Getting into the speedometer LED displays

[Terry Stibal]

Can anyone offer any instructions (and, as always, photos would be nice) for getting into the light pipes leading to the various warning lights in the speedometer pod? I managed to do the rest of my cruise control install with no problems (other than major-league back pains), but could not figure out how to unfasten the clamshell appearing back of the speedometer pod.

Thanks in advance for any help that you can give.

[Dunerunner]

If I remember, and it's been a few beers ago, there are resessed clips around the shell that need to be released to allow the units to seperate. I believe it was accomplished with a flat tipped screwdriver.

Anyone else?

[chieftmc]

Terry,

Here's a link to John_H's led install :

http://somesmart.info/LEDvideo/LED2.mp4

It shows you step by step how to get the speedo apart

Thanks again, John

[John_H]

Or if you don't want to spend 45 minutes listening to me, there's the original post on the Area451 forums for the Secondary LED Installation.

[Terry Stibal]

Thanks for your prompt answers. Too prompt, for now I feel bad about reassembling everything already...

The install went smoothly as could be expected. I have done a lot of similar installation work, from M48A3 tanks (which normally had no provision for a stereo - quite the omission by the Chrysler Corporation, I tells yah) to a myriad of Japanese cars, but this is my first experience with a German product. But, other than the very tight corners that you have to contort around (being young and limber would have helped here), it went like clockwork.

Torx screws used to be a a problem as well, but now I've got whole sets of drivers (bought over the years to remove just one fastener at one point or another), so no problem there.

I had the most difficulty with the disassembly of the accelerator pedal plug. The clearances for manipulating the assembly to gain clear access to the plug were a bit tight, but once I figured out the correct way to press the tab on the plug, it slid out like Teflon on ice.

It would help if the instructions contained a few more steps and items:

• Highlighting (in the instruction photos) as to where the pin numbers on the speedometer connector are located. The numbers are there, but are quite faint unless seen in the correct light. Old eyes ensured that I spent some time on the couch locating the numbers before every visiting the garage.

• The wire tie tucked under the circuit board in the "black box" was puzzling for a bit, and only when I started tugging on it did I understand what the vendor had done.

• An inch or two of more length in the fat cable leading to the accelerator cable would have made for a cleaner fit of the black box under the center console.

• Popping the little cap off of the original wiper controller requires a lot more force than you would expect from the way other plastic parts come free on the vehicle. I ended up lifting the cap with a very small screwdriver to the point that a gap appears large enough to insert a second screwdriver, which then easily pops it off.

• Some of the wording in the "blink" instructions is still not "idiomatic" English. The meaning is there, but it's almost like a Victorian era person is describing it to modern ears. Not a deal breaker by any means, but the instructions can still use some tweaking.

After I get done with lunch, I will take it out on the road and see what happens.

[John_H]

You must have just installed an MDC cruise control! Congrats on the addition to your smart.

[Terry Stibal]

By the way, I've now viewed John's demonstration as to how to gain access to the inside of the speedometer cluster. Very well explained (and considering the conditions under which it was recorded, very clearly illustrated). As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

I'm going to hold up on doing the LED install until my back is better up to the task, but it looks like it will take all of fifteen minutes.

Now to go out and road test the thing. The airbags didn't go off when I reenergized the circuitry, and I haven't got any parts left over, so thus far I'm in good shape. The LED does the red-green-amber cycling, but that appears to be OK as well. We'll see...

[Terry Stibal]

First Iteration of testing:

• CAUTION TRIANGLE IN CENTER OF SPEEDOMETER ILLUMINATED (exclamation point inside of a yellow triangle). No mention of this in the instructions;I'm assuming that some sort of "code" has been inadvertently set,. All of the connectors were marked prior to the install, and attached to the correct locations, and I don't think that I ever shorted anything out to ground, this due to standard electric handling precautions. What gives here?

• The LED flashes red-amber-green when the engine is started. When all doors are shut, it goes out

• Upon driving around the neighborhood (low speed), it appears that the cruise control is engaged at times. However, the LED does not appear to illuminate differently in conjunction with any of this. I have obtained a red LED once, but do not know what was done to do this.

• Other than during the "open door" sequence at the start, I have yet to see a green or yellow LED signal from the extended LED unit

• Also, the acceleration seems "sluggish". Not "limp home sluggish", just a bit more pressure needed. I have not attempted to calibrate the boost yet.

Suggestions? I'll be back in a couple of hours or so.

[John_H]

Suggestion: Call the team at SmartMadness!

They pride themselves on their customer service.

[Terry Stibal]

UPDATE:

After speaking with Tim at SmartMadness, I reversed my efforts and "uninstalled" the cruise control/booster unit from our vehicle. With all of the knowledge gained during the installation, the removal went like clockwork, except for one damn'd screw, that on the bottom of the right side of the steering column.

Normally, I'd snap a screw into a screwdriver with a holding device, screw around a bit until I found the hidden hole, and that would be that. Not so this time. As the Smart uses Torx fasteners, I don't have a tool with a screw holder.

I futzed around for about a half hour, half-prone and turned on my side, but without success. I finally coaxed it into its hole with a combination balancing act/viewing the area where the hole is located through a mirror with flashlight combination held between my legs by my lovely wife. Four hands and three tools, all for one stinking screw.

Once it was all restored and the battery brought back into the circuitry, I turned off the radio (a weird factor of Smart motoring - disconnect the battery and you turn on the radio), put the key into the ignition, crossed my fingers and went through the start routine. Chug - chug - chug - chug and it started up as if nothing had ever been wrong. No "Check Engine" light, no exclamation-point-in-a-triangle. The subsequent road test was flawless as well.

All I have to do now is to get another cruise/booster unit. At least when it arrives, I will already have the experience needed to make the install go like clockwork...