A few Electrical Questions

[gad]

Hi all. After a little assistance.

Firstly the stereo. My stereo is currently wired just of the accessory power supply so that it can only be turned on with the key in the ignition barrel. This is fine except, because it has no constant feed, it cannot keep its memory. There is a red wire coming up behind the stereo, that I assume is the constant positive but it gives no voltage when I've tested it. I had a quick look at the fuses and they seem ok, although I don't have a manual so I'm not sure which one to look at (if any?). Any ideas? As a last resort, I could take a positive feed off something like the light switch. Is that a good/bad idea?

Second problem, which might be linked. My cigar lighter socket doesn't work. I could do with getting that sorted for my phone charger. Where do I start?

Last one. Under the plastic ECU/Heater cover there are two connections next to the ECU, one is a black connection, the other is a cream/white connection. Should the white one have anything connected to it? Mine doesn't so I thought I should check.

One last question. My handbrake light has a tendency to come on when I'm moving. I think this is because when the handbrake is fully released, there is a fair bit of play in it and you can activate the handbrake light without triggering any of the ratchets. How can I rectify it?

Thanks in advance.

[Karl_CLCoupe]

Regarding the white plug next to the ECU...

There shouldn't be anything plugged in there unless you have front foglights

Basically the wiring is all in place should you want to fit some, it just plugs into that white socket below the ECU.

The stereo. Now mine has had the wiring loom butchered at some point in its life, so I have had to crimp the wires together rather than using connector plugs. From what I can remember I have the red (permananent live and yellow (switched live) from the headunit going to the red on the car. This will mean your radio no longer comes on with the key in the ignition (you will now have to turn it on and off at the headunit), but it will keep the settings you have.

Karl.

[lord_sharpy]

yellow is usually permanent live red is ignition. if your struggling to get a permanent live you can use anything that works with the ignition off i.e cigarette lighter (if you get it to work). you can put the yellow and red wires from the stereo together into the same feed. some stereos have a facility on their harness with two bullets on the yellow wire so you can put the red into it for permanent live.
hope this helps
james

[gad]

Thanks for that. I'll have a look for a yellow wire as well. I should be able to use both with the stereo I have. God knows what the other red wire is. Thanks for the info on the Fog light plug as well. My car does have front fogs but they don't work and look like they were wired by a 3 year old. Think I'll just cut the wiring off them and leave them.

Any body able to help with my other issues?

[SpikeyG40]

i had to redo all my wiring for my radio in the g40 as mine had all been buchered also!

i was also confused as to what all the wires did but if i remember correctly, somewhere there is a topic about which wires do what! it might be in the mk3 secion, or it might be in the ICE section, or even somewhere else! anyway, might be worth having a look for it!

as for the plugs under the ECU and heater cover (scuttle cover) the white one is for the foglights

http://www.polo-gt.co.uk/styling/foglamps.html for info!

it mentions about it in step three!

[ste mk1lx]

translated from haynes diagram hopefully this should help just check with a circuit tester first.

brown ....................... earth
grey/blue ................... illumination
brown/red................... ignition
red/grey..................... direct battery