Custom Shift Light in OEM Gauge Cluster

[95CarbonEclipse]

I want to add a shift light to my arsenal of gauges but minus the tach. Now, I know that you can get stand alone shift lights, but what about cutting out the circle where the OEM boost/oil pressure gauge is and replacing it with an Autometer shift light (or any other stand alone shift light)? I don't use the OEM boost gauge and soon the OEM oil pressure gauge will be useless too (even more useless then it already is). Has anyone ever done this and if not... is it even possible?

The biggest problem I can see coming across would be the depth of the light in order to fit it behind the cluster. Also, one would need to be extremly carefull as to not damage any of the other connections for the rest of the cluster.

 

[DSMpwr25]

If you have ever taken out your gauge cluster you would see its one peice, with no wires coming from them. I think it would be kinda hard to cut a whole out and not damage anything else inside the cluster. I have thought about it before but sit in your seat and look were else you could put it.

 

[95CarbonEclipse]

I guess what I'm really saying is that I WANT TO PUT SOMETHING IN THE SPACE CONTAINING THE OEM BOOST AND OIL PRESSURE GAUGE and a shift light seems like it would be perfect right there. So, I realize that it would be easier to put a shift light somewhere else, but I really want to use that space for something trick instead of looking at 2 useless dead needles.

 

[sirsol66]

I have never tried what you are asking BUT there is one article posted on ephatch about doing something quite similiar to what you are asking. You have to join the site (free) to view it but it should explain everything you need. Here's a link:

http://www.ephatch.com/forum/showthread.php?t=66702

For a brief overview, he used this a ebay bought shift light to create this:

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As the rpms go up, the "si" in the cluster gets brighter and brighter until it flashes and you shift. He also has directions for how to take apart a shift light and seperate out what you need to make it much more compact and fitable (is that even a word?) in the stock gauge cluster. Hope that helps!

 

[95CarbonEclipse]

^^^ I didn't see the write up on it. All I saw posted was everyone giving him props on this mod.

 

[Imback]

I havent seen that before . I must say thats pretty unique.

 

[InfiniteGSX]

There are alot of differen't gauge lights in our stock gauge cluster that aren't being used... I think there's one that could easily be used for a shift light if you just install a bright light behind it... I engagued my fog light indicator already and will be setting up more. I'm also puting some LED's where the automatic signals are supposed to be for my radar detector.

 

[dsmpokolm]

That is a good idea!! I was wanting to do the same thing. Put a shift light to replace that gauge but never got around to it. Would look pretty nice. You should try it and let me know if it works.

 

[sirsol66]

OK...since most of you guys cant/do not want to join a honda site, I'll put it on here. All credit goes to the original creator, I/he is in no way responsible for any damage you do to your car because of this mod. Here are the directions:

The idea:
I didn't want to run with the normal dash mounted dildo that looked like a$$. I proceeded to sketch out a few ideas and decided that I would rip apart my instrument cluster (again) to see how much room was available. Needless to say, it was more cramped than a free buffet at a Twinkie convention.

I purchased a small Raptor shift light from www.raptorperformance.com that was a one piece unit with all the necessary bells and whistles (Bright red LED's, simple wiring, very small/compact, RPM adjustment in increments of 100 and compatible with 4 cyl motors). It was ~ $85.00 and a fantastic deal for the money IMO. Here are a few pics to show the size, funtionality and brightness:

Fresh out of the package:

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Now, onto the work/materials involved.

Materials needed:
- Hot glue gun
- Sharp scalpel
- Solder with flux
- Soldering iron
- Electrical tape
- Shrink tubing
- ~20 awg wire (Spare poop you may have lying around / ~5')
- Acetone
- Q-tips
- A very steady hand
- Zip ties
- Phillips head screw driver
- Wire snips (large and small to make it easier)
- Wire strippers
- Patience

Optional:
- Digital camera
- Dremel


A few important tips!!!
- Be sure to have a full tank of gas before beginning this project. It will be much easier to replace/calibrate the gas needle.
- Take a pic of the gauge cluster while the car is warm, cold and cold while the key is turned to ignition II. This will aid in replacing the needles. They're somewhat of a PIA to get back to normal.



Start off by removing the gauge cluster. To do so, sit in the drivers seat and lower the steering wheel all the way down (tilt). You can squeeze your hands around the black trim on the cluster and pull down and out.

Now for disassembly of the OEM cluster and the shift light.

