DIY: Vtec Light Install!

JDM_SPEC_SI-R

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ok, first things first! i take no responsibility if you mess your s**t up in anyway!
i have been searching around on how to do this and everyone who did it either didnt have pictures or just completely sucked ass. so i did a better one. i also want to thank Noealadams and Genuine Rolla for helping me out and searching for other DIY's on this topic. Thanks Guys!


sorry for the terrible pictures, its a phone camera...
lets get started
Materials:
Small Needles nose pliers
E.Tape
screw driver
red led assembly from radio shack # 276-270 (resistor built in)
line tap
16 gauge wire- 15ft. or so
microsoft word
scissors
tape
sharpie
disposable cutting board at walmart...or thin plastic of any color
exacto knife
and some common sense


step one:
take you cluster out and take it apart. if you cant do this already, dont even try this DIY. take it apart so it looks like this.


once its apart, take your bezel that has all the light figurs and look at where you are going to mount your led light... i did mine here.


step 2:
once you got a good place for it remove this...


cut out the spot you are looking to mount your led in, just as shown above like i did. be super careful cause this piece is very fragile. take your time!

since i had a carbon fiber bezel from honda i went ahead and cut out the cruise control too. like so



step 3:
once you have your holes cut out, its time to do the coloring to it. i bought a disposable cutting board from walmart, they come in red as well, and i cut a small piece from it. you can really use any kind of thin plastic you want.

you want to cut enough just to cover the whole you cut out...like so


step 4:
once that piece is good in size, its time to print VTEC. print VTEC on normal paper from your computer with the 10 size font and ariels bold as the font. print a few cause you may mess up on this next part.

step :5
trace the plastic piece you just cut, in my situation the green piece, around the VTEC. cut out the vtec but a litt on the inside of the tracing.like this


once you have that done and in good size, its time to tape it. hold the VTEC in place where you want it and put a layer of tape sandwiching the VTEC in between the tape and plastic. like this...


cut the excess tape off from the plastic around the edges.

step 6:
once thats done, place the vtec in position....

and place this part over it and snap it back into the back of the panel.


it should look something like this once its all back together.

once its like that place some tape ove the edges to keep it down and to keep the VTEC from moving.

here is the end result of the vtec symbol...




now that you have that done, its time for the wiring.

step 7:
i like the led i used because it had a nut for mounting and it fit perfect in the hole for the light bulb. i recommend this led! here is the led...

mount it in the hole and tighten down the locking nut...like this:


once thats in splice to wires about 5ft. and length to the LED. for this LED the ground wire was the black wire. and the red wire was the ECU wire. once i had the wires connected, i marked with a sharpie the red wire that was spliced to the black wire. it makes things easier to find when your connecting all this crap.

after all the wires are spliced, install the cluster and feed the wires back to the right side of th paasenger panel near the right foot, where the ECU is.

Step 8:
remove the ecu panel and remove this clamp/zip tie, dont cut the zip tie, just free it from it position. it helps to find the wire you need.



once you have that off, find the green wire with a yellow solid stripe. NOT a green wire with a solid yellow stripe WITH silver markings...this one is your fuel pump. you may have to cut off the black tape holding the wires together. once you found the right wire use the line tap and tap the ecu wire with the red wire from the led...like this...



you must be certain the wire you tap to the ecu is not the ground wire(the black wire)
-its also a good idea to get the red wire(16gauge) pre spliced, remove a bit of the rubber from the wire to help tap the line) i had a problem with this and had to cut some off to make a connection in the tap.

once you have that tapped. ground the black wire. i did mine on the bolt that holds the glove box in.


try it out and see when your VTEC light kicks in before you hide all your wires. let the car warm up and test run it. if it doesnt work, you didnt tap the ecu and red wire to the led right. its most likely the red wire didnt make a connection in the tap, just make sure the tap has a connection to the ecu and red wire. if all is good, hide your crap and put every back together.


here is a bad look at what it looks like...




again, sorry for the terrible pictures but it gives the basic ideas on how to do this.
my VTEC kicks in about 5700 RPMS...wierd.
 

JohnS.

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VTEC for a D-Series should be 5500. Tach's tend to read slightly off sometimes which is normal.

But nice write-up :thumbs up. I've always been interested in one but I would eventually get so annoyed of a little light going on and off lol. I don't really wear my seatbelt so that seatbelt light is pretty much on all the time when I drive. I'm ready to take that bulb out :lol:. (Yeah I know no seatbelt = stupid but it's become a bad habit not to wear it).
 


JDM_SPEC_SI-R

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ah, its all good. seat belts are for fags. thanks it was a little scary doing this for the first time. i didnt want to f**k up my vtec
 

AllStockHatch

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to undo the seatbelt light, just go under your driver seat and unplug it there
 


AllStockHatch

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good write up, might give it a go, like the excessive dash lights
 

c_diddy

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looking good. you should post or link larger pictures to the ones you have....they're a bit tiny.
 

