How To - Install variable shift light '00 Civic - Honda-Tech

MonkeyPuzzle · 04-17-2006, 04:52 PM

So I did a lot of searching on these boards for the info I needed so I figured I would do a short write up.

So first I bought a shift light from ebay. It was a three wire affair (red, black, green) and had a knob for adjusting the shift points instead of using Pills. The shift light I purchased was a ProSport Variable Shift Light, and looked exactly like this.

I quickly took it apart and discarded the cylinder, inside was a 2x3 inch circuit board and some wiring. I had to extend the wiring for my purposes so I simply cut them and re-soldered new, longer wires in their place.

Second I took out my gauge cluster (check the FAQs here on H-T for how to do that) and spliced the three wires into the gauge cluster wiring.

Red - 12V power
Black - ground
Green - Tachometer.

These can be identified using the following Pin-outs as provided by another H-T member, see image below.

Here is a cheap ms-paint wiring diagram. These are just pics grabbed from google.images, so this is not the correct PCB, Potentiometer, LED etc.
So three wires go from the gauge cluster wiring harness, red for 12V power, black for ground and green for the tachometer signal, these go to the PCB of the shift light.
From the shift light's PCB three wires go to the potentiometer. These wires were extended as needed so I could put the PCB and the knob away from each other and hide them better behind the dash.
Again from the shift light's PCB two wires go to the LED. These too were extended so that the PCB did not have to be near the gauge cluster.

Then I wanted to make my install a little stealthy because shift lights are actually rice and I didn't want everyone to know I'm a rice-boy at heart. So I integrated my shift light into my gauge cluster.

I found a blank spot in the gauge cluster to put the LED bulb. I had to take apart the cluster to make this blank spot clear. Each of the blank spots are blacked out, so I simply sanded away the black so I have just clear plastic. (again check the FAQs here on H-T to know how to pull apart the cluster). I simply hot glued the LED bulb from the shift light into this blank space.

This is not the back of my cluster, but looks the same. You just find an empty bulb hole and jam your LED in there. My LED was a near perfect fit, and some hot-glue (make sure it non-conductive) to hold it in place. IF your LED is smaller, you could just put it in the hole and seal it up, if its bigger well you may be outta luck.

I then ran some extension so I could place the PCB, printed circuit board, out of the way, and an extension to place the adjustment knob, essentially just a potentiometer, down by my mirror controls. The PCB was mounted in a "project box" I got from Radio Shack, essentially just a small plastic box large enough to contain the PCB, I mounted this in a convenient location behind the dash about half way between the gauge cluster and the mirror controls.

Here is the location of the adjustment knob down by the mirror controls.

Here is the cluster off.

The cluster with the shift light on.
It comes on at start up like the other gauge lights because I am using power from the cluster.
It is the brightest red light on the left side.

I hope that helps some others out there. Feel free to ask me Qs but keep it in the thread so that the Q and A could help others.

I have found the shift light helpful especially as its adjustable. I set it nice and low to remind me not to speed. Or set it at VTEC kickin' to save gas. I can also set it just before redline as is intended for a shift light. I've found about the lowest I can set it is 3k RPM and it is only about half way when its at 8200 RPM so there would be plenty of adjustment left for you folks with nicer engines that rev higher.

And best of all, you can set it nice and low and if you lend your car to others they freak out and don't race your car like crazy.

Modified by MonkeyPuzzle at 4:10 PM 8/28/2008

Modified by MonkeyPuzzle at 4:11 PM 8/28/2008

zerovandez · 04-17-2006, 05:09 PM

very cool

A.E Motoring · 04-17-2006, 05:40 PM

tachometer says blue wire, not green

JDM_EM1 · 04-17-2006, 06:11 PM

thats a nice lil mod

revvin9k · 04-17-2006, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPNFEDEH

tachometer says blue wire, not green

Green on the unit he bought, not the pin.

A.E Motoring · 04-17-2006, 06:15 PM

OOOH, my bad, good write up, very food way to keep cops off your back,

MonkeyPuzzle · 04-19-2006, 12:39 PM

Thanks guys

I've been driving around for a about a week now its been alot of fun.

On a side note, it is very bright (as it should be) but this means that when it is on at night I can not read the tach.
I might have been better off putting it on the other side of the cluster so that I could still read the important gauges when the light was on.

hatchi · 04-19-2006, 03:22 PM

nice write up. You probably could've put it behind the si lettering so that everytime your shiftlite kicks on the Si would glow

Flowi · 04-19-2006, 03:54 PM

Damn Nice!

