The overhead console display shows both ambient outside temperature as well as compass heading (well sort of..).
When you turn the lights on, however, the display pretty much washes out in the daytime.
This is due to the Panel Lamp sensor wire that tells the display to dim out when it sees the panel lamps on as a sign of night time driving.
There is an orange wire that can be either isolated or manually switched out of the circuit that will cure this problem.
Isolating the wire will assure that the display never dims.[
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Cutting it and adding in a sub-mini SPST Toggle switch will allow you to switch it into the system for driving after dark, if it is too bright.
Procedure:
1... Disconect the negative battery lead
2... Remove the overhead console by pulling the front (edge closest to windshield) straight down to disconnect the front retainer spring clips.
3... Slide the overhead console forward (toward the back of the car) to disengage the rear tabs from the headliner.
4... Disconect the overhead console wire connector.
5... Unsnap the Compass Module from the inner roof panel. Push the module all the way forward to disengage the front retaining clip. Once the retaining clip is disconnected, push the module all the way rearward to disengage the rear retaining clip.
6. Remove the console from the car.
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Now for the mod.....
The recepticle for the connector that you just disconnected from the car's wiring contains the Panel Lamp Sense wire. It is the ORANGE wire. If you have a small jeweler's screw driver, you can push it in from the backside of the recepticle below where the wire is crimped to the pin, and release the pin from the recepticle.
First, you will need to slide the receptical forward to release it from the console assembly, to give some room to work.
Heatshrink tube is the best way to isolate the pin. Tape does just as well.
If you plan on adding the switch to switch the sense wire back in, it is not necessary to remove the pin from the recepticle.
Cut the orange wire far enough back that you leave sufficient room to make connections to both sides Orange wire ends created by the cut.
A sub-mini toggle switch would fil very well in the blank where the sunroof switch would have been installed (if you don't have the sunroof.
If you do have a sunroof, extend the wires (small speaker wire is large enough and easy to route under the headliner, down the A pillar to a switch location of your choice.
Orange Wire____./.____ Orange wire
Switch wiring to bypass or switch in the dimming feature.
Reinstall by reversing the above removal steps, and don't forget to reconnect the negative battery wire.
I can provide pics, and will be glad to email them out to anyone that wants to do a pictorial step by step. I have it on my list of things to do, but I may not get to it immediately.
I am in the process of trying to document the Circuit used on the temp sensor for the Temp Display to extend the range of the sensor to make it useful for measuring under-hood temperature to go along with the remote temp sensor mod that uses the overhead display....