We'll start with the cluster. There are 2 plastic covers that will need to be reomoved in order to access the plastic sheeting with all of the text on it. The first cover is clear plastic (top) and the one underneath it is black plastic. Remove the top clear cover. It's only held in by an array of press tabs on the outside of it. Gently push them in with your fingers while pulling the clear cover off. Repeat for the black cover.

You can now remove the needles. They pull out with a bit of force. See the pics below for tips/hints on both the cover and needle removal:

Needles:

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The gauge cluster vinyl/plastic sheet with the data peels off. It has a few spots of glue on the backside so it may feel snug at first. Be careful that you don't rip or tear it. Also, be sure not to bend or damage the 2 plastic pins that are near zero rpm and mph.

Once removed, lay it down text side up and grab the sharp tipped exacto knife. I then followed the black outline of the "SI" symbol and VERY CAREFULLY scratched it away. You are only scratching the paint off of the surface - Do not cut through the material. Take your time as it only takes one small screw up to mess up the whole project. Here are a few pics:

Starting it:

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Close up of the knife scratching:

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Now clear:

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Now, onto the translucent paint. Get a fine tipped brush and go to work. The brand I used was nice as it wiped off easily while still wet. It made for easy clean up of small mistakes:

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Now to disassemble the shift light and customize it.

The 2 dials are your adjustment points for light engagement. The 3 switches are your adjustments for the amount of cyclinders in the car. The rear black plug will need to be removed in order to take the light apart:

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The rear plug shown in another view. Remove it and push the guts of the unit out by pushing on the front LED's.

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[sirsol66]

Here's what the internal board will look like upon removal. The 3 metal contact points on the right are where the LED was soldered. It has been removed for the time being:

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This is the backside of the LED that was clipped off. Be sure to make a mental note of the manner in which the LED was connected to the circuit board (very important):

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Here's a closeup view of the 3 connection points and the back of the LED's:

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Front side of the LED's (They come joined together by epoxy in the shift light unit):

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Nip the insulation from the 3 LED wires. I carved into the epoxy to allow for more exposed wire. It made for a much better solder joint.

Before:

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After carving, insulation removal and soldering of three ~12" wires:

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Solder the other ends of the wire to the corresponding spots on the circuit board. I put some extra tape on to keep them from pulling out

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Slide the cover back on from the rear and tape up both ends to prevent any foreign poo poo from falling in:

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Take the instrument cluster and seperate the white plastic panels. These work on the same type of tab system as the black and clear covers. Be careful as the circuit board for the instrument cluster is now exposed. Try not to touch it (Handle it from the edges/sides). Set the circuit board in a safe area and continue onto the white plastic pieces.

Now to cut a hole in the instrument cluster plastic (front). You can use just about any combination of the following: Wire snips, Exacto knife, Dremel, box knife, etc. Here's a front view upon completion (I assembled it just to be able to visualize the clearance):

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[sirsol66]

Test fit the LED as needed. When you come up with a satisfactory hole and mounting area you are now ready to proceed to the next step.

Hold the LED in place and hot glue it from the sides. Make sure the LED cluster is just slightly lower than flush (the convex LED surface). Try not to get any of the hot glue on the front of the LED's as it will decrease the light output.

Front:

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Take the instrument cluster and seperate the white plastic panels. These work on the same type of tab system as the black and clear covers. Be careful as the circuit board for the instrument cluster is now exposed. Try not to touch it (Handle it from the edges/sides). Set the circuit board in a safe area and continue onto the white plastic pieces.

Now to cut a hole in the instrument cluster plastic (front). You can use just about any combination of the following: Wire snips, Exacto knife, Dremel, box knife, etc. Here's a front view upon completion (I assembled it just to be able to visualize the clearance):


Test fit the LED as needed. When you come up with a satisfactory hole and mounting area you are now ready to proceed to the next step.

Hold the LED in place and hot glue it from the sides. Make sure the LED cluster is just slightly lower than flush (the convex LED surface). Try not to get any of the hot glue on the front of the LED's as it will decrease the light output.

Front:

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Rear:

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*** Be sure to feed the wires out through the back hole. Otherwise, you will not be able to replace the cluster covers. ***

Replace the gauge cluster circuit board and snap the white plastic shut.

Replace the Speedo/tach vinyl using 1 small drop of super glue on 6-8 various corners of the white plastic. Press down lightly on the Speedo vinyl to aid in adhesion. Replace the 4 clips that were on the needle towers. Do not replace the needles at this time!

Replace the black plastic tach cover (Leave the clear off for the time being).

