Getting into the speedometer LED displays

[BB Benz]

Are you getting a second mdc cruise control unit? My install went well. I did not crack the speedo unit open, instead drillled into the channel with a dremel just large enough to insert the led. I have a high power replacement led but it uses 4 leads not the three that mdc uses. I've yet to sort that out. The tempo max feature is a maximum speed feature active when the cruise control is not being used. It is a speed limiting feature. It seems to have better control than the cruise circuit on small hills. I too had some issues understanding the Germanish! Keep me posted. I would like to compare notes when you get it installed.
Rich S.
BB Benz

[Terry Stibal]

FURTHER UPDATE:

I've just finished cracking open the instrument cluster and making the LED install in the second pipe from the top on the right side (the one with the cruise control icon) by notching the top edge of the pipe. I took the lead out of the back of the cluster through one of the two rectangular holes, just as in the example. I don't yet know if the lead will be long enough to reach all the way down to the black box, but that will be a simple cut and splice operation if it's too short.

Other than some anxiety when pulling the guts of the speedometer out of the shell, and some fretting when putting the guts back in, it was simplicity itself. (It was a bit of a bother locating all seven of the clips that hold the guts in the housing.) Now, I just have to get the rest of it in (in our record temperatures - it's in the mid nineties with seventy percent humidity).

[Woody14619]

I found that the line would go to the box, but was a little tight. I would up installing a break-away connector, just in case someone doing maint on the car besides me decided to try to take the spedo off.

[Terry Stibal]

FINAL UPDATE ON THIS (HOPEFULLY):

Today, after talking at some length with a pleasant man and lady at the Smart Madness facility, I finally got it all figured out. Following my second install (of a new unit), I took the car out for a road test and got seemingly inconsistent results. The LED unit blinked (when in the garage) as it was supposed to. The first engagement of the unit worked just fine (out on our limited access highway), and I was elated as I made the turn around to return to the house.

Then, however, no blinking or solid lights were apparent, and the cruise control would not engage. Further fiddling around with it in a deserted subdivision (no houses, just streets) seemed to indicate that it was not working.

Then, on the final straight run of road on the way home, I decided to give it one more try. Not knowing if it was on or off, I tapped the end cap and suddenly it was working just fine.

Back to calling Smart Madness. Following my extended reading of the notes that I took on the operation of the unit, the man at the other end (not Tim) explained that (for each engagement of the cruise control) I needed to tap the end cap. (This is completely different from the units on our Toyotas, which you switch on with the end button once for each use, and further control engagement and acceleration'/coasting with the "twist switch".

One more try, this time in the early evening with a thunderstorm threatening in the distance. In the reduced light situation, the LED was now visible, and the cruise unit worked as advertised.

Now, the next issue. I feel that I can operate the system without the indicator being visible, but my lovely wife may not be so confident. Has anyone yet come up with a brighter replacement LED installation that will bring the brightness up to the level of the other indicators in the cluster? Inquiring minds want to know...

Tomorrow morning brings the final cleanup on the installation; fixing the black box location under the dash, trimming up wiring run wire ties, and the dreaded installation of the steering column clamshell from hell, with the two screws that took me so long to get in their holes last time.

However, I no longer dread the install of this little monster, for I now own a Milwaukee Tools "inspection camera". This is a small LED television mounted on a hand grip, with a camera on a two foot long gooseneck. It has its own (adjustable) LED illumination source and adjustable magnification as well. Blind holes in walls and working under car dashboards no longer poses a problem to this old geezer...

[John_H]

Originally Posted by Terry Stibal

Has anyone yet come up with a brighter replacement LED installation that will bring the brightness up to the level of the other indicators in the cluster?

I plan to have both a "brightness booster" which plugs into the MDC inline with the existing LED (if that's the customer's choice) and a thin LED board to place in the instrument cluster fed by that booster board wired in a different configuration. I wanted to have things done within this next month, but it may be a couple; my cross-country move has put me behind in a few of my small endeavors. Once I have things up and running, I'd expect SmartMadness to offer the items directly to customers.