Clock wiring?

[satfan54]

Hello. I have a three wire clock to fit but have had no luck on Google with regard to colour identification.I have red/orange , blue/red and a brown. I assume brown is +12 but can someone please identify the back light and negative.
Thanks.

[mx5ash]

I'd say you would be safe enough to put one on earth and test the others on a live and see which one lights it up.
Could use a small battery if you want to make sure you don't blow anything (thinking 9v battery)
Also this may help
http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php? ... ntry629248

[satfan54]

Thank you. I will try that.

[Geese]

three wires.

1 = ground
1 = +12 for the light bulb
1 = +12 power for the clock.

Set multimeter to resistance/continuity. the clock and bulb wire will have close to zero resistance to the ground wire. That tells you which one the ground is.

Connect the ground and identify by wiring which of the remaining two are the bulb or the clock.

The bulb wire normally goes to the "illmination wire" on the radio loom. So it only lights up when the headlights are on.

[satfan54]

Thanks Geese. I did try the multimeter and all wires are open circuit. I will crack it open one of these days to have a look. I did check the bulb and it was open circuit even though it looked ok.
Cheers.

[gerard donnelly]

Hi I fitted one recently chances are brown is earth .What I would do is earth brown on a battery not fitted to car then try each colored wire one will power clock one will power light remember bulb may be gone in clock depending on where it has come from.Another thing there is a light going to ashtray which will power clock light not clock itself in mk1 it`s cheaper to put a bulb in ashtray than replace stereo.But then again I may be wrong or at least thats my disclaimer.