Your tach will now look something like the following. Notice that the needles are not on:

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Now for routing power to the shift light. I just tapped into my accessory outlet with some T-taps (lower section of the center console). It was simple and the power is switched and rarely used in my case.

Be sure to have the necessary settings on the shift light (via the controls on the sides in this case).

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Bring the cluster to your vehicle and feed it back in while routing the shift lights power wire down and over towards the backside of the outlet.

Now for the wiring.

The tack wire was run and I'forgotten the wire color/location. I'll have to update this once I remember .

Remove the outlet trim and be sure to disconnect the plug on the backside.

Grab the male and female T-taps as shown:

Females:

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Snap the taps over the OEM wiring. The neg was clearly marked black IIRC:

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Crimp the others on the bare ends of the shift light's wiring harness:

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Connect and replace the covers and connectors.




Hope that helps!!!

 

[95CarbonEclipse]

Great write up... props to a Honda owner! Thanks Sirsol66

That gives me pretty much everything I would need to know. I'm only going to replace the OEM Boost/Oil Pressure gauge with a translucent type of film to cover the hole after cutting the gauge out. And, because I don't want it to just be a plain circle in my cluster... what sort of design should go there.

 

[sirsol66]

You might be able to cut black vinyl to go over it and show the mitsu symbol, eagle symbol, or even the letters DSM. A lot of vinyl shops should be able to do it for you and doing the cutout in black and placing it over red vinyl means it will show up red but look black most of the time. Good luck

 

[InfiniteGSX]

Uhm guys... Just letting you know from experience of ripping the gauge cluster apart on our cars... it isn't worth it! You'll end up replacing the entire thing because all of the needles are soo sensitive that you'll end up very upset and will not be able to fix your mistake! Trust me on this!

BUT, You can locate your own lights in a different spot... and there is actually a thread on this forum that shows how to do it...

I enabled my fog light indicator by using a how to in the FAQ Articles here on DSMTuners.com

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Doing this mod lead me to see that there are atleast 10 other lights that aren't being used on our cars! All you have to do is follow the traces and install the wire to the OEM Cluster Harness and then wire it to the Shift Light.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173534

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[redeclipse7782]

The whole purpose of the shift light is to not have to look at the gauge cluster to know when to shift, and you can keep your eyes on the road instead. So make sure you have a bright enough light that shines and you notice it while keeping your eyes on the road, otherwise you might as well just look at the rpm gauge.

 

[InfiniteGSX]

Yeah well... Thats not hard to do... I know that the light for the fog lights is really bright... I'm about to dim the light cause its too bright... ... You can easily buy bright ass led's on ebay all day long!

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

In the day time I would understand it possibly being hard to see. But at night, if you did What InfiniteGSX mentioned, and just wire up the inactive foglight activated light switch as a shift light, it would be plenty visible IMO.

 

[95CarbonEclipse]

That's a great suggestion, but what I'm really looking for, as posted once already, is something to replace my OEM Boost/Oil Pressure Gauge since it now serves no purpose being in my gauge cluster. If all I wanted to do was install a shift light, I'd go buy a shift light and install it somewhere on my dash.

And about the 'tearing apart your OEM cluster', this is actually my second DSM and would be the 5th time I've ripped into the OEM cluster, so... no worries there. Not to mention, that for what I'm looking to do, the only needles that would need to be removed would be the 2 that I wouldn't be installing back into the cluster.

 

[Cobrasatellite]

I would sugjest following the honda guys path except dont fully open the closter. Just remove the Clear plastic then the boost needle. get some surface mount leds wire them in a series in a small cluster. Make a small vynel panel with whatever you want to show up on it. Place the leds where the boost guage was, run the wires out the side place the vynel over it. Now wire the lines in place of the aftermarket shift lights leds and your good to go. No cutting of the cluster.

Heres a ling to the style leds Im refering to

http://www.marktechopto.com/Product...-leds-features.cfm?Part_Number=LM1-AHR1-11-N1

 

[95CarbonEclipse]

That's f**king GREAT idea! There's that 1/4" or so space between the top gauge cover and the actual gauge readout panel that should easily house a cluster of LED's and then all you'd have to do is maybe drill a hole into the side of the cluster big enough for the wire to run through.

GOOD THINKING!!

 

[InfiniteGSX]

If you just want to replace the gauge with something, then go ahead.

Also RedTurboEclipse, you don't have to use the fog light indicator... there are like 10 other lights that aren't being used... and setting them up is easy pickens!

 

[KiNg MaRtY]

That Hondaguy idea is cool, but I wouldn't want to mess up my cluster