How-To: T-Sport Rev-Lite shift light install
Oct 24, 2004, 12:25 PM
#1
How-To: T-Sport Rev-Lite shift light install
(Also at NorCalEvo.net: http://www.norcalevo.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=30389)
The T-Sport Rev-Lite multi-stage shift light is a "Formula One"-style shift light, similar to those found on the steering wheel of F1 cars. The shift light consists of six LEDs; the first four are red, followed by a yellow and green. The LEDs start lighting up at the bottom of a given RPM range, and the rest light up as revs climb through a 1000 RPM range--so when the yellow and green ones light up you know it's time to shift.
Here's the box the Rev-Lite came in; I purchased the unit for about $60 from Tekniq Auto--much lower than anywhere else (searching online I found prices ranging widely from $60 to $150).
The unit comes with wires that are way too short, so the first thing I did was extend them with some 22-gauge wire:
The unit has three wires: power (switched/fused +12V) (red wire), ground (green wire), and signal (engine speed sense/tachometer signal) (blue wire); I extended these with wires coloured red, black and yellow (respectively). You shouldn't need more than 3' or so of extra wire, but longer is better--it's much easier to clip a wire that's too long than extend one that's too short.
Depending of course where you want to install it--the two most common locations being on top of the dash in front of the steering wheel, and on top of the steering column. I elected to put it on top of the dash, as this would put it more within my field of vision while driving on the track or at autocross. A nice way to route the wire is through the little hole between the two windshield de-fogger vents (which seems to serve no other purpose). It has a plastic cover on it that you can remove with a thin prying tool (screwdriver, knife); in my case I've already used the same hole to route the wire for my GPS antenna:
Notice I cut a little hole at the back edge of the cover to make room for the wire to pass through. I made the hole a bit wider to add room for the new wire. The wires need to run down to a convenient spot like behind the stereo, where it's easy to connect the ground wire, tap the power and run the signal wire further down to the ECU harness.
The usual procedure for removing the stereo: pull off the three AC/ventilation knobs, and undo the two screws behind the two larger knobs:
Then grasp the console cover and pull (very) firmly to disengage the half-dozen clips that hold it in place (this probably gets easier once you've done it for the tenth time or so like I have). Undo the four screws holding the stereo head unit in place:
In my case there's enough slack wire on the stereo harness so I could pull the head unit out and leave it dangling (actually resting on the center console) without having to undo the harness.
To run the wire from the dash, you'll need a special wire-routing tool--otherwise known as an unbent coat hanger. Straighten out the coat hanger (you may find it useful to curve it slightly) with a pair of pliers and make a little loop or hook (loop is better as it tends not to accidentally get hooked on stuff) at the end. Poke the tool up towards the hole in the dash; you should be able to get the tool up into the space right below the hole, or through the hole itself. It helps to reach a finger or two into the hole to feel for the coat hanger and guide it through. Be patient; this will take a number of tries before you get it.
Pull the wires through; the unit's original wire/cable should be long enough that it's the only part showing above the dash so the tacky coloured wires you added on will be hidden.
There are a variety of ways to tap power for the unit; you'll want to use switched power to avoid draining the battery when the car is off (though I'm sure the unit draws very little power). I tapped an existing power line on my aftermarket stereo harness, but if you want to tap the factory harness I believe the wire to tap is the blue-yellow (blue with yellow stripe) wire going into pin 10 of C-113 (which plugs into the radio/CD player head unit).
Now is also a good place for a reminder that as with all electrical work in the car, it's best to disconnect the battery beforehand to avoid the risk of electrocution or creating a short-circuit and damaging components. (I didn't, as I knew exactly which wires I was tapping.)
The photo below shows my addition to the jumble of wires behind my stereo (I have wires running to/from the navigation system and gauges.) Pointed out are where I tapped power (orange cap with multiple red power wires going to the nav system, gauges and shift light) and the blue scotch lock (a.k.a. ScotchLok) I used to tap an existing grounding wire (since I didn't have any grounding terminals around).
Like other shift lights the Rev-Lite gets RPM information from the tachometer signal; the easiest point to tap this is at the connector (C-117) going into the ECU. To do this, start by removing the glove box; open it most of the way, reach behind the left corner and pull gently forward on the rubber stop to unclip it. Then squeeze the right side to clear the right-hand stop and swing the glove box all the way down to take it out.