Shake and Bake · 04-19-2006, 04:03 PM

Bookmarked!

hondakevin21 · 04-19-2006, 06:00 PM

That was a pretty good idea!

94hatchling · 04-19-2006, 06:24 PM

very nice. just gave me a useful little project.

i was thinking of just getting a shift light and pill to put in my vent, but i'm liking this idea. great write up.

E46Kid · 04-19-2006, 06:28 PM

Nice lil mod i might have to try this

nello a. · 04-20-2006, 01:14 AM

what do you mean too bright to read the tach. does th light stay on and get brighter at desired (shift )rpm?

kuja396 · 04-20-2006, 04:29 AM

Really great idea!

MonkeyPuzzle · 04-20-2006, 01:08 PM

Since I have had a few Q's about what shift light I used here you go

I bought a ProSport shift light from ebay.

I was fairly concerned that it sounded like a piece of crap but turned out to work perfectly. (So far)

DaveSi677 · 04-20-2006, 02:24 PM

good job on the right it's very clear and to the point

Dave

TurboASR · 04-20-2006, 03:38 PM

That is nice. Making the Si light/glow is a good idea too.

Someone needs to put this in the FAQ thread.

kyorishin · 04-20-2006, 03:42 PM

so basically is the same thing in the cx/vx with its shift light right or whats the diff?

Relic1 · 04-20-2006, 03:59 PM

the CX/VX light is for MPG not really the same thing.

I did this a while back. But I put a dimming circuit in mine. A simple RPM switch to turn on the light and a relay to make it dim with the cluster lights. ~$40. (it's not knob adjustable though)

aZnjCC · 04-20-2006, 04:06 PM

how does the adjustment knob work. how do you know what rpm ur adjusting to?

RACEPAK · 04-20-2006, 04:25 PM

sweet....

can i do it on a 97?

posite · 04-20-2006, 05:21 PM

nice. good job!

04-17-2006, 04:52 PM	#1
MonkeyPuzzle Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Brisvegas and the Mile High, Ausmerica Posts: 1,260	How To - Install variable shift light '00 Civic So I did a lot of searching on these boards for the info I needed so I figured I would do a short write up. So first I bought a shift light from ebay. It was a three wire affair (red, black, green) and had a knob for adjusting the shift points instead of using Pills. The shift light I purchased was a ProSport Variable Shift Light, and looked exactly like this. I quickly took it apart and discarded the cylinder, inside was a 2x3 inch circuit board and some wiring. I had to extend the wiring for my purposes so I simply cut them and re-soldered new, longer wires in their place. Second I took out my gauge cluster (check the FAQs here on H-T for how to do that) and spliced the three wires into the gauge cluster wiring. Red - 12V power Black - ground Green - Tachometer. These can be identified using the following Pin-outs as provided by another H-T member, see image below. Here is a cheap ms-paint wiring diagram. These are just pics grabbed from google.images, so this is not the correct PCB, Potentiometer, LED etc. So three wires go from the gauge cluster wiring harness, red for 12V power, black for ground and green for the tachometer signal, these go to the PCB of the shift light. From the shift light's PCB three wires go to the potentiometer. These wires were extended as needed so I could put the PCB and the knob away from each other and hide them better behind the dash. Again from the shift light's PCB two wires go to the LED. These too were extended so that the PCB did not have to be near the gauge cluster. Then I wanted to make my install a little stealthy because shift lights are actually rice and I didn't want everyone to know I'm a rice-boy at heart. So I integrated my shift light into my gauge cluster. I found a blank spot in the gauge cluster to put the LED bulb. I had to take apart the cluster to make this blank spot clear. Each of the blank spots are blacked out, so I simply sanded away the black so I have just clear plastic. (again check the FAQs here on H-T to know how to pull apart the cluster). I simply hot glued the LED bulb from the shift light into this blank space. This is not the back of my cluster, but looks the same. You just find an empty bulb hole and jam your LED in there. My LED was a near perfect fit, and some hot-glue (make sure it non-conductive) to hold it in place. IF your LED is smaller, you could just put it in the hole and seal it up, if its bigger well you may be outta luck. I then ran some extension so I could place the PCB, printed circuit board, out of the way, and an extension to place the adjustment knob, essentially just a potentiometer, down by my mirror controls. The PCB was mounted in a "project box" I got from Radio Shack, essentially just a small plastic box large enough to contain the PCB, I mounted this in a convenient location behind the dash about half way between the gauge cluster and the mirror controls. Here is the location of the adjustment knob down by the mirror controls. Here is the cluster off. The cluster with the shift light on. It comes on at start up like the other gauge lights because I am using power from the cluster. It is the brightest red light on the left side. I hope that helps some others out there. Feel free to ask me Qs but keep it in the thread so that the Q and A could help others. I have found the shift light helpful especially as its adjustable. I set it nice and low to remind me not to speed. Or set it at VTEC kickin' to save gas. I can also set it just before redline as is intended for a shift light. I've found about the lowest I can set it is 3k RPM and it is only about half way when its at 8200 RPM so there would be plenty of adjustment left for you folks with nicer engines that rev higher. And best of all, you can set it nice and low and if you lend your car to others they freak out and don't race your car like crazy. Modified by MonkeyPuzzle at 4:10 PM 8/28/2008 Modified by MonkeyPuzzle at 4:11 PM 8/28/2008

