Mach 460 Stereo Illumination

[Twete]

I have a 99 GT with a mach 460 (the earlier unit with the separated CD player/radio decks) and was curious as to whether or not anybody has disassembled their units? The reason being is I would like to convert my stereo illumination to LED lighting but I am having a hard time finding any info on the radio schematics, namely how the factory radios are illuminated.

 

[GDawg]

Open her up! I'm not sure if I still have mine out in the garage...

 

[Twete]

Thanks for that wiring diagram! In particular I am interested in the "Interior Lights System" that is shown in the diagram. I am trying to find out whether the illumination is from LEDs soldered to the circuit board of the stereo or if its just a backlit illumination from a standard filament bulb. Any ideas?

 

[trinity_gt]

Pretty sure (like 99.99%) that it's LED on the boards.

I had my Mach apart in the summer whilst trying to find out why the 6-disc is so prone to stick and though I didn't take the front panel down, I can say that there's no room for traditional incandescants in there.

 

[Twete]

Ok good to know, I suppose I can always take it apart and look without doing any modifications

 

[Twete]

Ok so I just finished opening up my radio and cd units to determine how they are lit and found that between both units there is a total of 16 incandescent bulbs. They are about 3mm in diameter so I'm going to replace them with T1 LEDs but I have run into another issue. The LEDs are going to need to be oriented in the correct polarity and I am unsure of how to check the polarity on the existing bulbs. I'd hate to have to trial and error solder the LEDs into place as it would be annoying

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[wmburns]

One connector will be a common ground. Use an Ohm meter to test from the outside case to each light terminal. The Negative lead will be the one with almost no resistance.

Disclaimer. Testing with an Ohm meter involves sending a small electrical current through the part to be tested. IMO, the chances of hurting anything are low. However, you are on your own.

 

[Twete]

Thanks for the input! I'll be sure to try that next time, I ended up just plugging the units in with the faces detached and checked the voltage across each of the bulbs. I then noted which terminals were positive based on whether the voltage readings I got were positive or negative.