This is what you'll see with the glove box out:
The only reason we removed it is to remove the plastic panel below it that normally conceals the ECU harness; in the picture below you can see the two tabs that clip it on. Pull firmly back (towards the back of the car) on the panel to disengage its clips and take it out. Once you do, you'll be able to see the ECU harness; C-117, the connector we'll want to tap is the second one from the left:
C-117 will be much easier to access after you disconnect it. The engine speed (tach) wire is the one at pin 58; the wire is coloured green-white (medium green with a white stripe):
It's very easy to route the signal wire from behind the stereo to where the ECU harness is; just reach behind and pull the wire through.
To tap the tach wire I used a scotch lock (also known as a ScotchLok--3M's trademark name) which allows you to tap an existing wire without disconnecting, cutting, splicing or soldering. The lock has a metal bit that you clamp on to both wires that pushes aside (cuts) the insulation and contacts the wire. Be sure to use the scotch lock that matches the wire sizes you're dealing with (scotch locks are colour-coded according to size; blue was what I used). Close the lock over both wires and press firmly with pliers:
Plug connector C-117 back in to the ECU. With everything connected it's time to test the shift light. (You'll want to do this before you put everything back together in case you need to re-check/re-do some of the wiring.) Reconnect the battery and start the car. The Rev-Light has a little adjustment dial on the right side; at its lowest setting the first few LEDs will be lit even at idle RPM:
Rev up by 1000 RPM and the LEDs should light up until right-hand-most green one is lit. As you turn the dial up, the lights will turn off and you'll need to rev a bit higher to turn them on.
Once you've verified everything is working (make sure the stereo still works, etc.), put everything back together. The Rev-Lite is self-adhesive; clean off the spot where you want to stick it (I used a paper towel with some rubbing alcohol) to ensure optimal adhesion, peel off the backing and stick the unit in place. For holding the wire down you may want to use some tape; I tried electrical tape but found this came undone after a while. (I will update this once I find a more suitable tape.)
Calibration: I installed my unit late on a Saturday night so to avoid disturbing the neighbours I drove out to an office park area, pulled in to an (unpatrolled) parking lot and revved the car while in neutral. The dial is extremely sensitive so I wouldn't recommend doing any adjustments while driving. I revved the engine up to a steady 6500 RPM and tweaked the dial until the first LED was lit up--this way the last LED would light up at 7500 RPM, just before the rev limit. (You'll probably also want to avoid revving the engine for long periods of time with no load and no speed.) Then I drove out onto the street (again, one without any traffic) for a couple of 1st and 2nd-gear "pulls" to make sure the last (green) LED lit up just before I bounced off the rev limiter.
The T-Sport Rev-Lite multi-stage shift light is a "Formula One"-style shift light, similar to those found on the steering wheel of F1 cars. The shift light consists of six LEDs; the first four are red, followed by a yellow and green. The LEDs start lighting up at the bottom of a given RPM range, and the rest light up as revs climb through a 1000 RPM range--so when the yellow and green ones light up you know it's time to shift.
Here's the box the Rev-Lite came in; I purchased the unit for about $60 from Tekniq Auto--much lower than anywhere else (searching online I found prices ranging widely from $60 to $150).
The unit comes with wires that are way too short, so the first thing I did was extend them with some 22-gauge wire:
The unit has three wires: power (switched/fused +12V) (red wire), ground (green wire), and signal (engine speed sense/tachometer signal) (blue wire); I extended these with wires coloured red, black and yellow (respectively). You shouldn't need more than 3' or so of extra wire, but longer is better--it's much easier to clip a wire that's too long than extend one that's too short.
Depending of course where you want to install it--the two most common locations being on top of the dash in front of the steering wheel, and on top of the steering column. I elected to put it on top of the dash, as this would put it more within my field of vision while driving on the track or at autocross. A nice way to route the wire is through the little hole between the two windshield de-fogger vents (which seems to serve no other purpose). It has a plastic cover on it that you can remove with a thin prying tool (screwdriver, knife); in my case I've already used the same hole to route the wire for my GPS antenna:
Notice I cut a little hole at the back edge of the cover to make room for the wire to pass through. I made the hole a bit wider to add room for the new wire. The wires need to run down to a convenient spot like behind the stereo, where it's easy to connect the ground wire, tap the power and run the signal wire further down to the ECU harness.
The usual procedure for removing the stereo: pull off the three AC/ventilation knobs, and undo the two screws behind the two larger knobs:
Then grasp the console cover and pull (very) firmly to disengage the half-dozen clips that hold it in place (this probably gets easier once you've done it for the tenth time or so like I have). Undo the four screws holding the stereo head unit in place:
In my case there's enough slack wire on the stereo harness so I could pull the head unit out and leave it dangling (actually resting on the center console) without having to undo the harness.