JohnS.

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whats the point of one?
To see VTEC engagement. Light comes on and stays on as long as you're in VTEC.

Which is why I would find it annoying personally after a while :lol:. Seeing this little light go on and stay on and then go off.
 

Billy.

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there isnt a whole lot of use for a vtec light other than possibly getting a couple cool points from a girl, if she happens to look over at my dash while im driving like an idiot trying to impress her. but anywho, good writeup :thumbs up

maybe someone should do this but instead of typing "VTEC" you should put "AFTERBURNER" :lol:
 

JDM_SPEC_SI-R

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i like the after burner idea... thats funny. but why would you be in vtec all the time? its only on for a second or so. you have some serious driving issues if your always in vtec reving that high non-stop. thats stupid. plus the light only comes on when you at vtec and only for a second, its not always on like you think it is. unless its you, pounding the s**t out of your engine....for some stupid LED Light. but to all those who like this, try, it easy and looks pretty cool at night
 

CajunRicer

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there isnt a whole lot of use for a vtec light other than possibly getting a couple cool points from a girl, if she happens to look over at my dash while im driving like an idiot trying to impress her. but anywho, good writeup :thumbs up

maybe someone should do this but instead of typing "VTEC" you should put "AFTERBURNER" :lol:
:rolf::rolf::rolf:
 

guitar_adam2000

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why would you be in vtec all the time? its only on for a second or so. you have some serious driving issues if your always in vtec reving that high non-stop.
maybe someone who's just climbed into a manual for the first time, "why's my car topping out at 30mph?"
whats the deal with you yanks and your automatic gearboxes anyway? over here automatics are an embarrassing rarity
 

Project "H"

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whats the deal with you yanks and your automatic gearboxes anyway? over here automatics are an embarrassing rarity
autos are good for long distance trips and stop and go traffic plus i can eat & drink or wack off with an auto, no shifting involved :lol:
 

Suanico

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To see VTEC engagement. Light comes on and stays on as long as you're in VTEC.

Which is why I would find it annoying personally after a while :lol:. Seeing this little light go on and stay on and then go off.
like i said whats the point? you can just look at the rpms and you know when vtec is suppose to kick, and with an intake you can hear when it kicks in, i think this is a worthless mod
 

JDM_SPEC_SI-R

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thats your opinion if you think its a worthless mod. dont do it and stop posting on this. its a cool little detail thats ads a touch to the interior of the car, like red or amber lights. if honda came with the idea and installed in onto the factory cars, you probably would of been" oooo thats cool, i want" but just because some come up with an idea or neat little deatail, you have to act like a little b***h with negativity. and like i said earlier, who ever is always in VTEC at the high of an RPM range, get out of the car, did you get your license in a cracker jack box? thats stupid to be driving like that not stop.
 

dyce590

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like i said whats the point? you can just look at the rpms and you know when vtec is suppose to kick, and with an intake you can hear when it kicks in, i think this is a worthless mod
because of my vtec light, i learned that vtec doesnt engage unless the car is warmed up...also in order to crack vtec ur motor needs to be maintained a certain way (not gettin in2 details). so if ur vtec llight doesnt come on, then u kno something is wrong with ur motor.
this light is useless on dseries motors but i got one on my bseries. when i did my swap i switched the coolant temp plug and vtec plug on my harness by mistake (common problem) so my light didnt turn on. i swapped the plugs again and the light came on which indicated that i did in fact have a wiring problem within the harness. i guess this could also be useful for tuning because the light will come on as soon as vtec engages.

i guess im the only1 that sees the beneficial aspect of it rather than the bling aspect
 

Suanico

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thats your opinion if you think its a worthless mod. dont do it and stop posting on this. its a cool little detail thats ads a touch to the interior of the car, like red or amber lights. if honda came with the idea and installed in onto the factory cars, you probably would of been" oooo thats cool, i want" but just because some come up with an idea or neat little deatail, you have to act like a little b***h with negativity. and like i said earlier, who ever is always in VTEC at the high of an RPM range, get out of the car, did you get your license in a cracker jack box? thats stupid to be driving like that not stop.
you act like you invented this retarded idea, now if you had put that spot for a shift light, that would be neat & funtional

http://www.clubcivic.com/board/showthread.php?t=119134&highlight=vtec+light

^8 months ago

but anyways, i can see it can help if your vtec isn't engaging and the light doesn't turn on, but to put it in there so you can see a light turn on is just silly, just have your friend blink an led keychain light when your car hits 5500 rpms, same s**t, and toyota already made this light a factory option on some of their corolla xrs'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQamT66EAxI&feature=related
 


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