04-17-2006, 05:40 PM	#3
A.E Motoring Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: www.shopaemotoring.com, Ca, Us Posts: 26,151	Re: How To - Install variable shift light '00 Civic (MonkeyPuzzle) tachometer says blue wire, not green __________________ check it http://www.shopaemotoring.com is your online shop for your builds!!

04-17-2006, 06:11 PM	#4
JDM_EM1 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: NY to GA, USA Posts: 3,996	Re: How To - Install variable shift light '00 Civic (SPNFEDEH) thats a nice lil mod __________________ 2004 NFR AP2 Turbooo, CURRENT - 375Hp, 263Ft/Tq @ 10.4PSI 2000 MR Civic SI Turbooo, SOLD - 397.4Hp, 280.9Ft/Tq @ 19PSI

04-17-2006, 06:15 PM	#6
A.E Motoring Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: www.shopaemotoring.com, Ca, Us Posts: 26,151	Re: How To - Install variable shift light '00 Civic (revvin9k) OOOH, my bad, good write up, very food way to keep cops off your back, __________________ check it http://www.shopaemotoring.com is your online shop for your builds!!

04-19-2006, 12:39 PM	#7
MonkeyPuzzle Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Brisvegas and the Mile High, Ausmerica Posts: 1,260	Re: How To - Install variable shift light '00 Civic (JDM_EM1) Thanks guys I've been driving around for a about a week now its been alot of fun. On a side note, it is very bright (as it should be) but this means that when it is on at night I can not read the tach. I might have been better off putting it on the other side of the cluster so that I could still read the important gauges when the light was on.

04-17-2006, 05:09 PM	#2
zerovandez Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: long beach, ca, us Posts: 1,657	very cool

04-19-2006, 03:22 PM	#8
hatchi Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: TEAM LIGHTSPEED, Ca, USA Posts: 4,663	Re: How To - Install variable shift light '00 Civic (MonkeyPuzzle) nice write up. You probably could've put it behind the si lettering so that everytime your shiftlite kicks on the Si would glow __________________ onecleanda,careawholelot,beaterdriver,supervince,e j8,davep,njandrewg,rollydc69,dchung1,b16hybridsol, RaceInspiredDC2, JswineyHB93, AL ASPIRATED,Wild0ne21,ndustryalGSR,drunknbass,Two_K Si, 88crxsir,bob evans, langinthorpe,krazySOHC,pheen0m,Vera, Otacon,Tokyo_X-treme_Racer,TurboDB8, HatchEh2, butters,fongph,scoop.BlueIntegraBoy,REALek4,surfer chad122, hctjohnson,Bimmerman,LSVtecor82,AssPenny,Top-Fuel,greencivichb,NinetyTwoHB,rocket247,mitsuman,B lackhatch94,Repodevil,Tad,SjCiViCHB,dek1mfk,evil_r yu,q45mm,INDYGSR,LaXcAt

04-19-2006, 03:54 PM	#9
Flowi Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Near Cologne, Germany Posts: 11	Re: How To - Install variable shift light '00 Civic (MonkeyPuzzle) Damn Nice! __________________ My Nürburgring Pictures!

