Custom Dash-Mount Gear Indicator

[BlankMan]

Maybe I'm wierd and this applies to no one else, but...

I frequently use D-3-2-L to 'shift' my car. It gives me more control and, I feel, better acceleration and decelration. I'll hold it in, say, 2 or 3 to hit the best RPM range before I pop it forward to the next gear. Same for decel, I'll pop it down a gear to slow down while keep the Hp/Tq band high for re-accleration. I don't do this all the time, of course, but often enough.

The reason I explain this - albeit poorly - is I can't stand that Mitsu put the gear indicator in place you have to take your eyes off the road to look at. Nearly on the floor? What were they thinking? I'm not always sure just what gear i've selected and sometimes need to look - hazardous if your in the middle of a turn or passing...

So, I'm going to custom fab a dash mount indicator - problem solved! Got most of the details worked out already but I'm looking for some feedback on a couple things:

1) where do you think the best place to mount is? right now, I'm thinking the gauge bezel - probably top mount b/c bottom mount is a wee bit low for us tall drivers. But is there another hip place that would work for visibilty while maintaining overall asthetics?

2) Depending on the end product, of course, would anyone else be interested and getting one? I can put a small production through an electronics company, if there's a want.

Anyway - let me know and thanks for the feedback. Thanks!

J

[onlyphases]

might be interested after i c the final product

[pinoyesv6]

i thought about doign that before. but then yea, i put a boot over everything and i've realized that i can just feel what gear i am in by just feeling the location of the shift knob and the angle it is in.

but yea if you wanted to make it yourself, i'll point you in the right direction. each gear has a lil clear window in it. a small orange sticker covers the window to show what gear you are in. there is on sticker and it moves along with the shifter.if you were to put a metal contact on the sticker and on each of the lil windows...and when the two contacts meet, they make up a simple circuit that lights up a bulb...the rest is ur imagination.

[BlankMan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pinoyesv6)</div><div class='quotemain'>i thought about doign that before. but then yea, i put a boot over everything and i've realized that i can just feel what gear i am in by just feeling the location of the shift knob and the angle it is in.

but yea if you wanted to make it yourself, i'll point you in the right direction. each gear has a lil clear window in it. a small orange sticker covers the window to show what gear you are in. there is on sticker and it moves along with the shifter.if you were to put a metal contact on the sticker and on each of the lil windows...and when the two contacts meet, they make up a simple circuit that lights up a bulb...the rest is ur imagination.</div>

Actually, I've already mapped the +12V that goes direct from the Park/Nuetral Switch in the engine bay (switched by the gear shift in the cabin) to the inputs on the PCM/ECU. No need to add contacts or anything of the sort. Just need to tap into the existing +12V signals already part of the car - it will be a matter of running a cable from one of the connectors on the PCM to the best location for mounting. I can give more details if any one's interested but it's really quite boring <G>

I've done the research - just looking for ideas on placement and gathering any interest there is.

J

[djScript]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BlankMan)</div><div class='quotemain'>
Actually, I've already mapped the +12V that goes direct from the Park/Nuetral Switch in the engine bay (switched by the gear shift in the cabin) to the inputs on the PCM/ECU. Â*No need to add contacts or anything of the sort. Â*Just need to tap into the existing +12V signals already part of the car - it will be a matter of running a cable from one of the connectors on the PCM to the best location for mounting. Â*I can give more details if any one's interested but it's really quite boring <G>

I've done the research - just looking for ideas on placement and gathering any interest there is.

J</div>

I want details! Please PM me the info but I think it's best if you just post it here so everyone else could see it.
Thanks.
--
Jay

[Elwenil]

This is not a bad idea really. A little LED cluster would work great. You could mount it to the top of the steering column as that is where the shift indicator is on thousands of cars with column shift. I think for ergonomics, it would be easier to run the lights up and down to correspond with the forward and backward motion of the shifter, rather than having to shift the stick forward, and have the lights move to the left or right. I think that made sense. In other words, keep the shifting and light movement in parallel... Just my thoughts...

