i-vtec indicator light 2003 Accord

[SUPERMAN]

does anyone know what and where is the wire going to the solenoid to parallel up a indicator light for your vtec

[SUPERMAN]

got this one figured out.

**not personally responsible if you mess something up. this is just advice, not instructions.

read my reply to the string: REMOVING A 7TH GEN GUAGE CLUSTER?

follow those instructions then pick up here.

Parts needed:
Led
18 awg wire
resistor, depends on what led you use
solder
led mount
splice connector
o-terminal electrical connector, for your ground wire

you want to start by finding the ecu in the 7th gen, this took some time for me. usually you can find the ecu in the passager side kick panel, but this is not the case, I was also told you could find it behind the glove compartment, this is also not true.

where the ecu actually is will be in the center console directly undernearth the radio. you can gain access to it by removing a small trianglar piece on the side of the center console, this will be passager side and will be the farthest trim piece towards your firewall. there is a small fake plastic screw that holds it in, remove that and slide the trim piece towards your firewall.

the second piece of trim you will need to pull out is the covering undernearth the glove compartment. this just simply pulls down with some force, there is only retaining pieces that hold it up.

pull back your carpet and you will see the ecu.

the i-vtec solenoid wire is the one you want to tap. this wire will be the green and yellow wire found two connectors from the left side of the ecu. at this connector towards the top right, you will see a pin with the green and yellow wire, this is the one you want to tap. you may want to take a multimeter and hook on to that wire and go for a ride to make sure. this is how i discovered it.

Now you need to pick your led, I went with a blue one from radio shack. You will also have to figure out the resistance you are going to need the limit the voltage and current to your led. This is how you will need to figure that out.

Take your ratings off your led, mine was 3.7 V and 20 mA or 0.02 A.

Take note that sometimes you have more than twelve volts in your cars system, due to charging and regulation. To be safe let’s say you are running at 13.2 V.

13.2 (car’s voltage) – 3.7 (led voltage) = 9.5 V

9.5 V is the voltage you will have to dissipate across the resistor, so as to not fry your led.

Next you take your current
9.5 V / 0.02 A = 475 ohm this will be the resistance needed. I had to use a 470 ohm resistor because they do not make a 475.

Solder this resistor in the negative side of your led, this will be the shorter lead off the led.

I bought ¼ inch hole, led retainers from radioshack. They simply hold the lead and have a small trim around the hole you drill. Chose what you want to mount your led. You could even create a i-vtec label for it to light up on your guage. The led I used would be bright enough to light that up.

Now solder some wire to the led leads. I used a 18 guage wire for this. On the positive lead, run that wire to your ecu, you are going to have to snake this through your dash, good luck. As for the negative lead, the one with the resistor connected to it, run that one to a ground near by. I chose to run mine with my positive lead wire, if you do this you will have to mark one so as not to confuse them.

Once back at the ecu, use a splice connector to tap onto the green and yellow wire with the positive lead of the led. I had also ran the ground wire to the ecu, where I connected it to a body ground at a local bolt holding in the heater system.

I suggest testing the led out before mounting everything for good. Just take the car down the road and get into it a little.

Remount everything and you should be good.

What I noticed with this new i-vtec is that even in neutral i-vtec will kick in. it will also kick in at lower rpms, say as low as 1800. it depend on how hard you accelerate.

Good luck…