To run the wire from the dash, you'll need a special wire-routing tool--otherwise known as an unbent coat hanger. Straighten out the coat hanger (you may find it useful to curve it slightly) with a pair of pliers and make a little loop or hook (loop is better as it tends not to accidentally get hooked on stuff) at the end. Poke the tool up towards the hole in the dash; you should be able to get the tool up into the space right below the hole, or through the hole itself. It helps to reach a finger or two into the hole to feel for the coat hanger and guide it through. Be patient; this will take a number of tries before you get it.
Pull the wires through; the unit's original wire/cable should be long enough that it's the only part showing above the dash so the tacky coloured wires you added on will be hidden.
There are a variety of ways to tap power for the unit; you'll want to use switched power to avoid draining the battery when the car is off (though I'm sure the unit draws very little power). I tapped an existing power line on my aftermarket stereo harness, but if you want to tap the factory harness I believe the wire to tap is the blue-yellow (blue with yellow stripe) wire going into pin 10 of C-113 (which plugs into the radio/CD player head unit).
Now is also a good place for a reminder that as with all electrical work in the car, it's best to disconnect the battery beforehand to avoid the risk of electrocution or creating a short-circuit and damaging components. (I didn't, as I knew exactly which wires I was tapping.)
The photo below shows my addition to the jumble of wires behind my stereo (I have wires running to/from the navigation system and gauges.) Pointed out are where I tapped power (orange cap with multiple red power wires going to the nav system, gauges and shift light) and the blue scotch lock (a.k.a. ScotchLok) I used to tap an existing grounding wire (since I didn't have any grounding terminals around).
Like other shift lights the Rev-Lite gets RPM information from the tachometer signal; the easiest point to tap this is at the connector (C-117) going into the ECU. To do this, start by removing the glove box; open it most of the way, reach behind the left corner and pull gently forward on the rubber stop to unclip it. Then squeeze the right side to clear the right-hand stop and swing the glove box all the way down to take it out.
This is what you'll see with the glove box out:
The only reason we removed it is to remove the plastic panel below it that normally conceals the ECU harness; in the picture below you can see the two tabs that clip it on. Pull firmly back (towards the back of the car) on the panel to disengage its clips and take it out. Once you do, you'll be able to see the ECU harness; C-117, the connector we'll want to tap is the second one from the left:
C-117 will be much easier to access after you disconnect it. The engine speed (tach) wire is the one at pin 58; the wire is coloured green-white (medium green with a white stripe):
It's very easy to route the signal wire from behind the stereo to where the ECU harness is; just reach behind and pull the wire through.
To tap the tach wire I used a scotch lock (also known as a ScotchLok--3M's trademark name) which allows you to tap an existing wire without disconnecting, cutting, splicing or soldering. The lock has a metal bit that you clamp on to both wires that pushes aside (cuts) the insulation and contacts the wire. Be sure to use the scotch lock that matches the wire sizes you're dealing with (scotch locks are colour-coded according to size; blue was what I used). Close the lock over both wires and press firmly with pliers:
Plug connector C-117 back in to the ECU. With everything connected it's time to test the shift light. (You'll want to do this before you put everything back together in case you need to re-check/re-do some of the wiring.) Reconnect the battery and start the car. The Rev-Light has a little adjustment dial on the right side; at its lowest setting the first few LEDs will be lit even at idle RPM:
Rev up by 1000 RPM and the LEDs should light up until right-hand-most green one is lit. As you turn the dial up, the lights will turn off and you'll need to rev a bit higher to turn them on.
Once you've verified everything is working (make sure the stereo still works, etc.), put everything back together. The Rev-Lite is self-adhesive; clean off the spot where you want to stick it (I used a paper towel with some rubbing alcohol) to ensure optimal adhesion, peel off the backing and stick the unit in place. For holding the wire down you may want to use some tape; I tried electrical tape but found this came undone after a while. (I will update this once I find a more suitable tape.)
Calibration: I installed my unit late on a Saturday night so to avoid disturbing the neighbours I drove out to an office park area, pulled in to an (unpatrolled) parking lot and revved the car while in neutral. The dial is extremely sensitive so I wouldn't recommend doing any adjustments while driving. I revved the engine up to a steady 6500 RPM and tweaked the dial until the first LED was lit up--this way the last LED would light up at 7500 RPM, just before the rev limit. (You'll probably also want to avoid revving the engine for long periods of time with no load and no speed.) Then I drove out onto the street (again, one without any traffic) for a couple of 1st and 2nd-gear "pulls" to make sure the last (green) LED lit up just before I bounced off the rev limiter.
Last edited by vtluu; Oct 24, 2004 at 12:30 PM.
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