Jdm81 Dash light rehostat just in case (1 Viewer)

[Squash]

I have torn my 81's dash apart looking for a dash light dimmer rehostat or at least a factory plug, only pos I've found is a "conlight" so far I'm stumped and the next step won't be pretty because I'm gonna cut wires. I've thought about tearing the 80 apart but crap I just put that all back recently

 

[Vasiliy]

I couldn't find my rheostat too, not even plug

 

[Squash]

I've decided to tap into "C" plug in instrument panel.
#3 pin is + power and #10 shows up as a ground or rheostat.
Will use # 10 as rheo control.
This seems to work on the bench!
Planning to add the egt, boost and tranny temp gauges to this as well since lights are distracting when hauling through an all night drive.
Prefer night vision for potential wildlife issues.

 

[TurboDennis]

Most non-US 80's did not have a rheostat, and weren't wired for one.

I have European wiring on my US 80, and i have added the rheostat function to it. In trucks without rheostat, you have 12V+ and ground going to each light bulb that is supposed to be adjustable. MOST of those ground wires go to the same junction connector approx in the middle of the dash wiring harness (near the clock). Then there is a single big ground wire that goes from that connector to left kick panel (i think), on LHD truck. To add rheostat function, you basically need to take that ground wire and connect it to the variable voltage wire that's coming out of the rheostat (White with green stripe, i believe).

The instrument cluster light ground doesn't go to that junction connector, so you would need to connect it separately.