it near the instrument panel.
20
A
The meter brightness is adjustable.
The EL gauge uses a touch-panel switch with four brightness settings. The top photo shows the brightest setting; the bottom shows the dimmest.