[BlankMan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Elwenil)</div><div class='quotemain'>This is not a bad idea really....</div>

Well of course it isn't! https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Elwenil)</div><div class='quotemain'>...it would be easier to run the lights up and down to correspond with the forward and backward motion of the shifter...</div>

That's exactly the kind of feed back I was looking for. I was considering the standard left to right and overlooked an up/down orientation. Hmmm, maybe I could try a couple different setups to see which works best.

J

[CT_GalantV6]

Sounds good. Keep working on it.

feedback: mounting location

Insert it into the cover around the radio on the drivers side. I am visualizing an aprox 3/4"x2.5' black edged display, up and down, right along side the headunit. I know, this would require cutting into our woodgrain, but I would if it looked kinda stock and not like some thing you just taped on.

Maybe a PhotoShop person can hook us up with a photo resembeling the above idea.

[4G64T]

i had thought about putting 7 little LED"s in the same configuration as the leters next to the shifter. all you would have to do it drill 7 tiny holes somewhere that is visible to you... the LED"s would be different colors like
red for park
white for reverse
yellow for netural
and green for the foward gears

just my $.02 as far as looks for the project

[Elwenil]

Ok, I was out cruising and I thought a little about placement of the lights. I think mounting them on the radio bezel would be pretty easy, but will it be high enough? You would still have to take your eyes off the road to see them then. How about in the lip of the instrument panel bezel on the right side? Right in the curve off the bottom. I haven't had my bezel off, so I don't know how much room there is behind it, but if there is room, you could put the LEDs in a curving line up the edge of the bezel and it wouldn't be that hard to see. You could just make a little curved circuit board with the LEDs in it, make a pattern for the holes, drill it, and mount the LED board with double faced tape. The interesting part would be to get the LEDs to get full power during the day, and dim with the instrument panel lights at night. just my thoughts...

[pinoyesv6]

i'd make a bracket so the lights would mount next to the center vents. like to the left of it. i think that would be a good place to put it.

but before even thinking of mounting it, i'd do a test run and see if your idea works. sometimes things work in theory, but not in actuality

[monosolodoc]

How hard is on a auto tranny if you manually shift through the gears? Would that wear out your transmission or cause problems somehow with the adaptive tranny? Also, I'm curious on what kind of gas mileage you typically get by manually shifting? Thanks. :sup:

[peanotation]

damn 8Gers just have to strive to be like us 7Gers with our gear indicators by the speedo/tach :wink:

[BlankMan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(monosolodoc)</div><div class='quotemain'>How hard is on a auto tranny if you manually shift through the gears? Â*Would that wear out your transmission or cause problems somehow with the adaptive tranny? Â*Also, I'm curious on what kind of gas mileage you typically get by manually shifting? Â*Thanks. Â*:sup:</div>

It's no harder on the transmission than if you drive agressively in D. Stay away from neutral drops, refrain from holding for long durations at 5500+ RPM and you will have no problem.

Also, INVECS-II and the adpative technology for the trans only apply when in D. So, the ECU and PCM will still learn your driving habits while cruising in D, but you can go "outside the box" by up/down shifting via 3, 2 & L.

Over the last year with 50/50 hyw/city driving my mileage averages 22-25mpg.

BTW - on a totally separate topic, check out my recent post ('http://www.clubtgc.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23613') in the turbo/supercharger forum. :twisted:

J

[cremeans2326]

ok maybe this isn't what your wanting but i think it would be nice. 2" gauge pod, kind of like the air fuel gauge by autometer. you got red yellow green and i liked the white for reverse too. just my opinion. if you really had a way to produce them. I know you could have a huge market, at least on ebay. I'd try it but just don't know how. once you got good you could make cf, indiglo, etc. could be bad ass. then we could all cover our gear shifters to look like manuals. https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif

[BIGMONEYDAY]

I agree with cremeans, the idea of mounting in a pillar guage slot is a good idea or where ever you have your guage pods. But I was looking at dakota digital's home page and they have a unit that displays the various letters/numbers for the gearshift indicator. I think this would be a good piece to use versus the leds that we have been talkin about. What do you guys think?

