DIY: VTEC Indicator light
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Joined: May 2008
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From: quezon city, philippines
DIY: VTEC Indicator light
there are 2 ways to do this... im posting the way i did it and the easiest way for me...
heres what you are doing. it will help make more sense out of stuff... the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) activates the VTEC syatem by sending a 12 volt signal to the solenoid. We want to hook up a light in parallel with this solenoid and steal a little power so the light is on when VTEC is activated.
Pls read everything before going and buying anything...
MATERIALS NEEDED:
12 volt LED light
Wire(16 gaude wire is what i used. Red and black to represent positeve and negative
a 12 volt capacitor
TOOLS NEEDED;
wire cutters
electrical tape
drill w/ bits
soldering iron
First thing is deciding where you wanna put the light... i put mine where the car alarm indicator light goes. its the space at the left side of your dashboard(mine is a civic sir left hand drive)where there are 2 detachacble thing that you can take off. You can put it really anywhere you want it. next drill a hole if necessary where you wanna put the light. disconect the negative battery terminal as when wiring anything..solder the 12v capacitor to the (+) of the LED and solder it to the (+) wire(red) and solder also the(-) wire(black) to the negative side of the LED. Run the wire to your ECU hiding it as much as possible.
ECU METHOD..
First you must locate your ECU. Its is mounted on the passenger side of the car. Once you found your ECU locate the GREEN WIRE with the YELLOW stripes on it. This should be the VTEC wire. I know it was on my car and its the same in Accord. now ran the wire coming from your LED and splice and connect the (+) wire of the LED(red wire) to the GRN/YLW wire coming from the ECU. make sure your connections are tight and taped. then locate where you can ground the (-) wire coming from the LED(black). there should be a bolt nearby where you attached you LED light and use it for your ground. Now check your connection and make sure its cool.!!!.
Okay assuming you wired all your stuff right and it's a good connection, you should be ready to go. remember it is not just turning your car on and rev it up!!! VTEC WILL NOT ENGAGED!!!
just take your car for a ride, get on a little bit and get the engine warm up nicely and then open it up.... to at least 6500 rpm on your 1st gear, hopefully your VTEC will engage and you will see the pretty little light shining on you.
I hope it all make sense, i's really my 1st DIY ive typed up.. if you are confused by this i might be able to find the old DIY I had when i intalled mine, or just post questions on here and i might be able to answer them.
REMEMBER... BE CAREFUL AND DON'T CUT ANY WIRES THAT ARE EXIXTING IN YOUR CAR... thats not ever good.... and i'm not responsible for aNYTHING YOU SCREW UP... WORK AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!....
Enjoy your new VTEC light.... drive safely and responsibly....
heres what you are doing. it will help make more sense out of stuff... the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) activates the VTEC syatem by sending a 12 volt signal to the solenoid. We want to hook up a light in parallel with this solenoid and steal a little power so the light is on when VTEC is activated.
Pls read everything before going and buying anything...
MATERIALS NEEDED:
12 volt LED light
Wire(16 gaude wire is what i used. Red and black to represent positeve and negative
a 12 volt capacitor
TOOLS NEEDED;
wire cutters
electrical tape
drill w/ bits
soldering iron
First thing is deciding where you wanna put the light... i put mine where the car alarm indicator light goes. its the space at the left side of your dashboard(mine is a civic sir left hand drive)where there are 2 detachacble thing that you can take off. You can put it really anywhere you want it. next drill a hole if necessary where you wanna put the light. disconect the negative battery terminal as when wiring anything..solder the 12v capacitor to the (+) of the LED and solder it to the (+) wire(red) and solder also the(-) wire(black) to the negative side of the LED. Run the wire to your ECU hiding it as much as possible.
ECU METHOD..
