pfbz

One of the things I missed most about my '82 SC was the great big, super-easy to read VDO tach... And you could index redline at twelve o-clock!



Maybe it is better with white or silver faced gauges, but I don't find the tach on my 996 particularly easy to read at a glance or out of my peripheral vision, so I decided to add an LED tach/shift light. I had read some good things about the Ecliptech Shift-i progressive shift indicator, so I decided to give one a try. $183 shipped...

Got some time to install it today, so far very happy! I decided to mount it on the stationary part of the steering console.


It comes in two versions, flat base or curved base. I ordered the curved base. As it turns out, the flat base might have been a bit easier to install in the spot I finally selected... No worries, I cut a small piece of Kydex and got out the heat gun to make a bracket for my curved shift light. I also used some friction tape to bundle the Shift-i wires into a harness. Closest stuff I've found to what Porsche uses for their harnesses.





Wiring is pretty easy. The Shift-i has three wires it needs connected. Switched power (red), ground (black), and a tach signal (blue). I had seen a couple of other installation notes describing taking apart the instrument panel and/or the center console to get power and ground and route the wires... All completely unnecessary.

Porsche's manufacturer-specific additions to the OBDii connector wiring have everything you need. The pins we will use are not required or used by OBDii, but manufacturer specific, so don't expect them to be on all other OBDii connectors. Fortunately Porsche has exactly the right wiring on their OBD connector. You can get easier access to the connector by removing the torx screws holding it in place.

• Pin 1(black/red) is switched power. Don't confuse it with Pin 16 (red/black) which is battery, always hot. The power rating on pin 1 is 5A. Shift-i doesn't rate the power consumption of their device, but a few LED's and a very small logic board, probably 500mA max. Connect this to the red Shift-i wire.
• Pin 4 (brown) is chassis ground. Don't confuse it with Pin 5 which is signal ground for OBDii! Connect this to the black Shift-i wire.
• Pin 9 (violet/green) is tach output. Fortunately Porsche provides this for us in such a convenient place! Connect this to the blue Shift-i wire.

To route the wires, others had described taking apart the instrument panel and removing some of the ventilation ducting... I opted for a slightly easier approach. Took a heavy-duty 36" zip tie and fed it up from the bottom. It was pretty easy to manipulate it out the steering column opening, then I just taped the Shift-i wires to it and used it as a wire pull.



The Shift-i is highly configurable and has many different modes... The way I currently have it set, each LED = 1,000 RPMS. My first four LED's are green (1K-4K RPM), five and six are yellow (which comes on at 5K and 6K RPM, and at 7K RPM, just below actual redline, the red LED comes on and the yellow/red flash quickly as a shift indicator. Again, you can set this up many different ways, but in this config, it really operates as a full range tach as well as a shift light. I think perfect for my needs...






Sorry, no pictures of the shift indicator... Will try and get a video of it in operation with 7K shifts.

Dennis C

I've actually considered this mod. It would be great at the track!

pfbz

Definitely... And while I don't have any great fear of bouncing off the rev limiter, it is so much smoother to time your shift just before the fuel cut. The 996 tach in my opinion is too hard to see in a track environment, and the stock exhaust is too quiet to do it by sound. I'm sure I would have developed more of a feel with more hours in the car, but the progressive shift lights make it so easy!

jml8785

I raced Spec Miata for a few years and used this shift light. Works great. Very visible using peripheral vision. Bright enough for the sunniest day. Programmable to your beginning rpm (the first green light) all the way to the "warning" lights and finally the red line. Great stuff!

jml8785

Is that an iPad mini install I see lurking in the background? Nice!

pfbz

Yup...

That one I documented more thoroughly over on6speedonline...

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/9...-996-mkii.html

996TWINS

I know this post is over a year old.

Thank you for the tip how to connect to the ODDII wiring harness.

Just installed mine today looks great. Just need to set up the upper and lower RPM range for the LEDs.

One tip would like to mention is that the OBDII plug is held in with 3 screws, not the 2 visible at the bottom edge of the dash. You need to remove the fuse box carpet bezel to get at it.

911mhawk

Was glad to find this old post since with an FVD wheel at 6'1" my tach is pretty obscured.
Made for a quick install!
I got a flat one that works well in a 996.

Thanks a bunch- M

johneecatt

JayG

I love Crocks, have lots of them . They actually work pretty well for H/T

pfbz

Glad the post was helpful...

As for the croc's, maybe we should try out their new racing version

NYoutftr

Thank you for the great how to, I been on the fence for this Shift Light or the Raptor shift Light w/launch.
Best part was the wire tie fish through the dash .

Ifest_997

anyone done this a 997.2? searched to death and havent found a guide. installer wants to tap ecu, but is there an easier way?

pfbz

I'm pretty sure the 997.2 obd2 wiring is going to be the same... Simple enough to try. Buy a $10 obd2 extension cable on Amazon and hook it up like suggested in the first post. Porsche uses the same PIWIS computers on all modern porsches, I can't believe they would have changed the pinout on the 997.2. Tell your installer to stay the hell away from the ecu.

nwGTS

No worries about tapping wires from ECU. It's very similar to the 997.1 but is a different lead. Just use the the ignition wire to one of the coil packs.
I've circled all 6 options here on the wiring diagram in green. Ignore the red ones. That was for a different project of mine.





PM if ?s.
I don't check this forum.. just found it randomly in google search.