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    Instrument Panel LEDs

    No, this isn't about changing the color of the gauges. I took apart a spare gauge cluster for my '98 Protege LX and noticed that there's 6 spaces for LEDs between the temp/fuel gauges and the O/D Off light. Here's a pic:

    Click image for larger version

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    I was wondering I it would be possible to wire in LEDs to show what gear a manual transmission would be in. From top to bottom: 1-2-3-4-5-R and use the O/D light for neutral. Not because I don't know what gear I'm in, just more for eye candy or bragging rights type of thing. Or does anyone know if these spots were used for anything in other models or countries?

    #2
    I'm going to take a picture of the circuit on the backside and color match the LED spots to any connector pins tomorrow morning. Hopefully that will help a little.

    Comment


      #3
      to do so you will need a way to determine what gear the car is in. 6 momentary switches on the shift leaver would work but i dont know how reliable it is
      "Discontent is the first necessity of progress."
      -Thomas A. Edison

      "There is a fine line between ballin' on a budget, and dreamin' on an empty wallet."


      *Junked* 92 mx3, BP swap- milage whore, beaten up and down the east coast
      *Junked* KLZE powered 323 on Megasquirt 1
      172.60HP & 156.93 TQ with only headers and short ram intake. back under the knife for a BPT swap.
      New Daily stock 1.6L 1999 Mazda Protege LX

      Comment


        #4
        yea, the trans electronically has no idea what gear its in. so you would need to build something to give it that input. not a major thing, but also not an easy one. and one that wouldnt be worth all the effort. specially since you can hear what gear your in and if you need to shift or not, or look down at the shifter. it really wouldnt help you at all.
        ~PaTricK~


        -Current car's-
        ~ 92 Probe GT Turbo, 90 FE3 Turbo 626GT hatch, 97 KL mtx 626, 05 Mazda6, 09 Kia Sportage V6~
        What are you driving?

        Comment


          #5
          Yeah I'm thinkin yes you could but more trouble than it's worth. An answer to a question that shouldn't have been asked....
          '90 AWD Protege, full GTR drivetrain swap, ~320 whp daily driver, RIP, and
          '90 AWD Protege, yet another GTR swap, Open class rallycar with a Toyota GT4 gearbox swap, thus crossing the line between hobby and mental illness. And a Brabus E55 K8, removing all doubt.
          http://www.wihandyman.com/forum/vbpi...?do=view&g=110
          http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2599486

          Comment


            #6
            Doesn't Jeff have a gear indicator in his built BF GTX? Ask him how that works...
            sigpic

            03 Accord DX: K24/5MT, peasant-spec old man's car
            92 240SX: KA/T25, nerd mobile

            Comment


              #7
              I know I don't need it. Yes, I would wire up switches. It's just eye candy in my mind. Does anyone know what those spots are there for, then?

              Comment


                #8
                Naw, what's on the other side of that dash cluster?
                '90 AWD Protege, full GTR drivetrain swap, ~320 whp daily driver, RIP, and
                '90 AWD Protege, yet another GTR swap, Open class rallycar with a Toyota GT4 gearbox swap, thus crossing the line between hobby and mental illness. And a Brabus E55 K8, removing all doubt.
                http://www.wihandyman.com/forum/vbpi...?do=view&g=110
                http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2599486

                Comment


                  #9
                  you never know what they were thinking when they came up with it, and what they thought they might use it for. or it might even be used in a different application.

                  same thing as why does the 12 valve F2 motor have 4 valve reliefs in the pistons? what was mazda thinking with that one. lol
                  ~PaTricK~


                  -Current car's-
                  ~ 92 Probe GT Turbo, 90 FE3 Turbo 626GT hatch, 97 KL mtx 626, 05 Mazda6, 09 Kia Sportage V6~
                  What are you driving?

                  Comment


                    #10


                    I hope this isn't too big, I'm uploading it from my phone at work. You can see the six pairs of LED solder points going down the center between the gauge light (left) and O/D Off light (right).

                    When I'm home tomorrow I'm going to follow the circuit and see what pins they connect to, if any.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Alright, I traced out the circuits and tested them. Here's what I came up with:
                      Click image for larger version

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                      Pins:
                      Red- 3A
                      Blue- 3B
                      Yellow- 3C
                      Purple- 3D
                      Pink- 2O
                      Orange- 2M

                      Each LED does connect to a pin on the connector, however, those pins are not used. I already assumed that anyway. The black dots go to the ground on the connector above the tachometer (the center two pins, 1I and 1J). The circuit only works if a jumper wire is placed on the opposite side of the board where the vertical, black line is (next to LED2 ground).

                      I tested this with a totally custom set-up. I took out one of the indicator light bulbs, connected to leads of small wire to the positive and negative sides and stuck the wire through the board to touch the solder on the backside. I also made a small jumper wire as explained above. I then connected two 9 volt batteries and taped leads to them as well. I placed the negative lead on the ground pin by the tach and the positive lead to one of the colored pins from the photo.

                      The overdrive light, which would be used for neutral, uses the ground (1I and 1J) and the 2K pin.

                      Now that I know what pins are used to control the LED spots (or not used depending on how you interpret it), all that's needed is to figure out the switches on the shift linkage.

                      Don't bash/hate/flame me for this, I'm not looking for help anymore. This is more of a documentation thread now to write down my findings and thoughts. If anyone actually wants to help, then be my guest. If you're just here to tell me how stupid and useless this idea is, then kindly go somewhere with you're negativity.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I ain't bashin or hatin. Go for it. It only matters if *you* think it's worth the effort.
                        I'd look at putting switches at the trans end of the cable though, and not the shifter. More positive positions and less slop there. Tap into the reverse switch that's already on top of the gearbox, that's one down.
                        '90 AWD Protege, full GTR drivetrain swap, ~320 whp daily driver, RIP, and
                        '90 AWD Protege, yet another GTR swap, Open class rallycar with a Toyota GT4 gearbox swap, thus crossing the line between hobby and mental illness. And a Brabus E55 K8, removing all doubt.
                        http://www.wihandyman.com/forum/vbpi...?do=view&g=110
                        http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2599486

                        Comment


                          #13
                          make sure to use 12v LED's or add the needed resistors to whatever LED's you use.

                          I would personally use the shifter base inside the car to keep your momentary switches out of the elements
                          "Discontent is the first necessity of progress."
                          -Thomas A. Edison

                          "There is a fine line between ballin' on a budget, and dreamin' on an empty wallet."


                          *Junked* 92 mx3, BP swap- milage whore, beaten up and down the east coast
                          *Junked* KLZE powered 323 on Megasquirt 1
                          172.60HP & 156.93 TQ with only headers and short ram intake. back under the knife for a BPT swap.
                          New Daily stock 1.6L 1999 Mazda Protege LX

                          Comment


                            #14
                            yeah there's that. Weatherproof switches are gonna cost more money. 'Twon't be fun getting em to work in either location.
                            '90 AWD Protege, full GTR drivetrain swap, ~320 whp daily driver, RIP, and
                            '90 AWD Protege, yet another GTR swap, Open class rallycar with a Toyota GT4 gearbox swap, thus crossing the line between hobby and mental illness. And a Brabus E55 K8, removing all doubt.
                            http://www.wihandyman.com/forum/vbpi...?do=view&g=110
                            http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2599486

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I'll have to wait until I actually have the entire engine, transmission and linkage in the car before I decide to do anything. It's easy to theorize when you can't actually test it to see if it works.

                              Comment

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