[pinoyesv6]

im thinking different colored lights would be better than an actual number or letter. unless they were color coded. i have pillar gauges on my car and really, i don't actually read what number or what line the needle is pointing to, i jsut look at what angle the needle is at. what im tryna say is, at least for me, its easier to glance at the corner of my eye and see a color than it is to look over and read a number or a letter.

anotehr good place to have it is on top of the steering column.

[djScript]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(djScript)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BlankMan)</div><div class='quotemain'>
Actually, I've already mapped the +12V that goes direct from the Park/Nuetral Switch in the engine bay (switched by the gear shift in the cabin) to the inputs on the PCM/ECU. Â*No need to add contacts or anything of the sort. Â*Just need to tap into the existing +12V signals already part of the car - it will be a matter of running a cable from one of the connectors on the PCM to the best location for mounting. Â*I can give more details if any one's interested but it's really quite boring <G>

I've done the research - just looking for ideas on placement and gathering any interest there is.

J</div>

I want details! Please PM me the info but I think it's best if you just post it here so everyone else could see it.
Thanks.
--
Jay</div>

never mind. i found the circuit diagram. i'm thinking about using dakota digital's single letter indicator (kinda pricey) and putting it in one of unused space in the gauge cluster for a factory look. not sure about fitment yet.

[bam462]

mitsu problely put the indicator light down there because they do not expect people to use there auto tranny like that, i meen they know it ,we know it, there auto trannys suck ass

[vaffunculo]

when you get this all finished you should make a tutorial of it great idea

[DryBear]

Whats the status?

[delo]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(peanotation)</div><div class='quotemain'>damn 8Gers just have to strive to be like us 7Gers with our gear indicators by the speedo/tach Â*:wink:</div>

Yeah us 7gers already got 2 gear indicators. one on the floor and one by the speedometer. I thought mistu was suppose to improve on the 7g when designing the 8g, not take things away. like the gas cap release lever inside the car. i hear 8gs dont have that either. what up with that.

[BlankMan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(WanderingPinoy)</div><div class='quotemain'>Whats the status?</div>

Um - still a work in progress. I did make some headway - I verified the signals from the PCM and mocked up a breadboard with LED's and resistor's that lit properly through all gear positions (PRND32L). Left it hooked up in the car for a couple days as I drove around it it worked well. The project hasn't progressed passed breadboard since I was sidetracked with my SDS installation, holidays and so on. I'm going to get back into it once work slows down - but that's looking like end of Feb right now.... I'll be sure to post once a first-gen box is done.

J

[pinoyesv6]

so pretty mcuh its done, you just have to put it in a pretty package? or is there more experimentation to it? im interested in doing this, mom's sscared of borrowing my car cuz she can't see what gear she's in with the boto and i really need to borrow her truck sometimes. tired of lugging wood in the galant

[DryBear]

I know this is a while back, but any progress on this?

I've been looking at this one:
Sending Unit
http://www.dakotadigital.com/Detail.cfm/-/...000/product.htm ('http://www.dakotadigital.com/Detail.cfm/-/Category=106/PartNumber=GSS-1000/product.htm')

Gauges
http://www.dakotadigital.com/products.cfm/...category119.htm ('http://www.dakotadigital.com/products.cfm/-/Category=119/category119.htm')

Nice, But it is a bit pricey and the sensor has overdrive, drive, 2 and 1 instead of the D321 we use (yeah, could probably get by with d=overdrive and 3=D, but I'd rather have it correct).

[DarkLateNight]

I do this as well, but have always wondered if (and heard) that it hurts your transmission do manually up and downshift your automatic transmission - i read the previous posts and it's said that it doesnt - any other words on this? thanks

[Alexey]

I'm glad that someone else wants to do the same thing I've been wanting to do for awhile myself. Anyway, what I was thinking is that if you take a look at some cars gauges, they do have a gear indicator amongst all others. So if you can come up with something that goes in the gauge cluster and looks pretty good or at least decent, I'll prolly be interested. Afterall, having your shifter and gear indicator covered with a boot doesn't help much when you shift like you said, I admit doing that sometimes myself. Anyway, keep us updated and don't forget to post pics of your progress as you come up with any ideas/results!!!