Reverse light wire

[Nibbo]

An easy one today; does anyone know which wire is for the reverse lamp on a W203 estate?

The choices are: Brown; Grey & Black; White & Black; Red & Black or Grey & Blue.

Sorry but there is NO prize for guessing which mod I am doing today.

Thanks in advance.

[hosejockey]

I would say reverse sensors?

[BTB 500]

Or towbar wiring ...

[GrahamC230K]

Could be sat nav. Let me see if i have a record on what colour it was on a w202. Sure the convention must be the same.

EDIT: sorry can't help, was yellow and grey on the w202

[Nibbo]

OK all and thanks for the replies. I did it by trial and error and it was the last one I tried!
In case anyone else needs to know... it is the Blue/Grey wire.

And just for completeness I was fitting the Taurus electromagnetic parking sensor which is the one you can fit without drilling anything.

[GrahamC230K]

And just for completeness I was fitting the Taurus electromagnetic parking sensor which is the one you can fit without drilling anything.

Tell us more.

[television]

This works as when you pass the car it magnetises the car in front say to a north pole, then when you try and park your car, these sensors put out a north pole field that is so strong you cant park your car near it as it is repelled.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Diesel Benz]

An easy one today; does anyone know which wire is for the reverse lamp on a W203 estate?

The choices are: Brown; Grey & Black; White & Black; Red & Black or Grey & Blue.

Sorry but there is NO prize for guessing which mod I am doing today.

Thanks in advance.

Grey/Blue on the left, Grey/Yellow on the right.

Black/Red is the stop lamp, Black/White the left turn signal, Grey/Black the parking lamp. Brown is ground as usual.

Edited: I now see this was already solved on an earlier post.

[Diesel Benz]

OK all and thanks for the replies. I did it by trial and error and it was the last one I tried!
In case anyone else needs to know... it is the Blue/Grey wire.

And just for completeness I was fitting the Taurus electromagnetic parking sensor which is the one you can fit without drilling anything.

Electromagnetic? Like the radar-based on W221 that do not need drilling?

[Nibbo]

Electromagnetic? Like the radar-based on W221 that do not need drilling?

I don't know if thats how the w221 works but no doubt an expert will be along shortly.

Basically there is a thin metellic strip (very much like tin foil) that sticks to the bumber behind my rub strip.
When electrified it produces an electomagnetic field.
When the field is moved close to something it becomes distorted which is picked by the little black box.
I guess the closer the object ths greater the distortion so the black box is able to determine which beep to output.

I have not tested it fully yet but it seems to work OK.

[Diesel Benz]

I don't know if thats how the w221 works but no doubt an expert will be along shortly.

Basically there is a thin metellic strip (very much like tin foil) that sticks to the bumber behind my rub strip.
When electrified it produces an electomagnetic field.
When the field is moved close to something it becomes distorted which is picked by the little black box.
I guess the closer the object ths greater the distortion so the black box is able to determine which beep to output.

I have not tested it fully yet but it seems to work OK.

Thanks for explaining, this is something I was expecting although never heard of such an approach for parktronic before.

[mr. shr]

I did it by trial and error and it was the last one I tried!


Well of course.
You're hardly going to find the wire you want and then try some more, are you?!? :D :p

[Nibbo]

Well of course.
You're hardly going to find the wire you want and then try some more, are you?!? :D :p

Obviously not but of the five possibilities it was the fifth!

[mr. shr]

Obviously not but of the five possibilities it was the fifth!

LOL
Yeah, I know what you meant. :)

[Dieselman]

Obviously not but of the five possibilities it was the fifth!

You started at the wrong end then didn't you..

[Diesel Benz]

You started at the wrong end then didn't you..

I don't think it would have helped starting from the other end. A late electrician I knew proved this. He often installed 3-phase eclectic motors and the wiring colours at that time did not help to identify the correct order. The motor "always" run the wrong direction when first tried. He explained he had tried swapping two wires immediately after the installation before trying the first time and it still run the wrong way. The conclusion is that you just have to try once and then swap two wires... :mad: :confused: :)

I interpret it works for this case too, if the original poster had started from the other end, the reverse light wire would have had a different colour from grey/blue. :eek:

[television]

You started at the wrong end then didn't you..

I think that dieselman meant the wrong order, that would fit the bill better

This is where a cheap clamp meter comes in useful, just turn on the reverse lamp and away you go

[BTB 500]

This is where a cheap clamp meter comes in useful
Sadly the cheap clamp meters typically only do AC current. My DC one was about £70 (wouldn't be without it though).

[Dieselman]

The quickest way without a clamp is to trace back from the appropriate track one the light cluster.

[television]

Sadly the cheap clamp meters typically only do AC current. My DC one was about £70 (wouldn't be without it though).

I have a flier in front of me now with clamp meters that do
AC/DC voltages up to 600v
AC current to 400A Priced at £11.25p + vat

For £30 they have one that does
AC/DC current 4A/80A
AC/DCvolts to 600v
resistance to 40 meg
reequency 5hz to 5mhz
Duty cycle 5% to 99%

that is also plus VAT