MartinH Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 Hi All, OK I'll start a thread then! Seems a lot of people's shift lights arrived today. Anyone up and running yet? I am all connected but not yet tested properly. Here's what I did: Car is Duratec R300 SV with new style dash with shiny buttons but not Stack. I centre punched a mark near the windscreen on the scuttle top centrally alligned with the steering column. I then carefully drilled 3 sizes to about 6.5mm and inserted a rubber grommet after cleaning up the rough edges and threaded the shift light cable through. I then got the multimeter out and checked the connector on the back of the tacho. It has four wires: Black - Earth Green - 12V + (Switched by ignition) Red/White - Signal (I hope!) Black/White - Seems to be + 10.7V all the time regadless of ignition Red/White - Not sure Black/White - Rev signal I snipped all four wires to cut off the connector then connected back together with crimp/bullet connectors. At the same time I connected in 3 short wires for the shift light with spade connectors at each end and connected on the shift light. I then insulated all the connectors with that self amalgamating insulation tape stuff and cabled tied things back in place. Now when I switch on ignition, the shift light unit does what it says in the instructions. The only strange thing seems to be that the unit thinks it is set up for 5 Cylinders. When in setup mode, I press the down key to go back to 4 cylinders but after power down and back up again it goes back to 5 cylinders any ideas there? Also - anyone got any idea where to set the shift points for the 175 BHP Duratec? Cheers, Martin Duratec R300 SV finally alive! Edited by - MartinH on 20 Jun 2010 20:17:40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wilcx Posted June 19, 2010 Share Posted June 19, 2010 I also have the same problem that after power down the unit seems to go back to thinking its set for 5 Cyl engine. Need to do some more playing tomorrow. Winter '08 Upgrade was a screaming DVA K05. Winter '09 Upgrade was a Radical Winter '10 Upgrade - still thinking - but sure it will be fast www.geoffwilcoxphotography.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike r h Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Hi all, The kids presented me with the shift lights this morning so started fitting then. I have found 17 wires going to the tacho and don't have a clue where to start. Has anyone worked out the wiring yet for the sigma engine with the standard dash? Cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gingerbread Man Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 I've checked out the wires needed, now just need to find a small grommet before drilling the hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative IanW Posted June 20, 2010 Area Representative Share Posted June 20, 2010 Hi Martin, On my Duratech 175 (which I'm assuming is similar to the R300) and using the R400 circuit diagram from the build manual as a guide, I deduced the following connections with aid of an oscilloscope: RW (Red/White) - Instrument Lights (same colours on other switches / gauges) GW (Green/White) - Right-Indicator (colours match with indicator switch) GR (Green/Red) - Left- indicator (ditto) UW (Blue/White) - Main Beam (same colour on headlight dip switch) B (Black) - Ground WU (White/Black) - Tacho Signal Perhaps someone else could confirm these details. Regards, Ian. Edited by - IanW on 22 Jun 2010 12:00:39 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swsambler Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Just had my 175 Duratec's first service last Thursday at Caterham Midlands. They said the soft cut in on the rev limiter was 7,100 and the hard cut in 7,200. I questioned this as the owners manual said 7,600. They said the software ecu model was correct at 7,100 and 7,200. hope this helps. Simon Roadsport 175 SV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinH Posted June 20, 2010 Author Share Posted June 20, 2010 OK, I am all up and running now and it works a treat. I made an 🙆🏻 of the wiring yesterday but have now sorted it out. The wires in the small connector going in to the back of the Tacho are: Black - Earth (Connect shift light BLUE) Green - 12V + (Switched by ignition) (Connect shift light RED) Red/White - Not sure but not needed for shift light anyway Black/White - Rev signal (Connect shift light GREEN) The issue with the unit not setting to 4 cylinders and always showing 5 was probably me reading it wrong and it all works fine. I have set the shift and flash points low for testing and will edge up the top and flash ones to get nearer to the correct shift points. I guess one would need a proper power and torque plot though to know where to put the correct shift point. I assume there will be an amount of revs beyond the optimal shift point and the rev limiter that you want to avoid? Any wisdom there?... Cheers, Martin Duratec R300 SV finally alive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wilcx Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Now up and running on K EU3 which runs wasted spark so you need to set the unit to 2 Cyl. I found a suitable point to tap into the coil -ve wire just before the multipin socket on the main loom to the injector / coil sub loom. For me it was either a white & red whire or a white & orange wire. I'm impressed with the operation. Winter '08 Upgrade was a screaming DVA K05. Winter '09 Upgrade was a Radical Winter '10 Upgrade - still thinking - but sure it will be fast www.geoffwilcoxphotography.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernmonkey Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 I'm not the best with this sort of thing so I'm going to break it down a bit: Had a poke about under the dash last night and think I have identified the three points I need to tap into: Positive from the fuse box (heater) - I have no heater installed... Ground will take from the chassis Tacho wire from the green wire at the back of my Elliot rev counter The heater wire and tacho wire have already been chopped into when other bits have been added to the car so will just add to them... OK so far..? One last thing: - Mounting the shift lights to the scuttle: Looks like the general thing here is to drill a hole!!! Anyone done a neat job without drilling? - Anyone got pictures? Also it looks like I may need to mount mine to the left of my momo wheel as the top of the wheel looks like it'll block the view - Aces are on a little stand aren't they? Thanks in advance POBC!!! fad -noun; an unconventional social pattern that people embrace briefly but enthusiastically Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gingerbread Man Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Now up and running on K EU3 which runs wasted spark so you need to set the unit to 2 Cyl. Does the K Series VVC (1999 so EU2) run wasted spark as standard or shall I just set the settings to 4 cylinder mode. Edited by - Gingerbread Man on 22 Jun 2010 12:43:09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinH Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 If you set it to one of the other (2 or 4 cylinders) then set the unit into the mode where it actually displays the number of revs going in and fire the engine up - then you can watch the tacho and the number of revs on the top of the unit. If they match - then you hav ethe right number of cylinders! Simples... