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DIY VTEC light

Perry

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CL9
Installed one of these on the weekend and after few people asking how I decided to make a write up.

So a VTEC light is simply an LED which is lit when the vehicle crossover into VTEC.


You will need:

Wire
12v LED (or lower voltage LED and resistor)
LED Clip
Scotch Lock

First thing I did was to locate the VTEC solenoid wire on the ECU
976CB61A-F5FA-47B4-8A4C-A40E901A4B4E-3112-0000039C442634A2.jpg


It's the Green wire with a Yellow stripe
ecu_zpscb80efa6.png


I then removed the Speedo cowling removing the two screws on the top
Then there's 3 screws on the actual speedo housing.
D475C389-CC5A-4496-820F-EF6962DE2301-3112-0000039B5686B9B1.jpg


Once removed I undid clips and removed both the panels
5D8DDA40-F9FA-4B59-8FC8-38D77DE7504F-3112-0000039B6EA68E6D.jpg


I decided where to place the LED and made cuts etc to allow the clip and wires
D4A6410D-078A-416C-AB43-BBB9928257BC-3112-0000039B7E6125B1.jpg


683143F4-ABC6-4A82-93DB-434AB75BBE17-3112-0000039B861E35E3.jpg


Soldered the wires to LED and checked I had polarities etc right way round by testing the LED on a 12v source

Simply ran the wires through a hole in back of speedo and refitted everything back together

Picture of it installed
EF527BF0-4529-452F-80AE-8534CF6041A1-3112-0000039B8C095AE6.jpg


Ran the wires down through the dash and to the correct places

Lastly I pulled the tape back on the ecu wiring and installed the new wire
5F292D64-1A34-4C91-B404-6524B7FA0297-3112-0000039CCE2D6A8A.jpg


Just found a bolt attached to body under dash to put the negative wire too.

And hey presto, just remember you will need to go out and drive to test it and also allow the vehicle to warm up first as VTEC will not engage when cold.
 
This is awesome!!! I so want to do this! Will add to my to-do list for when I next have a few days off work with nothing else to do.

Great writeup by the way :)
 
Great write up perry have a rep point on me fella ;)
 
Great mod ;)
 
Next mod: wire it up to a sound chip that says "VTEC just kicked in, yo!"
 
That's an interesting idea, I like it.

Where is the schematic from btw ?

After a little bit of searching found it on Ozhonda.com
http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?159663-CL9-ECU-Pinout-Diagram
 
^ worth its weight in gold (well its electronic but you know what I mean) :D
 
Love it!

I'm thinking though, you could connect this to an amp and add your own additonal VTEC sounds from an H22! :lol:
 
That's a neat install, hope you don't mind me asking what's the point? A shift light would be good though.
 
That's a neat install, hope you don't mind me asking what's the point? A shift light would be good though.

I'm currently looking if I could install a shift light in a similar way. As far as the point of it I've had a few people question it. There is actually no point to it, my girlfriend had showed me a D16 Civic EP2 with one and felt like having a go. It kept me entertained for a few hours and bit of a laugh when driving.
 
Nah, I totally see the point. You have the noise and increase pulling power, why not have a little light to further let you know you've hit VTEC ;) .

It's pointless, but that's the point :blink: . I so want to do this mod :lol: .

Edit: and a shift light is cool, but in a honda, what's the point. You shift when you're on the red line. End of :lol: . (While I joke, my car redlines at 7200, I would quite like a shift light at 7K. To let me know to shift just before I hit the limiter and lose momentum as it bounces off the limiter. With a stock tune, you feel like it could just keep going and why stop at 7K? All the more reason for a remap with lower VTEC and raised limiter, you know ;) )
 
It's interesting hitting the rev limiter in 5th gear Steve, it's kind of a gentle "nudge".

Obviously you have to go all the way to the Autobans to do this :eek:
 
It's interesting hitting the rev limiter in 5th gear Steve, it's kind of a gentle "nudge".

Obviously you have to go all the way to the Autobans to do this :eek:

Yeah, sure, the Autobahns :unsure: ;)
 
Very nice mod. Looking forward for the shift lights, too :)
 
That's a neat install, hope you don't mind me asking what's the point? A shift light would be good though.
Yes your right in one sense but then again whats the point in half the mods we do. Its just something different to norm. I've done some really pointless mods in my time but to me they are ace and I love them.
Personally I love this mod and something I'd do if I had the k24.
 
I like this idea, I would want it to light up word vtec http://www.civic-eg.com/viewtopic.php?t=20316 like link. Great mod, totally agree this is a must have!
 
A mod doesnt have to HAVE A REASON....I felt like it is good enough ;)
 
Hmm could u do the same with as diesel, have a light for when u hit turbo? Again it's pointless but would be fun to have
 
LOL
 
Hmm could u do the same with as diesel, have a light for when u hit turbo? Again it's pointless but would be fun to have

I think the diesel could do with a few lights, all relevant.

one to tell you when your revs are too high and damaging the turbo.
one too tell you when the revs are too low and damaging the egr

another light, no actually a little musical sound of a what a worn timing chain sounds like every time you hit 8k miles reminding you to change oil or run the risk of posting in-noisy rattling timing chain thread.

A little lights pings to tell you when your manifold has cracked and your cabin in no longer safe to breath in

a light to warn when you no longer have use of the safety feature called ABS when a sensor fails, oh yes we already have that.
:unsure:
 
Afternoon people!

I am new here but I have been browsing the boards for a while, I have an 03 plate tourer and I was interested in this mod, I have one question though....

Does anyone know if there is a separate light for the rev needle? reason I ask is If the answer is yes, could we replace this with a dual colour LED so the needle changed colour when the Vtec kick in? or a tr colour so the extra colour would be the shift light? would just look better imo


Or just tell me to shut up! :lol:
 
Does anyone know if there is a separate light for the rev needle? reason I ask is If the answer is yes, could we replace this with a dual colour LED so the needle changed colour when the Vtec kick in? or a tr colour so the extra colour would be the shift light? would just look better imo

Unfortunately the dashboard is lit from onboard LEDs rather than bulbs, so you'd be opening and soldering the PCB - not recommended.
 
Unfortunately the dashboard is lit from onboard LEDs rather than bulbs, so you'd be opening and soldering the PCB - not recommended.

Could it not be wired in separately and put in place without disturbing the pcb?
 
Could it not be wired in separately and put in place without disturbing the pcb?

Anything is possible, but the space is limited within the cluster, and the clear holes for the emission of the light is very tight :)
 
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