Making A VTEC Indicator Light
Article taken from Si Atlanta

Materials needed:

- Adhesive
- Dash instrument replacement bulb
- Fine sand paper or Fingernail polish
- Glue (Quick setting or Hot glue)
- Philips screwdriver
- Ring terminal (crimp style)
- Scissors
- Scotch tape
- Stick-on report dividers / folder tabs
- Small gauge speaker wire (max. of ten feet)
- Soldering iron
- Wire crimpers/strippers
- Wire cutters

Disclaimer:

Do not attempt the following procedure if you feel you can't handle it. Please read before doing! I assume no responsibility and am not liable for any damages, malfunctions, or loss resulting from use of these instructions. Please just use common sense and everything should go smooth. This install is not known to cause any problems with the VTEC system. A background in model building is very helpful here too :) This procedure can be adapted to other Honda VTEC cars. I just don't know the specifics.

VTEC dis-engaged		VTEC engaged

You can start by making the colored filter for the indicator when it lights up. You will need a quality inkjet printer that can feed a variety of paper types through it. Some inkjets may not cooperate with this step. You need to take the report dividers or folder tabs (really anything that is translucent and has color) and cut them into somewhat-small, flat sections. Open the template and first print out one time on a plain sheet of paper. Once you have several of the filters cut to size, take a large piece of scotch tape and lay it over a filter then stick directly over one of the "VTEC" prints on the page. As shown in the image below.

click on the image to open the template

As with all installations on your car, disconnect the negative battery terminal first! Now begin by taking out the gauge cluster. This is accomplished by removing the two Philips screws at the top. Once those are out you have to pull on the bottom of the black trim to pop it out. It's a relatively tough piece, so don't worry about breaking it. With that out of the way, remove the four screws securing the assembly. There are two up top and two on bottom. Carefully pull the gauges out and you'll notice several connections on the back. Simply unplug them. Don't worry you'll be able to figure out which one's go where when you put things back together.

Disassemble the gauge cluster. Pry the tabs holding the clear lens on. Remove the black gauge overlay/trim bezel piece. On the rear of the same piece, pop out the factory indicator mask that contains the oil, engine, and battery warning lights. Please notice the unused oval just above the 5k rpm mark. That is the easiest place to put the new indicator. Now is a good time to say that a steady hand and understanding of what you're doing is helpful here. There is little room for error. You will have to continually go back and forth 'test fitting' the mask in the bezel to ensure proper fit/finish. Carefully and gently file or sand away the black back covering on that position leaving the smoked transparent front. You don't want to damage to already existing indicators. Now position the VTEC indicator you made earlier over that area. Make sure you line it up straight and secure the VTEC indicator to the mask with glue at each corner. Test fit again once the glue begins to set. You have a little time to make sure things line up until it sets. Once it's all dry you can put the gauge cluster back together. But do not put it back in the car yet.

In this step we'll prepare and install the new bulb. Nearly all of the materials can be purchased at your local auto parts superstore like PepBoys or Advance Auto Parts. The small bulb is usually sold in pairs. Just go use their computer or book to select a dash instrument replacement bulb. They're very cheap. You will also need about ten feet of wire to be safe. I've found that small gauge speaker wire or solid copper wire will work. Small sections of shrink tubing will help ensure a professional installation, however are not necessary. Electrical tape can be substituted where these instructions require shrink tube. The bulb will have two connections on the back. Polarity doesn't matter. Solder a piece of wire about 8" long to one of the connections on the bulb. Put shrink tubing over the connection to cover all of the metal. On the other end of the wire strip and crimp the ring terminal to it. That will be the ground. The rest of the wire needs to be soldered to the other connector. Again, put shrink tube on it. The wires will later be connected to the car. Wrap a lot of electrical tape around the base of the bulb. This is the simplest method to hold the bulb in the rear of the gauge pod behind the new indicator that I've found. Nasty, but functional.

Now it's time to put the cluster back in the car. Before you plug in the connectors and screw in the cluster, you must ground the additional bulb you just installed. There is a screw above the steering column that works perfectly for that. Now drop the other long length of wire down to the floor board of the car so you can work with it. Feel free to plug the connectors back in and reinstall the gauge cluster. You may want test the bulb to ensure functionality. You will have to reconnect the negative battery terminal temporarily. Then just touch the end of the long wire to the positive terminal. Make sure the light glows to satisfaction. Disconnect the negative again. You have two options for connecting to the cars VTEC system. Route the wire as you wish. One is at the solenoid (I recommend), and the other is the ECU (more difficult and untested). The solenoid is next to the distributor cap under the hood. It has a single green wire with a white stripe connecting to it. The ECU has a green wire with a yellow stripe that is the VTEC signal wire located on connector 25P. In either case you have to tap/splice into the wire. When the ECU tells VTEC to come on, the power is turned on to the solenoid. Now that will in turn light the indicator lamp.

NOTE:

Remember that the VTEC will not engage when the engine temperature is cool (unless you have a VTEC controller). Don't be alarmed if the light doesn't come on when you pass 5500rpm. Wait for normal operating temperatures then try again. If it doesn't light, you'll have to go back and check your connections. If the check engine light comes on or the car won't go into VTEC then you probably messed something up.