Connecting a shift light?

[82ndCowboy]

Anyone have a shift light Installed on thier Max?
Where's the best place to connect a shift light.
I only need to connect 3 wires.
Ground - that is easy to figure out.

Power - needs to be connected to power source that only comes on when key is on.
So where is the best place to connect this?

Coil - Which wire of the coil is the best for connecting a shift light to?

 

[Dreamster66]

fuse box maybe?
Thats where I hooked my l.e.d.'s to.

 

[maleko89]

I'd hook to back of your instrument cluster. Most shiftlights could wire into a switched power lead here and then your sense wire could be to your tach.

 

[82ndCowboy]

Thanks guys... But where's the fuse box. Please don't laugh! I'm a noob and I have only had the seat and scoops off once to hook up a couple of accent led's.
Maleko, I have a Raptor shift light the Coil lead is supposed to be hooked to the coil for #1 cylinder.

 

[maleko89]

Robert, the fuse box is on the left side under the air box cover. Since you need coil #1, fuse box might be best place for switched wire. For the coil wire, you can do wires input to the coil. Not sure what color goes into #1 coil, Clymer isn't that specific. It's either gray, white, orange or yellow. Otherwise, do wire that goes from coil connector to coil. That's orange.

 

[82ndCowboy]

Actually Mark, You were right initially.
I finally got a hold of someone who has the same light and everything can be wired into the gauge cluster to the back of the tach.
Thanks for the help!

 

[maleko89]

Robert, great to hear!

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Anyone have a shift light Installed on thier Max?
Where's the best place to connect a shift light.
I only need to connect 3 wires.
Ground - that is easy to figure out.

Power - needs to be connected to power source that only comes on when key is on.
So where is the best place to connect this?

Coil - Which wire of the coil is the best for connecting a shift light to?

What kind of light do you have?

I had an autometer unit which uses a tach adapter with rpm pills and I had to go to the coil. My belief is WHAT coil doesn't matter.
If it is a unit that uses a tach adapter it will usually go to the negative coil wire as that is the one that is switched through the TCI.
I had to do the diode modification to pick up two coil signals to get my atumeter to work right.
The autometer I had would not work off of the coil signal to the back of the tach for some reason.

The Raptor is money well spent since there is no figuring out the damn thing to get it to work. Every vehicle with electronic ignition that I have ever added a tach or shift light to has been a pain in the ass to get a good signal.
On my wifes car I had to use the effin fuel injector signal because of the coil on plug design and all the 5 volt signal crap these newer cars are using.

My Raptor is connected the the back of the factory tach. I would not worry about a fuse or going to the power box if your picking up power at the tach as it is already adequately fused.

 

[82ndCowboy]

Yeah WF,
The Raptor is the one I have.
I wanted something easy to install. I'm no pro at running the 1/4 mile, but I want to do it just for fun. And I just wanted something simple and affordable so I don't over rev the motor.
My Max is stock except for the sport bars, so I don't need anything high end at this point. Autometer... pills... that's all greek to me... LOL!
So the Raptor is perfect for me. I have it mounted right beside my speedometer. I fashioned a small little bracket that went in the joint of the turn signal bracket, worked perfect. Now all I have to do is connect the wires and put the seat and air box cover back on.
I'll post pictures when it's done.

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Yeah WF,
The Raptor is the one I have.
I wanted something easy to install. I'm no pro at running the 1/4 mile, but I want to do it just for fun. And I just wanted something simple and affordable so I don't over rev the motor.
My Max is stock except for the sport bars, so I don't need anything high end at this point. Autometer... pills... that's all greek to me... LOL!
So the Raptor is perfect for me. I have it mounted right beside my speedometer. I fashioned a small little bracket that went in the joint of the turn signal bracket, worked perfect. Now all I have to do is connect the wires and put the seat and air box cover back on.
I'll post pictures when it's done.

I love mine!

By the way, Don't get it wet!

I toasted the first one I had riding in the rain. The one I have now I have clear packing tape around so you can still see the chrome finish and I keep the red plastic cover in place and so far so good.
I wish they would make a weatherproof one.

Also, do you have the instructions that actually tell you what wire colors you are hooking to on the back of the factory tach? if not I can find that for you as well.
Seems like last time I was on Raptors site the Vmax instructions weren't up any more.

 

[82ndCowboy]

Yeah I know about the water issues. I'm currently seeking something that keeps it dry. some kind of rubber plug for the settings access opening. If I can't find anything some kind of rubber rain cover for the whole unit. we have an item where I work that's called a universal rain bonnet (it's like a mini shower cap) that goes on hydrostatic relief valves. It covers it pretty good till I find a better suited replacement.

 

[shawn kloker]

I thought maybe shrink tubing after you were sure about the settings.From my dyno run I could see that reving beyond 9500rpm's is just a waste of time.

 

[maleko89]

Too bad Harlan doesn't make shift lights anymore. Smaller, look very nice, no pills needed and waterproof.

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Yeah I know about the water issues. I'm currently seeking something that keeps it dry. some kind of rubber plug for the settings access opening. If I can't find anything some kind of rubber rain cover for the whole unit. we have an item where I work that's called a universal rain bonnet (it's like a mini shower cap) that goes on hydrostatic relief valves. It covers it pretty good till I find a better suited replacement.

I tried to slide a piece of Tygon (clear) tubing over it but haven't found size that will fit. I thought about shrink tubing but don't want to cover the shiny finish up (I'm a bling whore!)

 

[82ndCowboy]

LOL! I hear ya Bling whore. I bought a red one to match my pinstriping on my Max. LOL!

 

[Redbone]

Resurrecting this old thread to ask a quick question. I picked up the Harlan shift light (red led's of course!) and it has three wires ~ red/ black/ green.
Here is Harlan's instructions for connecting :

Red Wire ? Connect this wire to a +12V source. The fuse block is a good choice for this connection, a switch accessory fuse is a prime choice. The will turn the module off when the key is off. But, any switched +12V source is ok.
Black Wire ? This is the ground connection for the module. Chose a convenient ground location. A mounting screw or any other metal piece that makes a direct connection to the body will do. The radio ground is also a possibility.
Green Wire ? This is the Tach input to the module. This can be either from the Tach line of the engine computer or from the switched side of an ignition coil.
My question is this, where do I connect the green wire(tach input), 1)to the tach line going to the Vmax tach in the tank cluster or 2) switched side of the coil, 3) if from switched side of the coil, what color is the wire?, 4) Which coil, #1 coil?
Kinda of a noob at wiring stuff so any help will be appreciated.
Thanks!​

 

[82ndCowboy]

I don't have a manual handy here at work.
But when I get home I'll look and be able to tell you which one is the tach lead.
I believe it's the middle one on the back of the OEM Tach, BUT I"M Guessing at this point.

 

[maleko89]

Correct. Just take off instrument cluster and put all three wires to the back. You'll use the center section. Gray is the signal wire, brown is hot, black is ground.

 

[Redbone]

Cool! Thanks guys! :thumbs up: It sounds even easier now than I originally thought!unk:
I wanted to be sure to do it right the first time and didn't want to fry a new $50 part!

 

[fasterlapdunn]

i want to do this mod also. Raptor or Harlan? And where to buy? Thanks all.

John