I'm trying to add a horn and license plate light to my 2005 Vinson. I thought this would be easy even for someone like me with limited mechanical abilities. My problem is finding a power source.

There are 2 sets of heavy duty wire leads - one in the front end (I assume this is to power a winch) and a similar set at the rear tucked above the storage box under the brake light. I also found a set of small wires at the rear (same location) with male and female connectors that match those on the horn switch. None of these leads are hot as far as I can tell - I tried to connect the 2 wires for the license plate light to the 3 sets of leads mentioned above and nothing happens. I know both the horn and light are OK since they work when I touch their wires on the battery terminals.

I am assuming that I am doing something wrong, since there are no other electrical problems and I would be surprised that the 3 sets of connectors I found are dead. I have the repair manual which does not explain any of the connection other than providing a wiring schematic, which I have no idea how to read.

I would really like to use the wiring connections as is - am I doing something wrong? How do you get power to the connectors/leads?

Alternatively, can you attach the light/horn/switches directly to the battery?


Thanks for the help.

 

It would be a good investment to buy a cheap electrical meter - you can get them at any home store for about $10. Without a meter, it will be a very difficult matter of trial and error to find the correct electrical leads.

The easiest way to connect the license plate light it to just splice into the wires that go to the tail light. There should be three wires to the tailight - one negative (-), and two positive (+). one of the (+) lines is controlled by the light switch and the other (+) is controlled by the brake switch. It's possible that the (-) line just goes to the frame to ground it out, I'm not sure on the Vinson. If you set your meter to 12v DC, put the black lead on the (-) wire and find the (+) wire that is turned on when you turn on the lights - splice the (-) and (+) wires from your license plate light into these wires and your new light will come on whenever your other lights are turned on.

The Horn is a different matter. As a completely separate accessory, the horn should be on it's own circuit. It would be best to start from the battery, install an in-line fuse on the (+) side, run the (+) side through a button switch and then on to the horn. Here too, you could use the frame as a ground for the (-) side but a solid ground wire would be much better.

Jaybee

 

If you're going to be attempting electrical work go and buy an actual service manual. They have full wiring schematics, crossing two wires and blowing your CDI or your speedo would not be a good thing. Those large wires you found in front and out back above the storage container are the same wires. The two smaller loose wires are for wiring up a reverse light. JayBee gave excellent advice as it is the simplest, quickest and safest way to do it. Like he said, go buy a tester, don't just touch two wires together to see if they're hot, that gets expensive real quick.