Nxt Mod: Replace Stock Gauge Cluster with DASH2

[MotorCade]

Looks great!

[turbophil]

Tonight I learned that the there must have been a firmware update for the Dash2 since the last revision of the instructions were released regarding the odometer. In several places in the instructions, there's verbage stating the odometer will ONLY work w/ a DIRECT wheel speed sensor feed going to the the Dash2 and that the odo will NOT work if it receives a speed signal via a data logger. I didn't like that "catch" and apparently I'm not the only one that felt that way. Tonight I was tooling around with just the GPS feeding my speed display via the DL1 and then displayed on the Dash2 and to my surprise, the odo and trip continued to click off miles just as they did with the wheel sensors wired direct. Very Cool and yea for firmware updates!

Outside of that little discovery, I now have my wideband hooked up to the DASH via the DL1. It was simple 0-5v analog output from my AFX wideband meter...
I've got it setup so that AFR is one of the primary displays on the dash2 along with RPM, temp, fuel, speed, odo, and trip... There's 5 display congifs that are 100% customizable and are saved in the dash so that I can toggle between each of my custom displays by tapping one of "soft buttons" on the fly...

Thought I would update...

Best,

Phil

[Dave]

Thanks for the update...very innovative!

[scottyb]

Phil,

If I do this mod, how hard would it be to place generic idiot lights on the sides of the dash?

[turbophil]

Originally Posted by scottyb

Phil,

If I do this mod, how hard would it be to place generic idiot lights on the sides of the dash?

Depends on who's donig the work I guess

If I were to do it, I use some small LEDs from radio shack or similar and just tap the signal on the cluster harness so everything can be returned to stock easily. I used MDF for the trim ring around the Dash2 and applied several coats of flat black paint to it. One could take it a step further and cover the MDF trim in alcantara or similar (rathe than paint, even though the paint looks great, IMO), which I will probably due in the near future. The MDF was easy to work with and doesn't amount to any real weight since the MDF trim ring is so thin... It would be super easy to drill some holes to mount some LEDs vertically along the side of the Dash2 in the MDF trim. I don't think I would label the LEDs, I'd just remember what they were for.

That said, there's not really a whole lot of point in doing this, IMO though.... I mean what idiot light do you really want that's not already on the Dash2 You've got seat belt, ABS, and airbag that I can think of that are analog in the cluster wiring that I currently *don't* have lights for. Everything else is either on the Dash2 or within CAN (MIL is in CAN). You might recall the Dash2 has the folloing idiot lights: Programmable shift lights, Left and Right turn signal, low batt/alternator warning light, high beam indicator, fog light indicator, and brake/parking brake warning... Outside of idiot lights you can set alarms to go off if certain paramaters are met. For intance I can set an alarm to pop up on the dash if the car gets hotter than X temp, or if oil pressure gets lower than X, etc... So some things don't need idiot lights since you can create even better threshold alarms...

Best,

Phil

[turbophil]

Originally Posted by Dave

Thanks for the update...very innovative!

Thank you sir!

[jlj3394]

Originally Posted by turbophil

Thanks, maybe she will after she sees it at the next GTG

Cheers,

Phil

When we gonna have one of those?

[turbophil]

This was my first day driving the car around with the sun shining directly on the dash2. The contrast is very sharp and the matte finish on the screen kept the glare at bay. So to my surprise direct sun light on the dash2 didn't seem to hamper the contrast or my ability to read the screen at all...

Best,

Phil

[apk919]

Awesome job. Now you've got me thinking...

[turbophil]

Thanks.

And some pics I posted on another thread... These are daylight shots:

[Randy Chase]

Awesome stuff Phil. If I still had my car, this would be the next mod.

[MaineLotus]

Phil, the results are incredible. What did you use for material to fill in around the display?

[turbophil]

Originally Posted by MaineLotus

Phil, the results are incredible. What did you use for material to fill in around the display?

Thanks Maine

While I prefer working with metal in just about every scenario I come across, interior projects are the only time I find that wood *can* serve an important purpose. Although I generally hate the stuff Soooooo, in this case, I used some 1/2" MDF and a rotozip to cut out the trim ring that acts is the "filler" around the display. It weighs next to nothing (when used in small quantities like this) and allowed me to fine tune the fit. I then used industrial strength velcro (available at mcmaster) to fix the MDF trim ring to the mounting plate that the Dash2 is mounted to.

On the velcro note, another assembly tip...I broke the plastic welds on the binnacle cover and placed two small strips of the same velco in place of the plastic weld. I can now pull the binnacle cover off without tearing apart the dash in case I want to tinker with things, run another wire or whatever. That industrial velco is incredible stuff!

Best,

Phil

[MaineLotus]

As Phil mentioned during a talk with him (thanks for the info Phil), the DASH2 will not display speed from the Lotus speed sensor, the pulse is too fast beyond 80mph. An alternative is to install a Toyota speed sensor in the transmission, a blank plate covers the spot where the sensor is situated for Celicas. I posted a pinout for those who want to do this -

moremonkey.com •

[charliex]

isn't the dash2 able to do multiple levels of divisor for the abs pulse signal, seems something they should be able to add fairly easily and it'd extend the range of cars they'd be able to interface to the stock sensors ?

[MaineLotus]

Talked with Al Seim at Race Technology and it's a known problem, the DASH2 can't read some signals if the pulse is too rapid, guess Lotus is one of them. The workaround is to use GPS speed, but that will not roll the odometer. Or decide not roll the odometer after 80?

[charliex]

thats lame, most cars use a lot more than one pulse per rev for speed sensors.

[MaineLotus]

The Toyota sensor pulses 4 times per revolution. How many pulses per rev for the Lotus?

[charliex]

28 or 32, can't remember exactly.

[turbophil]

back from out of town

I believe the lotus is 32 p/min... The dash2 is limited on that front, although 4 p/min is fine... heck 8 is fine, even 16 is fine, it's just thayt 32 limits odo readings to 80mph and below... The DL-1 on the otherhand can handle the rapid 32p/min just fine (like if used all 4 wheels speed sensors to measure slip angles, etc)- it's just a dash2 issue- although it's not significant, nor is it lame, the dash2 speed pick up is *only* used for odo reading and the toyota speed sensor can be added if odo reading is a big deal above 80mph...

Best,

Phil