AE86 Headlight + wiper wiring (levin)

[bozu]

Hi guys,

I'm finishing the last bits and bobs for my sr20 into AE86 levin swap and one of them is the headlight wiring. As I completely stripped my wiring loom I have to make this from scratch again and unfortunately I can't wrap my head around the wiring diagrams I found. Hopefully you guys can shed some light on it.

First questions I have are:
1. The wiring diagram mentions a light control switch and a dimmer switch. The light control switch is easy but I can not determine what is meant with the dimmer switch. The info drawn in diagram shows this switch has a low, high and flash setting. Does someone know where this switch is located? I assume is it not the rheostat although the results when googling refer to this.
2. Is it correct that the ae86 came with park/clearance lights that only work when ignition switch is in second position so that am1 fuse is providing power?
3. Lights used for Park/clearance lights are the taillights and the lights in the front fenders next to the indicators. Correct? (Note that I'm using redline taillights)

I also have to do the wipers and some other small stuff but first this part.

Any ae86 wiring guru in the NL/BE that feels like coming around to help? Doesn't have to be free.

Regards,

Bozu

[Ivan141]

European models never used the clearance light feature, thats JDM, perhaps USDM as well.

The dimmer switch is the stalk behind your steering wheel. I can help out with electrical advice
but I dont have much spare time to swing round.

[banpei]

3: yes. I have that on my Trueno as well

[bozu]

Short update, headlight wiring all sorted!

Question about windshield wiper wiring:
On the wiper motor i have a short piece of loom (about 5cm) with two black plugs, one male and one female. It has 4 wires, 2 blue and 2 yellow wires. The 2 yellow wires have an electrical component in between them. Looks like a resistor. Anyone know what this is and what the capacity is?

One off the yellow wires is brittle so i have to repair it but i was wondering if i can leave this short loom out. I can not find any info on it in the manual...

[bozu]

Anyone?

[bozu]

I removed the shrink sleeve and its not a resistor but a small plastic drum that has a couple of wire coils on it.

Anyone knows what this is for?

[bozu]

Here's a picture of the component

[Ivan141]

Looks like a coil to me, although I'd say it's not actually a loose component but wound from the wire itself.
If it's only the shielding that's gone brittle, clean it off and paint it with plastidip. If you want to replace the
wire, count the number of windings and unwind then rewind the coil with new wire, but I'd advise against it.

[bozu]

Yeah it's wound from the wire itself. Its also a single solid wire where the blue wires in the background a made from several thinner wires forming the core.

I've attached a new connector and installed new shielding. Also done this to the other yellow wire to match the wire lengths.

All is working but I'm still curious on what it does

[banpei]

My best guess both are high capacity resistors, as there is a large current flowing through for the wiper motors to operate. (e.g. need lots of torque)
This is a longshot, but I know some older cars used cumulative compound motors. These motors have two (or more) windings to create two (or more) separate electromagnetic fields that work against each other inside the motor. One will be stronger than the other, so the motor will still turn. You can then control the speed of the motor by increasing or decreasing the current in one of these windings, which will create either a weak or strong magnetic field inside the motor. If the AE86 makes use of such motors in the windshield wiper, I can imagine these resistors increase or decrease the current in that second winding. But of course, I could be totally wrong here...