First you must locate your ECU. Its is mounted on the passenger side of the car. Once you found your ECU locate the GREEN WIRE with the YELLOW stripes on it. This should be the VTEC wire. I know it was on my car and its the same in Accord. now ran the wire coming from your LED and splice and connect the (+) wire of the LED(red wire) to the GRN/YLW wire coming from the ECU. make sure your connections are tight and taped. then locate where you can ground the (-) wire coming from the LED(black). there should be a bolt nearby where you attached you LED light and use it for your ground. Now check your connection and make sure its cool.!!!.
Okay assuming you wired all your stuff right and it's a good connection, you should be ready to go. remember it is not just turning your car on and rev it up!!! VTEC WILL NOT ENGAGED!!!
just take your car for a ride, get on a little bit and get the engine warm up nicely and then open it up.... to at least 6500 rpm on your 1st gear, hopefully your VTEC will engage and you will see the pretty little light shining on you.
I hope it all make sense, i's really my 1st DIY ive typed up.. if you are confused by this i might be able to find the old DIY I had when i intalled mine, or just post questions on here and i might be able to answer them.
REMEMBER... BE CAREFUL AND DON'T CUT ANY WIRES THAT ARE EXIXTING IN YOUR CAR... thats not ever good.... and i'm not responsible for aNYTHING YOU SCREW UP... WORK AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!....
Enjoy your new VTEC light.... drive safely and responsibly....
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Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 6,919
Likes: 5
From: In the garage
Re: (ptftw)
The added current draw from the LED on the ECU isn't something I would rate as "cool".. I'm not a complete electronics expert but I can tell you that you are adding to the draw on the circuit, which I can't image was engineered to supply much more current then that needed to open the solenoid to begin with. Honestly, if you need a light to tell when Vtec is on, you shouldn't be "racing" or anything else that I would assume you are using this light to help you out with...
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 891
Likes: 0
From: Hettinger, North Dakota, US
Re: (Hybrid96EK)
i wouldnt recomened this really. any time you start cutting and splicing wires on the harness (esspecially next to the ECM) you risk the chance of causing a short, or possibly frying out all your wires. ive seen it happen from someone doing something like this, his car was smoking quite nicely from under the dash as all the wires melted togeather
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 100
Likes: 0
From: everett, wa, usa
vtec wire
i tryed to hook up my friends vtec to his horn lol fail....didnt work i was bummed .....i tryed again and again until he finally smashed the horn with a hammer ...just thought i would share ...funny story at least to me 
318 Curves, 11 miles
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,276
Likes: 1
From: Highland, IL, USA
to each his own, I guess.
Trial User
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 1
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Re: DIY: VTEC Indicator light
there are 2 ways to do this... im posting the way i did it and the easiest way for me...
heres what you are doing. it will help make more sense out of stuff... the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) activates the VTEC syatem by sending a 12 volt signal to the solenoid. We want to hook up a light in parallel with this solenoid and steal a little power so the light is on when VTEC is activated.
Pls read everything before going and buying anything...
MATERIALS NEEDED:
12 volt LED light
Wire(16 gaude wire is what i used. Red and black to represent positeve and negative
a 12 volt capacitor
TOOLS NEEDED;
wire cutters
electrical tape
drill w/ bits
soldering iron
First thing is deciding where you wanna put the light... i put mine where the car alarm indicator light goes. its the space at the left side of your dashboard(mine is a civic sir left hand drive)where there are 2 detachacble thing that you can take off. You can put it really anywhere you want it. next drill a hole if necessary where you wanna put the light. disconect the negative battery terminal as when wiring anything..solder the 12v capacitor to the (+) of the LED and solder it to the (+) wire(red) and solder also the(-) wire(black) to the negative side of the LED. Run the wire to your ECU hiding it as much as possible.
ECU METHOD..
