I'm trying to understand something here about how the instrument panel illumination works in my 2000 Limited and want to know if I'm on the right track.
Basically, the situation is this: I'm going to be wiring in some extra switches in the near future. They're fairly standard SPST rockers (Carling Conturas, as it happens) with five pins on the rear. Four of them are arranged as two separate switched pairs, presumably for switched positive and switched negative. That part makes sense.
What I'm trying to work out is if the fifth pin (used for illumination) should be tied to the Dimmer Signal line. Basically, I want these switches to dim and brighten with the other instruments, but don't understand how the Dimmer Signal line works - is it basically just a variable-voltage positive off of the instrument dimmer pot? I'm assuming that the switch gets its negative feed from the switched negative pins, so if so it'll work, but I have no idea if it needs to have a resistor in series, etc.
Basically, the situation is this: I'm going to be wiring in some extra switches in the near future. They're fairly standard SPST rockers (Carling Conturas, as it happens) with five pins on the rear. Four of them are arranged as two separate switched pairs, presumably for switched positive and switched negative. That part makes sense.
What I'm trying to work out is if the fifth pin (used for illumination) should be tied to the Dimmer Signal line. Basically, I want these switches to dim and brighten with the other instruments, but don't understand how the Dimmer Signal line works - is it basically just a variable-voltage positive off of the instrument dimmer pot? I'm assuming that the switch gets its negative feed from the switched negative pins, so if so it'll work, but I have no idea if it needs to have a resistor in series, etc.