I got bored last night so I decided to take my soldering iron and dremel to my ECU. I hate having to lean all the way over to teh passenger footwell to read my CEL codes on the occasions that I get them. So I de-soldered the LED and soldered in a pair of wires. I made a 2-prong connector just outside the ECU case for easy removal when I take out the ECU to do other stupid things to it. I ran the wires up to the dash area, and ended up sticking the LED in that little cubby to the right of the sunroof switch (to the left of the steering wheel). I never use it anyways. I dremeled a little hole and stuck the LED in the back so I could view it at a glance.

Chicks will now dig my ride because of the little blinky red light. Easy diagnostics are such a turn-on. "Oh baby, your O2 sensor code is so sexy..."

I thought I'd share this in case anyone else had the desire to do such a thing. if anyone wants, I can toss up some pics tonight.

 

Thats a good idea man

 

LMAO... haha thats dope...

 

Do it right....stick it in an empty spot in your cluster.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SETI20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do it right....stick it in an empty spot in your cluster.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's what I was originally going to do. The only thing with that is that it's already irritating enough to have the orange CEL staring at me all commute long... the last thing I want is a blinking red light to further distract me . The spot I have it in is out of casual view, but easily viewable if I lean to the left a little bit. the steering wheel blocks it from sight while I'm driving. but yeah, gauge cluster would be a good place if I had a button I could push to make it blink, then have it go away afterwards or something.

btw, thanks for the props guys

 

Just a thought... fix the code..?

 

certainly that would be optimal :D .

I'm in the middle of an "exhasut issue" and I have something slapped together as a temporary fix till I can get my friend with a welder over to play cut-n-paste with my spare cat and my other headers. for some reason, my O2 sensor *dislikes* my stock manifold now. there are zero drivability issues, or I would be more motivated to fix it right away.

still, now that you've posted the "in the dash" thing, I'm revisiting my original ideas and thinking of ways to hook up a "check code" button or something. I'm a sucker for gadgetry

 

Man that is absolutely sick.

So there is a wire in the ecu I can tap into and run it to an LED light?

I really would like to do this and have an extra pm6 I could try it on if it sounds difficult.

 

I'll definitely get some pics up tonight. It's so simple it's stupid. as long as you feel comfortable soldering/desoldering, it's no problem at all.

I didn't tap the leads on the old one... I basically just desoldered and relocated the LED that's in the ECU.

If you run it in paralell with the existing LED, you could even leave the old one in there. It would be a soldering nightmare IMO, but it could be done. I could test the voltage going to the LED, and you should be able to use any LED that has the same voltage rating. Since red LEDs have the lowest voltage, you probably will be restricted to using red as a color... no blingin' blue .

 

Thats good and all, but if I was getting check engine lights enough that it bothered to look, I would worry about fixing the problem not about makeing it easier to see what the error is. I never get check engine lights, you shouldn't either.

 

i plan to play with this one day also, i just haven't looked into desoldering before

 

Virginia - I totally realize the futility of this mod . Thus the title of the thread. When I get a CEL the first thing I do is fix it. the only reason I'm letting the one I have ride so long is that I know why it's getting thrown, it is/will not cause any change in the way the car drives, and I'm waiting on a friend with a welder. if I was throwing code 7 or something it would be different.

The reason for this was that I was bored last night and wanted to play with my soldering iron . I do useless crap like this all the time just for fun... Basically just because I can. sometimes when I do something even remotely useful, I share the love.

 

to boredom!!!

Good stuff lol

 

Why don't you just hook up a switch so the CEL light on your cluster flashes the code? Why bother with an extra light? I have enough chicks jocking me!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IggDawg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Virginia - I totally realize the futility of this mod . Thus the title of the thread. When I get a CEL the first thing I do is fix it. the only reason I'm letting the one I have ride so long is that I know why it's getting thrown, it is/will not cause any change in the way the car drives, and I'm waiting on a friend with a welder. if I was throwing code 7 or something it would be different.

The reason for this was that I was bored last night and wanted to play with my soldering iron . I do useless crap like this all the time just for fun... Basically just because I can. sometimes when I do something even remotely useful, I share the love.

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No problem, but there are others that would do anything BUT fix the problem, for god knows what reason. Just wasn't sure this time. Whatever floats you boat like they say.

 

how about keep your car running well and not have to read codes..

 

LOL!! I would love to see some pics!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Outsane &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how about keep your car running well and not have to read codes..

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Does he really have to answer to this again...

 

nope its just the first thing that came to my head..

 

People will mistake your LED for an alarm LED when you are throwing codes.

 

how did you figure out the polarity of the terminals on the LED? i was thinking of doing this a long time ago when i had a PG7 mainboard in a PM8 HF case.. the LED is in a different spot so i was going to run an external LED but i didnt want to mess anything up.

Which side is positive and which side is negative and how do you tell?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why don't you just hook up a switch so the CEL light on your cluster flashes the code? Why bother with an extra light? </TD></TR></TABLE>



I can't beleive the thread got as long as it did without someone pointing this out....

 

ok, here are some pics. you can see where the LED is mounted in the first. the second and third show how I have the wires coming out of the ECU. you can also see the little connector I have hooked up so I can easily remove the ECU without screwing with wires.







The dash light and LED run on different voltages. the LED is 5V and the dash light is 12V IIRC.
Also, the voltage to the LED is constant, and the LED itself is a flashing LED. if tt was a static LED being sent an intermittent signal it would be different... one could hook up a relay or something. but as it is, that's not the case.

 

I for one assumed he knew it by looking at it. But then I have a degree in electronics and I forget this is not common knowledge to the average layperson.<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 2point2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">



I can't beleive the thread got as long as it did without someone pointing this out.... </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

Wow I didnt think it was going to HAVE to be solderred. I dont have a great gun nor to I have steady hands so I could never pin point it like that