Switched and unswitched power sources - Interior

[vrracing]

I need to run unswitched power to RX8 seats in the S5 vert and switched power to the seat heaters. Any suggestions on the best way to tap for that power?

Thx

Jim

[FRED]

Unswitched power is anything on the battery buss in the interior fuse box.

The battery buss is the two top rows of fuses.

Switched power is the next two rows of fuses.

Aux power is the last single row of fuses.

Another source of batt power is the pure black wire that feeds the ignition switch. It's in a connector on the ignition switch pigtail that has a black/white wire with it.

Pure black has power 24/7. Turn the key ON......power goes from the pure black......thru the switch......out to the black/white wire (IG1) and also to the Black/Red wire (IG2)

Black/white feeds the row of fuses that the ENGINE fuse is on. Black/Red wire feeds the row of fuses just below the row that has the ENGINE fuse.

IG2 loses power if the key is HELD to START or you go to ACC.

Seems to me you need to find out what amp fuses the exeight used for those seats and then find a fuse with enough ooomph for the seats. Or wire in a wire from the engine bay to the interior with a inline fuse or??????

Anyway the jpg attached shows in red the batt buss with power 24/7 and the green and blue row of fuses that are switched but remember the IG2 row loses power if the key is HELD to START. And we all know about ACC so I'll let that go.

Plus all the fuses in the engine bay fuse box are on the batt buss 24/7

[vrracing]

Thanks, Fred. That's very helpful. .

The break down of the columns is a very nice value-add that I dont see in the body electrical system pdf.

The factory RX8 seat heater circuit is protected by a 20A fuse while the power seat is protected by a 30A fuse along with the door locks, sunroof, acc socket and truck remote.

So since my car is a 90 vert, if I'm reading this correctly the 30A circuit for the seat belt is available as is the 15A sun roof and ABS circuits. Both are switched. Would they already have sockets and wires even though they are unused? It would be nice to keep everything as factory as possible by repurposing these circuits.

I've never been in a coupe with the automatic seatbelts but I'm surprised they only work when the key is on or past ACC.

[FerociousP]

The automatic seatbelts move forward when you open the door whether the key is in or not, they just don't go back until the key is turned.

I've done the same thing (rx-8 seats in a vert). I used a add-a-fuse tapping the fuse block directly to the seats.... used a 15 or 20 amp fuse I think. The add-a-fuse says 10A, but its not continuous so as long as the fuse doesn't blow in the 1-2 sec that power is requested I'm good.

[FRED]

Ferocious is right about the seat belt. See page W-1 of the series five wiring manuals onlin.

Battery buss in the interior fuse box: defroster, heater, stoplights, room antenna, illumination, ABS, SEATBELTS, fog. All hot without the key in the ignition.

IG1 fuses: engine, meter, antenna, power window, turn. All require key to ON or better.

IG2 fuses: wipers, cooling fan, rear wipers. Power when key is ON and no power if the key is HELD to START.

ACC fuses: audio and cigar. Key to ON or in ACC. No power if key is held to Start.

No real excuse other than mostly looking at series four interior fuse boxes and those boxes are divided up much like I suggested in my jpg attached in my first post. Seems the only thing wrong with that jpg is I should wrap a red line around the ABS, seatbelts and fog fuses to indicate they are on the batt buss and NOT on the ACC buss. For some reason I can't make attachments to day on this forum.

Anyway on page W-1 of the 1991 wiring manual online, they show pretty clearly what fuse is on a batt bus and which is on IG1, IG2 and ACC busses. In other words which is switched power (IG1, IG2 and ACC and fixed power or batt power 24/7 on the batt buss (items fed from the BTN fuse in the engine bay on a W/R wire).

[vrracing]

Thanks, guys. This is excellent.

[FerociousP]

vrracing... what lb springs did you get for your ground controls for the vert?

[vrracing]

IDK. I bought them from a guy in OH who bought the car from a guy in IN. The source car was also a vert. They were dirty and corroded (rust belt you know) so we washed and painted them but didnt bother to record the spring rates. The old shocks were trashed so it seemed like an amazing transformation. We also put in black Energy Suspension bushings at the same time.