45 minutes to becoming a Cruise Control LED installation expert

[mvaldes]

Originally Posted by bradkins

Hi everyone, This is bradkins from Oconto, Wisconsin and I'm looking for a kit to install cruise control with led indicator on the dash. I saw something about 451 but no address to order and no price, Could someone help me?

Area451 site:
Area 451 Parts Support Forum - Index

John's cool LED kit (from about the 3rd post down on page 5)
Tutorial: Secondary LED indicator in Instrument Cluster
The kit will include:
the small LED board attached to a small power cable,
the mating power cable connected to a 9V battery clip for testing
pliable yet stiff aluminum wire to help thread the cable down the steering column
a tap connector (plus one spare) to tap into "the black wire" to the cruise control
a butt connectors (plus one spare) for "the read wire" to the cruise control
two more butt connectors to cut & splice the cable through the instrument housing

but wait, there's more!
a new 9V Duracell copper-top battery
a T10 Torx allen-wrench for those who may not have torx bits handy

With the battery, you can test to make sure the brightness makes you happy and you can adjust the color to your liking (for the "variable" type) before cutting off the battery connector and splicing into the cruise control wires.

The only things you need to supply are
a sharp blade (such as a utility knife) to splay open the cruise control wiring jacket
pliers to squeeze the splices closed - larger is better than small needle-nose
a small piece of tape if desired for an even more solid installation
a small phillips-head screwdriver to adjust the "variable" color type
oh! and wire clippers or scissors (but not the good scissors!) to cut a few wires [added 1/13, 10pm]

Shipment will be US mail (I expect the light weight will allow first class for cheap)
Payments are accepted through PayPal to ccleds@johnhandwork.com.

I'll ask $20 rather than the original $15 to cover costs because the journey has been more difficult than first expected (and I really didn't think about shipping costs at the time). I'd enjoy getting a few dollars more as well as suggested earlier by the admin. I'm more interested in offering "a fair price" than trying to gouge people.

Please include in the paypal notes 1) color, 2) if your ship-to address is different than your paypal address, 3) if you do not want either the battery or the torx allen-key, and 4) if you'd like a loose utility-knife blade tossed in for a clean cut into the cabling (I have extras).

Hope that helps. It's a great cruise control and a great LED kit!

[sheureka]

Most of the "early adopters" got the cruise at smartieparts - Area 451 Cruise Control - US$479.99 : SmartieParts, Smart Parts for Smart Cars - sheureka (who is going to install her led kit this weekend if it doesn't snow again)

[Woody14619]

Originally Posted by sheureka

Most of the "early adopters" got the cruise at smartieparts

The really REALLY early adopters got the MDC unit before Area 451 was even in production. SmartieParts no longer has that unit, but SmartMaddness does. Both are good cruise units, and both offer an extension line with LED that can be installed in the console.

I'm hoping to get the extension LED cord soon and install it in my console in March. The MDC unit has a tri-color led which indicates if it's in cruise mode, in governor mode, or if it's locked. It should be interesting to see how it looks in the console. The front mask is clear, so it should replicate the color based on function, which should be neet.

[smart fortimo]

Problem with MDC was getting parts to "adopt"...

That and settling for an off-color arm. All around, the integrity at Area 451 could not be better, and the cc functions seamlessly.

[Woody14619]

Originally Posted by smart fortimo

Problem with MDC was getting parts to "adopt"...
That and settling for an off-color arm. All around, the integrity at Area 451 could not be better, and the cc functions seamlessly.

Not really.. MDC is still in business, SmartieParts just stopped doing business with them once the Area 451 unit was selling. SmartMadness has started selling the MDC units in the US again, so getting parts won't be that hard. (And there's only 2 "parts"... the unit and the extension LED, just like the Area 451 unit.)

As for the off-color arm, I'd bet good money you wouldn't notice it if it's not pointed out to you. It's not like it's neon yellow. It's about 2% more grey than the color of the old stalk, and matches the color of the column in normal lighting conditions. Pictures (especially flash pictures) show a larger difference than what's seen with the eye. But then flash pictures make the old red smarts look orange too, so...

