Buzzing sound coming from switch. Brown Wire Mod

[crusoe]

Hey guys,

So I just completed the BWM and everything seems to be working perfectly, tested it out on a gravel road. But when the switch is engaged, so I can get my 2 wheel drive, I hear this buzzing sound coming from the switch. Any ideas??

 

[Glacier991]

I'll avoid any smartass comments about bees etc, and hope someone with real life experience with the mod will see this soon... be patient - an answer to this one may be a while coming with the holidays and all.

 

[Ranger379]

could it be a bad switch or something? too small of wire/switch for as much power that is going thru the wire? just an idea

 

[briwayjones]

How did you wire it? Did you use a relay or just a switch? If you used just a switch how many amps is it?

 

[crusoe]

The switch I bought is an "Illuminated Auto Rocker Switch SPST 1/4" 12 VDC/VCC 30A"

I wired it up by taking the wire connected to the side with the factory splice and hooked it up to the center terminal (A) on the switch, and I connected the other wire to the other terminal (B), and ran one last wire from the ground terminal (C) (which was clearly labeled ground on the switch, so I know I didn't screw up that part) This picture shows what I mean.

Also, I didn't use a bullet connect for the ground because I ran out of them.
Oh, and if you follow wire C you can see that I hooked up the ground to what looks to be a zinc plated bolt. Don't know if this has any effect?

 

[briwayjones]

Hmm, as long as the ground is hooked up properly it will actually work having the other two wires hooked up to any of the other two terminals. 30amp switch is plenty. Which place did you splice into the brown wire?

 

[crusoe]

I spliced in my wires *above* the factory splice. I cut into the wire that runs up and to the left.

 

[briwayjones]

The only thing I can think of right now is to get a different switch and try it.

 

[oplitic]

I don't know if it was just me, cause it makes absolutely no sense to me, but when I did it, I had a buzz too, and switching the wires (not the neg wire) stopped it. But like I said, it doesn't make any sense to me how it changed it. (BTW, when it fixed it, i didnt believe it either, so I switched em back, and the buzz came back, so I jsut switched em to where it didn't buzz)

 

[crusoe]

So switching the wires doesn't affect how it works overall? I'm just asking because the guide sounded pretty specific as to what wires to connect where.

 

[briwayjones]

No it doesn't. It just changes how the light on the switch works. One way when it will light up more depending on the amount of power sent to the 4wd. The other way it will light up when the 4wd is engaged and just stay lit the same which is the way I have mine wired. Mine buzzed too and I changed it around until it didn't. I can't remember if that was before I had the ground hooked up to the right place on the switch or after.

 

[oplitic]

Weird, mine is wired so the switch light increases when I press the gas. Do you have yours spliced behind the radio by the airbag area? That's where I did mine. (I believe people did it in like 3 or so different places.)

 

[briwayjones]

I spliced into it under the door jamb in mine.

 

[gijoecam]

OK, so confirming, the A wire in the picture is being fed FROM the OEM wiring, the wire connected to B runs TO the transfer case, and the third wire is grounded, right?

I suspect that the buzzing is something in the LED buzzing from being fed by the TOD relay. Try disconnecting the C (ground) wire and see if the noise goes away. All it will do is stop the LED from grouding and lighting up. If it stops the buzzing, you'll want to try a different switch.

-Joe

 

[crusoe]

So if I remove the ground wire and the buzzing goes away and the switch still does it job, aside from lighting up, would it be alright to keep it that way? In other words, is it necessary for the switch to be grounded for it to work?

 

[briwayjones]

Nope, the switch doesn't need to be grounded to work. The only thing the grounding does is make the light, light up.

 

[gijoecam]

Nope, the switch doesn't need to be grounded to work. The only thing the grounding does is make the light, light up.

Ditto. Grounding the switch only lets the LED light up. The switch should function fine otherwise.

-Joe