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Post by gtiguy on Feb 13, 2017 18:01:40 GMT
So Ive noticed this round LED in the center of the tach near the blue Hi Beam LED and TPMS LED (in between 7k and 8k RPM). I never noticed it had any kind of function nor has it ever illuminated for me. Anyone know what it is for? And if its not used....could it possibly be used as a shift light? Maybe it could be programmed to illuminate at whatever RPM you wanted to shift at. Any ideas?
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Post by dv52 (Australia) on Feb 13, 2017 22:35:09 GMT
^^^^^^ gtiguy: Excellent question!
It certainly looks like an LED, but has never illuminated because it ain't an LED! The dot in your picture is actually the body of a photo-transistor (which normally has a clear housing) and its job is to monitor the quantity of light that falls onto the dash. I'm not sure if you have noticed, but the instrument cluster is illuminated during day and nighttime albeit it is sometimes difficult to see the lighting during strong sunshine. This illumination is controlled by a "dimming curve" and the photo-transistor controls where on the curve the cluster lights will illuminate
If you have an interest, try this - at nightime, switch on the ignition, but turn the rotary light switch to the 0 position. Shine a torch onto the red dot in your picture and the cluster illumination will increase and stay increased for a period of time after the torch light is removed. What you are seeing is the operation of the internal "dimming curve"!
It's possible to alter the "dimming curve" so that the instrument cluster illumination alters - for example, if you tint the car windows, it will alter the dashboard lighting because the sunlight in the cabin is changed. I've designed a tweak for this situation that modifies the "dimming curve" values - but it only works on pre MY16 models because a security code is needed for the tweak
Don
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Post by gtiguy on Feb 15, 2017 11:27:45 GMT
Oh wow ok. I had no idea the dash had its own light level sensor. Thanks for the detailed description Don!
To go back to the shift light idea... Don, have you ever heard of or experimented with programming some sort of light to come on as a shift warning? Maybe have something like the "speed warning" display come on at a certain RPM or perhaps have one of the warning lights within the tach illuminate?
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Post by dv52 (Australia) on Feb 15, 2017 22:28:00 GMT
^^^ gtiguy: Great idea, but no I haven't. happy to be proven wrong, but I don't believe that there is an easily accessible facility in the mk7 for this function. Might be possible by hacking an external OBD device- but just guessing
on
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Post by 1413ant on Feb 16, 2017 21:34:41 GMT
Oh wow ok. I had no idea the dash had its own light level sensor. Thanks for the detailed description Don! To go back to the shift light idea... Don, have you ever heard of or experimented with programming some sort of light to come on as a shift warning? Maybe have something like the "speed warning" display come on at a certain RPM or perhaps have one of the warning lights within the tach illuminate? My 2015 golf has a shift indicator stock. It's on the top right of your instrument cluster I will take a photo next time I'm in the car. It will display the gear you're in and have a small arrow then show the next gear you should shift into.
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Post by 1413ant on Feb 16, 2017 21:37:51 GMT
My bad I didn't read fully you wanted to set it to show at a certain rpm. The stock shift indicator comes on way too early in my opinion.
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Post by gtiguy on Feb 16, 2017 23:24:36 GMT
My bad I didn't read fully you wanted to set it to show at a certain rpm. The stock shift indicator comes on way too early in my opinion. I agree...way too early. I was thinking more of a performance orientated shift light, not one for fuel efficiency haha.
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