2013 BRZ Clock not working - weird behavior?

[Kurdain]

Hi,

New to this particular forum and I am having an odd issue with my wifes 2013 BRZ.

The clock does not work but it is not the typical dome/radio out too.

The radio works.
The dome and door lights work.
The clock lights up and *SEEMS* to be keeping time...but only in when in ACC.
When you start the car the clock goes out.

I've checked every fuse I can find under the dash in the little white fuse box and the large one out under the hood. I even used a DMM to check continuity even if the fuse passed the visual inspection.

I'm pretty good with cars but TBH I am just not into working on them anymore and I just can't contort my back to reach stuff like I used to.
So I am good with tools, DMM's and what not.

Wife swears the clock worked in the past prior to installing new headlights about a week ago by a local shop.
I checked the wiring and the only thing I see that was added was a jumper fuse and wire coming off the 30A wipers fuse slot under the hood...wipers work fine.

If it was a fuse why does it appear to be keeping time and lights up in ACC?

I am at a loss.

Thanks.

[Yoshoobaroo]

Try replacing it, it’s a cheap part:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2013-2016-S....m46890.l49292

[sharpsicle]

Clock has 3 different power sources:

7.5A Gauge (W/G)
7.5A Radio (R/B)
20A Dome (O)

The B/Y wires are both ground.

If all of those circuits are getting power, the clock itself may have a fault. If memory serves, the orange 20A dome circuit is providing the constant power to keep time when the car is off.

I'd unplug the clock and test the Orange wire to ground with your DMM and ensure it's giving voltage to the clock first.

[pope]

What headlights?
Is the new jumper fuse used to activate some form of DRL in the new headlights?

If the jumper fuse is for a headlight feature, unplug it and see if your clock works properly. I recently installed Morimoto headlights on my BRZ and discovered that if I use Morimoto’s add-on power plug for the led strip it causes the clock to turn off (amongst other side effects). The reason is because the add-on power back feeds through the headlight into the oem harness through the boomerang/parker pin.

[Kurdain]

I'll go check that now, all the fuses in the car are good so I suspect it should be getting power...Just need to figure out how to get the clock out of the dash without breaking anything.

I'll post back in a bit.

Thanks.

Yes, they were aftermarket lights with the sequential blinkers and DTL accent lighting.

I will try that also.

Thanks.

[Kurdain]

It's feedback.
ANY switched power I hook the LED light power into results in the clock shutting off.

Paid $700 for the lights and $500 to have them installed and it's been a crap fest.
So either faulty lights, faulty install, or faulty design.

Thanks for getting me on the right track...

[LimitedSlip]

Maybe a filter capacitor connected from +12v to ground to suppress any noise riding on the DC? Something in the .1 microfarad range perhaps?

[sharpsicle]

Could you use a diode to prevent the reversing of polarity on the tapped line?

[pope]

Originally Posted by Kurdain

It's feedback.
ANY switched power I hook the LED light power into results in the clock shutting off.

Paid $700 for the lights and $500 to have them installed and it's been a crap fest.
So either faulty lights, faulty install, or faulty design.

Thanks for getting me on the right track...

I think, it's a side effect of "most" aftermarket lights being installed in FR-S cars, since the BRZ is produced in lower numbers with superior OEM lights.

Keep the jumper fuse unplugged and turn the headlights on (parking or full) and the LED bar will likely turn on. If so, you can make it a habit to drive with the parking lights on if you want the LEDs as a running light. Otherwise, de-pin the parking light wire from the main connector and plug jumper fuse in again.

[Kurdain]

Thanks all.

My wife said she doesn't need a clock but I insisted she needs to contact the manufacturer, ft86speedfactory.com and explain the situation. For the money we paid we shouldn't need to 'F' around and get it to work.

I tried a diode, 1N4001 that I had from an old electronics kit.
Didn't work...I assume because the forward impedance is ~450k ohms (reverse is infinite of course) and this is causing enough of a VDC drop to not allow the accent lighting to work. I might see if I can find another type with a much lower forward impedance.

I tried unplugging the jumper. The accent lights do turn on with the parking lights.

Leaving the jumper in with the accent lights working and you turn the switch to the parking setting the clock lights up.
I'm afraid in either case my wife will forget to turn off the lights and end up with a dead battery.

I feel it is a poor grounding design and it is either feeding back or allowing a floating ground situation to occur.

I am considering making a relay that will fire separately and light the accent lighting but this assumes it is feeding back through the fuse box.

Pretty annoyed as we paid a lot for the product and install and I am working on it anyways. :/

Thanks again.

[pope]

Originally Posted by Kurdain

Thanks all.

My wife said she doesn't need a clock but I insisted she needs to contact the manufacturer, ft86speedfactory.com and explain the situation. For the money we paid we shouldn't need to 'F' around and get it to work.

I tried a diode, 1N4001 that I had from an old electronics kit.
Didn't work...I assume because the forward impedance is ~450k ohms (reverse is infinite of course) and this is causing enough of a VDC drop to not allow the accent lighting to work. I might see if I can find another type with a much lower forward impedance.

I tried unplugging the jumper. The accent lights do turn on with the parking lights.

Leaving the jumper in with the accent lights working and you turn the switch to the parking setting the clock lights up.
I'm afraid in either case my wife will forget to turn off the lights and end up with a dead battery.

I feel it is a poor grounding design and it is either feeding back or allowing a floating ground situation to occur.

I am considering making a relay that will fire separately and light the accent lighting but this assumes it is feeding back through the fuse box.

Pretty annoyed as we paid a lot for the product and install and I am working on it anyways. :/

Thanks again.

It's not a grounding issue. The add-on fuse power and the BRZ OEM parking light pin are probably wired to the same point on the headlight. Your FT86SF headlights and my Morimotos are twins (like the FR-S and BRZ; little differences, but essentially the same). In the attached image of the back of my headlight, the two blue wires: one is the add-on power, the other the goes to OEM parker pin. Powering one powers the other.




More explanation:

The headlight plugs and wiring are different between the BRZ and FR-S, so it's not so much a design flaw as an accommodation for the variances between models. Unless I'm mistaken, an FR-S parking light is separate and the headlight plug is 6-pin. In the BRZ the parking light is the boomerang and the plug 8-pin.

At least some aftermarket lights make use of an 8-pin connector that mimics the BRZ lighting arrangement (headlight, turn signal, parking lightbar) with an adapter for 6-pin cars. But, since this would still leave the 6-pin cars without power for the lightbar an add-on fuse plug is included (or an extra purchase) to provide power.

The problems come in when trying to install aftermarket lights on a BRZ using all the connectors without well written, all encompassing installation instructions since even the most expensive aftermarket headlights come with instructions that make Ikea diagrams look like engineering textbooks.




If you really want the led bar to be on whenever the car is on without worry about leaving the headlights on, identify the parker wire and de-pin it (or cut and cap that wire).


EDIT:
I went through all this a week ago. Had to resort to wiring diagrams, headlight swap videos, and a good old volt meter to sort out what was going on and why since no one else offered an answer.

[Kurdain]

I'll look into this, probably tomorrow though as my wife is taking the car for work now.

It is just super hard for me to bend and look at this very long without feeling like being kicked in the nuts (nerves in my back are all screwed up) so my patience is not long.

Thanks again for the help, I'll let you know how it turns out.

[Kurdain]

Traced it out and long story short ended up snipping the blue parking lights wire on the headlight. Everything works fine now.

So yeah this is not mentioned at all in the instructions. Would be nice if they included a spade or barrel connector to make this possible without cutting wires.

Worked out though.

Thanks.