Bentley Gt Breitling Clock fitting in Mk6 GTI

[nikamichi]

Folks,

I'm a confirmed Breitling fan ( own a Cosmonaute, 2 x ex aircraft clocks, Limited Edition Alarm Clock), and always thought that the clock in the Bentley GT was very cool ( even if it isn't made by Breitling, just Breitling branded)

I have gone through the process of sourcing the GT clock ( I actually needed to source 2 to get a wiring loom plug as well as my preferred dial combination), and have taken the shell of the clock off to place in a gauge pod.

Trouble is wiring it up. I was going to take to an aftermarket VW specialist, but I'm concerned that this clock is controlled by CAN Bus.

It has 4 wires, red, brown, and 2 twisted pair canbus orange violet, and orange brown.

Is this viable to connect, as I have got no idea how you would even try to code it ? Or would it be easier to source a normal VDO analogue car clock to use the mechanism which is a standard +/- ?

Any ideas ?

[nikamichi]

This may be easier than I thought. The clock works when connected to 12 volt power, and leaving the canbus unconnected. I assume the Canbus synchronises the time with other time keeping components in the car. I also assume the Canbus also determines the illumination. I guess I can Macgyver a few LEDs with a seperate power lead to provide illumination ?

[Lams]

cool idea. A Bentley Conti is supposedly a Phaeton, and the canbus colour coding sounds the same... would you code it? or does it, like you said, get the time from the canbus in the car? If I got my hands on one I'd try to wire it into the car and see what happens
Then it'd break something and I'd regret it

[nikamichi]

Definitely requires canbus for illumination and time setting. I would be tempted to try, if Canbus wasn't so finnicky. The illumination is the thing I really want.

For example the headlight switch I assume is using canbus for illumination, and yet I don't think you need to "code" it ?