First you must locate your ECU. Its is mounted on the passenger side of the car. Once you found your ECU locate the GREEN WIRE with the YELLOW stripes on it. This should be the VTEC wire. I know it was on my car and its the same in Accord. now ran the wire coming from your LED and splice and connect the (+) wire of the LED(red wire) to the GRN/YLW wire coming from the ECU. make sure your connections are tight and taped. then locate where you can ground the (-) wire coming from the LED(black). there should be a bolt nearby where you attached you LED light and use it for your ground. Now check your connection and make sure its cool.!!!.
Okay assuming you wired all your stuff right and it's a good connection, you should be ready to go. remember it is not just turning your car on and rev it up!!! VTEC WILL NOT ENGAGED!!!
just take your car for a ride, get on a little bit and get the engine warm up nicely and then open it up.... to at least 6500 rpm on your 1st gear, hopefully your VTEC will engage and you will see the pretty little light shining on you.
I hope it all make sense, i's really my 1st DIY ive typed up.. if you are confused by this i might be able to find the old DIY I had when i intalled mine, or just post questions on here and i might be able to answer them.
REMEMBER... BE CAREFUL AND DON'T CUT ANY WIRES THAT ARE EXIXTING IN YOUR CAR... thats not ever good.... and i'm not responsible for aNYTHING YOU SCREW UP... WORK AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!....
Enjoy your new VTEC light.... drive safely and responsibly....
heres what you are doing. it will help make more sense out of stuff... the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) activates the VTEC syatem by sending a 12 volt signal to the solenoid. We want to hook up a light in parallel with this solenoid and steal a little power so the light is on when VTEC is activated.
Pls read everything before going and buying anything...
MATERIALS NEEDED:
12 volt LED light
Wire(16 gaude wire is what i used. Red and black to represent positeve and negative
a 12 volt capacitor
TOOLS NEEDED;
wire cutters
electrical tape
drill w/ bits
soldering iron
First thing is deciding where you wanna put the light... i put mine where the car alarm indicator light goes. its the space at the left side of your dashboard(mine is a civic sir left hand drive)where there are 2 detachacble thing that you can take off. You can put it really anywhere you want it. next drill a hole if necessary where you wanna put the light. disconect the negative battery terminal as when wiring anything..solder the 12v capacitor to the (+) of the LED and solder it to the (+) wire(red) and solder also the(-) wire(black) to the negative side of the LED. Run the wire to your ECU hiding it as much as possible.
ECU METHOD..
First you must locate your ECU. Its is mounted on the passenger side of the car. Once you found your ECU locate the GREEN WIRE with the YELLOW stripes on it. This should be the VTEC wire. I know it was on my car and its the same in Accord. now ran the wire coming from your LED and splice and connect the (+) wire of the LED(red wire) to the GRN/YLW wire coming from the ECU. make sure your connections are tight and taped. then locate where you can ground the (-) wire coming from the LED(black). there should be a bolt nearby where you attached you LED light and use it for your ground. Now check your connection and make sure its cool.!!!.
Okay assuming you wired all your stuff right and it's a good connection, you should be ready to go. remember it is not just turning your car on and rev it up!!! VTEC WILL NOT ENGAGED!!!
just take your car for a ride, get on a little bit and get the engine warm up nicely and then open it up.... to at least 6500 rpm on your 1st gear, hopefully your VTEC will engage and you will see the pretty little light shining on you.
I hope it all make sense, i's really my 1st DIY ive typed up.. if you are confused by this i might be able to find the old DIY I had when i intalled mine, or just post questions on here and i might be able to answer them.
REMEMBER... BE CAREFUL AND DON'T CUT ANY WIRES THAT ARE EXIXTING IN YOUR CAR... thats not ever good.... and i'm not responsible for aNYTHING YOU SCREW UP... WORK AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!....
Enjoy your new VTEC light.... drive safely and responsibly....
No way dude it would kick in at above 4000 rpm on my Snap-on Modis it has a program that you can test your Vtec solenoid and it says put it in first gear and rev it past 4000rpm for two seconds to see if it engages.
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