Location for New LED's

[Skibum346]

Guys,

I'm wiring up my electric fans for the radiator to replace the viscous unit, I have two LED indicators to fit somewhere on the dash. Trouble is... I'm kinda stuck for ideas.

Where would you put a couple of LED's so that...

• They can be easily seen in a normal driving position
• They can be fitted without taking the whole dash apart

Remember that we are talking about a 1990 Disco 1, with the nasty bluer interior!

Looking forward to your input.

Skibum

[Andrew3012]

I'm assuming that these indicators are in addition to the front ones and your just looking to double up. why not put them on the back of the door mirrors? wiring will go throu the the door flexi tubes and in behind the mirror glass. just a thought......

[Skibum346]

I'm assuming that these indicators are in addition to the front ones and your just looking to double up. why not put them on the back of the door mirrors? wiring will go throu the the door flexi tubes and in behind the mirror glass. just a thought......

See... I knew this'd happen... not indicator indicators... telltale indicators... as in... they indicate that the coolant is overheating or that the fans are running!  :roll: :lol: :clap:

But thanks for the suggestion!

[disco toy]

See... I knew this'd happen... not indicator indicators... telltale indicators... as in... they indicate that the coolant is overheating or that the fans are running!  :roll: :lol: :clap:

But thanks for the suggestion!

Mine has a gauge on the dash to tell me if the coolant is overheating, I thought all modern landrovers had?

[feenix]

There's plenty of space on the binnacle, I've got my spot lamp warning lamp above my rear screen heater switch.  Be careful though cos LEDs these days are  :shock: bright. I've had to stick some masking tape over mine due to being blinded at night until I find a dimmer LED/some resistors.

To get the cables up undo the two screws holding the black inner cowling - take that off. I found it easier to undo the binnacle itself and lean it forwards, only 4 screws holding that in.

[Skibum346]

There's plenty of space on the binnacle, I've got my spot lamp warning lamp above my rear screen heater switch.  Be careful though cos LEDs these days are  :shock: bright. I've had to stick some masking tape over mine due to being blinded at night until I find a dimmer LED/some resistors.

To get the cables up undo the two screws holding the black inner cowling - take that off. I found it easier to undo the binnacle itself and lean it forwards, only 4 screws holding that in.

Perfect... that's my prefered location... looking at the handbook it looks like I'd have to take off the whole binnacle, disconnecting everything to get to that spot.

I'll give it a go on tommorrow afternoon and let you see the results.

Skibum

[Skibum346]

See... I knew this'd happen... not indicator indicators... telltale indicators... as in... they indicate that the coolant is overheating or that the fans are running!  :roll: :lol: :clap:

But thanks for the suggestion!

Mine has a gauge on the dash to tell me if the coolant is overheating, I thought all modern landrovers had?

Your absolutely right. However, the fans have been fitted with an overide switch to minimise water splash when wading. If the fans are left in the off state when normal driving resumes, it can lead to engine overheating. This LED is run off the thermostatic switch measuring the temp of the coolant as it exits the radiator (rather than that in the engine itself, and lights if the thermostatic switch would normally have switched the fans on, were they not manually set to off. In theory, this will be before any significant movement of the in dash engine temp gauge.

Hope that explains things.

Skibum

[Skibum346]

See... I knew this'd happen... not indicator indicators... telltale indicators... as in... they indicate that the coolant is overheating or that the fans are running!  :roll: :lol: :clap:

But thanks for the suggestion!

Mine has a gauge on the dash to tell me if the coolant is overheating, I thought all modern landrovers had?

Your right, but this is a different tell tale.

The fans will have three conditions, on permanent, off and thermostatically controlled (on only whenneeded, based on thermostatic switch). If set to off (to minimise splash when wading), there is a chance that the driver (me!) may forget to switch the fans back to the thermostatically controlled state. This tell tale will light when the thermostatic switch tries to switch the fans on when they are in the off state.

The benifit is that the thermostatic switch measures the water coming out of the radiator rather than the  water in the engine, so it will in theory, light earlier than any sign of overheating on the dashboard gauge.

Skibum

[feenix]

I used some of that corrugated mini ducting stuff to make it easier to poke wires through. Yes, you do need to disconnect the plugs from the back of the switches, but it's only a case of pluggin em back in again, once you remember which one is which  :P

[Skibum346]

I used some of that corrugated mini ducting stuff to make it easier to poke wires through. Yes, you do need to disconnect the plugs from the back of the switches, but it's only a case of pluggin em back in again, once you remember which one is which  :P

OK.... well... I guess I'll have to do that then... suppose it's just laziness on my part looking for an easy solution..!  8-[

Suppose extra switches and tell tales weren't something Land Rover thought about when the dash was designed eh?!  :roll:

Skibum

[disco toy]

I understand what you're doing it for now, good luck & remember to show us a photo when your done.

[chris9119]

I'm wiring up my electric fans for the radiator to replace the viscous unit

Frank, are you wiring the fans up in a master and slave configuration, i.e. one on at 70 and the other on at 75, or both operating together?

[burgerman]

 I put mine in the spare/ blank switch panels by the dash (9 heated rear screen fog lights ect

[Range Rover Blues]

Top of the steering column, that's where my 'sports mode' light is.

[Skibum346]

I'm wiring up my electric fans for the radiator to replace the viscous unit

Frank, are you wiring the fans up in a master and slave configuration, i.e. one on at 70 and the other on at 75, or both operating together?

Master and slave, it's an inherant function of the thermostatic switch. I forget for the moment which temperatures the two come on and off at but they are different ranges.

Skibum

[Skibum346]

I put mine in the spare/ blank switch panels by the dash (9 heated rear screen fog lights ect

I looked at that last night... but the spare switch positions are pretty much blocked visually by the steering wheel. One of the limitations to the design of the Disco IMHO!

Got the binnacle off last night, much easier than it looks in the book, though you do have to remember and remove the hazard light button. I'm now planning to put them either top right of the blue part of the surround, or one left and one right.

Skibum