04-19-2006, 06:00 PM	#11
hondakevin21 Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Middle of Nowhere, Wyo, US of A Posts: 379	Re: (AllstockSIke) That was a pretty good idea! __________________ "Better to be a racer for a moment, than a spectator for life" 1997 Civic hatch, B18c1. 2003 Yellow AP1 stock......for now

04-19-2006, 06:24 PM	#12
94hatchling Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: DFW, TX, USA Posts: 872	very nice. just gave me a useful little project. i was thinking of just getting a shift light and pill to put in my vent, but i'm liking this idea. great write up. __________________ T E A L - H A T C H - C L U B member #037 1994 Civic Cx; 1964 1/2 Mustang www.importcarcenter.com

04-19-2006, 06:28 PM	#13
E46Kid Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 9,076	Nice lil mod i might have to try this __________________ <FONT COLOR="hotpink">EM1</FONT> Crew 2000 Civic Si Sold 2001 BMW 325i Sold 1994 Integra Rs People I BOUGHT/SOLD: Drastikchangez, One^Sumo, Bigfigman, Kicklow, Danger, Dc lover, t0ekn3e, ALLOUT EM1, Gtracer15, ProjectDarkBlack

04-20-2006, 01:14 AM	#14
nello a. Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: charlotte, nc, usa Posts: 2,064	what do you mean too bright to read the tach. does th light stay on and get brighter at desired (shift )rpm? __________________ WTB: OBD1 USDM P30 1995 Del Sol VTEC SCCA #0 STS2

04-20-2006, 01:08 PM	#16
MonkeyPuzzle Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Brisvegas and the Mile High, Ausmerica Posts: 1,260	Re: How To - Install variable shift light '00 Civic (kuja396) Since I have had a few Q's about what shift light I used here you go I bought a ProSport shift light from ebay. I was fairly concerned that it sounded like a piece of crap but turned out to work perfectly. (So far)

04-20-2006, 02:24 PM	#17
DaveSi677 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: montreal, canada Posts: 2,523	Re: How To - Install variable shift light '00 Civic (MonkeyPuzzle) good job on the right it's very clear and to the point Dave __________________ 2002 EP3 SiR Nighthawk Black 1993 EG Si Type-R Berlina Black RIP

04-20-2006, 03:38 PM	#18
TurboASR Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: East Dallas, TX Posts: 364	Re: How To - Install variable shift light '00 Civic (93SiVtec677) That is nice. Making the Si light/glow is a good idea too. Someone needs to put this in the FAQ thread. __________________ 2000 CIVIC Si FBP <FONT COLOR="Red">PARTING OUT</FONT> Vouch list: adirondackR, d16efhatch, crwilliam82, hot97ser, RedSix, teamm_AP1, dutchman5, SeVeNisOnE, iOn, jpm804, koratb, sohcvtec97

04-20-2006, 03:42 PM	#19
kyorishin Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: seattle, wa, us Posts: 247	so basically is the same thing in the cx/vx with its shift light right or whats the diff?

04-20-2006, 03:59 PM	#20
Relic1 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: chicago burbs, Il, USA Posts: 4,295	the CX/VX light is for MPG not really the same thing. I did this a while back. But I put a dimming circuit in mine. A simple RPM switch to turn on the light and a relay to make it dim with the cluster lights. ~$40. (it's not knob adjustable though) __________________ the civic hatchback community

04-20-2006, 04:06 PM	#21
aZnjCC Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: so, ca Posts: 2,561	how does the adjustment knob work. how do you know what rpm ur adjusting to? __________________ I <3 my EJ7 \| Plan B Motorsports http://images.honda-tech.com/set1/smile/emthup.gif Now my car's for sale!! My BC3+ Dyno tuned by Hookups Import Tek http://images.honda-tech.com/set1/smile/emthup.gif my vouch thread: http://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1088347

04-20-2006, 04:25 PM	#22
RACEPAK Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 5,982	Re: (aZnjCC) sweet.... can i do it on a 97? __________________ IsRaElY member #001<U>PayPal Verified </U> http://images.honda-tech.com/set1/smile/emthup.gif http://images.honda-tech.com/set1/smile/emthup.gif http://images.honda-tech.com/set1/smile/emthup.gif זה לא הזיות.. זה גן חיות

04-20-2006, 05:21 PM	#23
posite Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: lubbock, tx Posts: 430	nice. good job! __________________ 05 wrx vf39'd 07 zx600j

04-21-2006, 12:35 AM	#24
he_man Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 11	Re: (posite)