Still, the same instructions work reguardless of which unit you have. Kudos for finding that "hidden" indicator and doing a write-up on how to use it! Can't wait to get my new lead and put it in, hopefully next week some time.

[John_H]

I finally took things apart to where I know why the clock-set (panel light-dimming) button is having issues in many instrument panels that added my LED kit.

While I went to great lengths to get a very thin solution for the board that slips under the edge of the white plastic bulk of the shroud (between the board-mounted LEDs and the front of the cluster) there are still some mechanical implications.

The main instrument cluster PC board is actually held loosely to the white shroud with or without the LED installed. There are mechanical points in the back shell of the instrument cluster which press against the back of the PC board when the cluster is clipped properly into the back shell. It's these points that got distorted a little by the slight additional thickness.

The solution:

Get a thin stick-on rubber foot or similar adhesive-backed material to stick on the main PC board directly opposite the clock-set switch plunger. There's even a little square "void" on the back side of the board where the pressure point from the back shell is designed to rest - use that to place the stick-on piece.

I first tried a thin piece of rubber about the same thickness as the tiny LED board (which was on the end of my strip of molded rubber feet). The slight actuation sound heard on the trip-odometer reset switch was again present. At first it seemed like it didn't work but later I figured out it worked, at least somewhat. There's a 5 second delay before the clock starts flashing under normal circumstances.

By using the thicker molded rubber foot instead (probably 3/32" thick) the operation is flawless.

The thinner piece (probably 1/64" thick) work well ebough change the panel light intensity easily but required a little extra pressure - not much - to get to the clock-set mode. The additional thickness of the molded rubber foot made the connection consistent for the full 5 seconds needed to get to the that mode.

If you don't have rubber feet readily available (I don't recommend going as thick as 1/8" - I thought the 3/32" was thick) I can probably pick up another pack of these things to send out in regular envelopes. If you want to be creative, you could probably get the same results from a few layers of tape but the stick-on feet should be much more robust.

Again, please note:

When handling the cluster out of its shell, don't touch the metal on the back of the main board. When the small rubber foot is placed on the back of the board, up to 3/8" width can cover from the edge of the board to just inside the first exposed metal dots. The foot just needs to cover the "target" void opposite the switch plunger I mentioned earlier.

Please feel free to ask questions or comment to the email for this project: ccleds@johnhandwork.com. My personal mailbox here fills up quickly and I'd like to avoid bruing this post too deep in discussion about this matter.

- John

[Added:] Ah, what the heck. After discovering that finding these little feet called "bumpons" is a real hassle, I've ordered a pack from 3m directly and will mail a couple feet to everyone who has purchased or who does purchase an LED kit. I'll print up a bunch of envelopes before the feet arrive; any new boxes will have the bumpons taped up with the taps inside the package.

[dichrodave]

Thanks John. I noticed the gap when I installed my led light. However I have had a problem setting the clock and gauge lighting before I added your led. Closing the gap certainly helped. I used tape to securely hold the housing and circuit board together.

[John_H]

And if you didn't want to install the bumpon, there's always the ability to (without damage) pluck off the button, press on the buttonless shaft to set the time, and replace the button when you're done. I'm impressed with how well the tiny clips on the button head hold the button onto the shaft yet aren't altered in any way (bent, scraped) when removed.

[John_H]

The additional instructions for the clock-set switch fix with the Bumpon can be found at

http://somesmart.info/BumponInstructions.pdf

I'm sending these small, clear rubber feet (I include a spare with each) to those who have ordered the LED kit from me in the past and I will include them with any kits that ship from this point on.

My printer decided to stop using its printhead for black ink a couple days ago so I'm figuring out printing alternatives to avoid writer's cramp from these keyboard-adapted hands. I'll have the url above (but little else) printed on the sheet included in the envelope used to secure the bumpons and keep them from being "bumpy" in the postal processing equipment. You'll have them soon!

Any comments on the pdf are appreciated, perhaps to ccleds@johnhandwork.com to avoid cluttering the thread.

Thanks!

[nonuro]

Can't get the videos to work. Are there new ones somewhere?