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazerBrain Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Chaz - I have Shift-i lights, but the principle is the same. I have a windscreen, so drilled another hole next to the hole for the heated screen wire on the driver's side. It's neatly tucked behind the windscreen stanchion, and the wire can be tucked under the windscreen. Make sure you use a grommet for the hole. There's also info here on how I wired my lights in. Certainly on my rev counter there are all the power and signal connections that are needed. This may be different on other rev counter/engine combinations. cheers, Darren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernmonkey Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Thanks for the reply Darren - I'm not sure I'm happy with drilling the scuttle - Think I need to man up and just do it... My car has an areo and has never had a windscreen or wipers etc fitted... Where do you source grommets? - Maplins / Halfrauds? Thanks! fad -noun; an unconventional social pattern that people embrace briefly but enthusiastically Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinH Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 Maplins and Halfords will both do those grommets. Did you build your car from kit? My kit had some of the right sized grommets as part of the kit for the cycle wings but as mine were bonded on not bolted I had the grommets left over. Duratec R300 SV finally alive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernmonkey Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Unfortunately not - bought it second hand - Any idea what the correct size is? Any pics of installs yet??? - Specifically where the hole has been drilled... Thanks! fad -noun; an unconventional social pattern that people embrace briefly but enthusiastically Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinH Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 I drilled starting small up to about 6.5mm. I have some pics and will upload tonight but basically you just need to put the ubnit where you can see it and allow a few mils behind it for the cabel to loop through 90deg and go down through the scuttle top. Mine was quite close to the windscreen. You do need to talk yourself into doing it. Doesn't feel nice drilling into something so visible! Put some masking tape down first and mark with a centre punch first to avoid skating the drill around. I was hoping to drill from underneath but gave up on that idea. Duratec R300 SV finally alive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernmonkey Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Thanks for the info - I'll look forward to seeing pics... Chaz fad -noun; an unconventional social pattern that people embrace briefly but enthusiastically Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazerBrain Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 I may have some pics at home. As for drilling the scuttle, I recommend you drill someone else's first. 😬 It worked for me, but I was still nervous drilling into my own car. cheers, Darren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gingerbread Man Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Right, for those of you who are still thinking of how to mount yours, here is mine. I thought about running the cable to one of the heated screen grommets, but soon gave up on the idea due to it being a cleaner install if I drilled straight through the scuttle behind the unit. I just plan to sell the shift light with the car if I ever sell it! Right so here are two pictures of it mounted. Picture one. Picture two. It's mounted roughly central to the rev count vertically wise. I found the steering wheel got in the way view wise, and it's also in a good line of sight position. I drilled from underneath to make sure I didn't end up drilling into the tubular bar that the dash and tonneau cover poppers fix to. I also found that there was more room drilling from underneath (with the rev counter removed for visibility), as I thought the windscreen would have to be removed to allow drill access from the top otherwise. I found the grommet out of an old electronic device that had had it's day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinH Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 A couple of pictures here Chaz: Hole drilled and grommet DRE Installed Cheers, Martin Duratec R300 SV finally alive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazerBrain Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 As promised - some photos of how I hid the hole behind the windscreen stanchion. shiftlight mounting pics cheers, Darren. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeljclark Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Armed with the info from Martin as it was only 3 wires (out of 4) on his tacho that needed changing, having got home from a "recharge the battery" blat (another story), I thought I'd have a go and see if I could do it myself without the need of any assitance. I gingerly unscrewed the mounting from the tacho and lifted it out of the dash. Only 3 wires I thought, simples. Except that my tacho has, oh I'd put a rough guess of at least 10 wires going in... Eh thought I, that can't be right surely. The I've looked at Martins pictures - he's got a different tacho to mine I'll wait for the dummies guide that myothercarsa2cv (john) is going to kindly produce. They say a fool and his money are soon parted - if I even begin to think about snipping wires, I will have my wallet lightened by CC: for fixing all my "work" Mike 07 Plated RoadSport SV 150 in Red with Black nose band and stripe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike r h Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 Mike, I spoke to CC yesterday and for the Sigma's the tacho signal wire is White with a Black trace. Hope this helps, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeljclark Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 Thanks Mike, Are the other wires the same colour? If they are I'll have another "look" Mike 07 Plated RoadSport SV 150 in Red with Black nose band and stripe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattie Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 May I suggest you chaps may wish to make a black "peak" or shade to keep fierce sunlight out of the clear LEDs. You'd be amazed how difficult it can be to see even the superbright LEDs on track when the sun is streaming down over you shoulder and glinting in the clear plastic lenses. Oh and I can confirm the soft cut is at 7100, followed by hard cut at 7200. I've got the MBE CAN->USB adapter. I need to up my ACES shift point, which is set a bit low by default. Martyn R300GRR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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