Gmt900 4wd Gauge Light Adapter

4x4txed · February 22, 2010

paypal sent chris....

Sir Dan · February 22, 2010

PM sent

4x4txed · February 24, 2010

any updates on shipping?

got it, thanks!

Sir Dan · February 26, 2010

Thanks to chris at Polymoto Engineering, I now have a functioning 4x4 indication on my gauge cluster. Install was not too bad and the needle work was not the worst part at all once you get over the initial apprehension...I recommend latex gloves and that canned air to blow lint away when re-assembling. The worst part was those damn snap-in trim fasteners on the dash panels that don't come loose until you nearly break the plastic! Amazingly, the only damage I did was a small nick on the lower right side, but man were those trim panels are stuck on and I don't know of an easy way to get them loose. The light looks great and dims with the dash lites at night. The only complaint as far as looks is that when in 4H (red) the bottom of the 4x4 symbol is much brighter than the top, but that's minor and probably unavoidable. Anyways, I'd highly recommend this mod to anybody handy with wiring and patient enough to work those trim pieces off.

C. Charles Hahn · February 26, 2010

The worst part was those damn snap-in trim fasteners on the dash panels that don't come loose until you nearly break the plastic

Very true.... if the parts have never been apart before or if you're not used to tearing GM vehicle interiors apart, those clips are a major pain. Once you've done it the first time and/or if you tear apart these type of assemblies on a regular basis they're not too bad.

cgalford · February 26, 2010

I'm glad you like it and thanks for the review. I'll try to figure out a solution to even out the red brightness.

Pulling apart the panels is a PITA but that's the trade off for better fit and finish. The GMT800 were almost too easy.

When I was working as a car stereo installer I would occasionally get people that would want to watch and I would caution them it's going to look and sound painful and they may not like it but that's the proper way.

ak63 · March 2, 2010

Summary: very professional looking unit/cables, straight-forward install (take your time), functions well, and looks great! Since I regularly use my 4WD multiple times per month, most months of the year (and a lot this winter), this has been a long overdue feature and my main complaint with the truck. The LED on the switch obscured by the shift column is simply not enough.

I just finished my install. Due to unrelated interruptions I do not have an exact install time. I'd reckon over 1 hour but less than 2 hours, and that was with me being extremely careful and methodical, never having installed anything like this in a vehicle before, and having a cable routing issue (see below).

Before starting this I'd highly recommend you watch the three install videos. It is not difficult, but they do help explain the process:

Tools you will need:

Torx T15
9/23" (or more correctly 7mm) socket driver
Torx T10
Six small pieces of painters tape - easily lifts off without leaving residue or removing cluster markings
Felt or gel pen type marker - something that marks the tape surface without having to be pressed down
Fine nosed snips, or sharp modeling type knife - to cut path for cable in cluster
Pliers - to crimp connectors

Tools that I also found helpful:

Smallish bright flashlight - I was working indoors in a garage
Small narrow bladed screwdriver - helped pry open some of the plastic tabs (saved my fingers)
Pair of latex gloves - to keep prints off the gauge cluster
Clean micro-fiber cloth - I finally got all the dust off the outside of the cluster plastic cover!

As noted by others above the gauge needle procedure is easier than some of the removing and re-fitting of the trim panels. Watch the videos, take your time, and apply pressure at the fastener points. I had no problems and everything re-assembled with no gaps or loose or broken pieces. Before you mark the needle positions push them very gently (but not enough to spin them on the shaft) anti-clockwise to ensure the stepper motors are actually against the bottom stop before marking. When I took my cluster off the truck the stepper motors/needles were sitting slightly above the bottom stop. After the install the needles all function perfectly. I have a ScanGauge II and I verified the analog speed, rpms, and charging voltage against the digital ODBII readings and they matched like they did before I dis-mantled the cluster.

The only minor glitch I had in my 2500HD was trying to route the power cable to the aux fuse panel. I was unable to find a path down behind the 4WD switch. Maybe I was not patient enough or my hands were too big, but instead I rerouted the power cable out the front, underneath the front trim, and down the gap at the right hand side of the steering column. This was also much easier.

One final piece of advice. When the 4WD switch was disconnected I accidentally turned the ignition on (the key went past the accessory position) when I was trying to move the shift lever to reinstall the trim around the radio. This is not an issue, but it did cause the 'Service 4WD' indication to come on. I am not exactly sure about the fastest method to reset this, but it did take a few ignition on/off cycles and operating the switch from 2WD to 4WD Hi with the ignition on before the 4WD in my truck operated again. It is probably a protective mechanism in the computer. It is completely unrelated to the new LED indicator unit as I previously had the identical problem when the unit was not installed.

Thanks to Chris at Poly Moto Engineering.

Xtremski74 · March 2, 2010

Any solution on the red brightness? I'm am very interested as I noticed that it is way harder to see the original indicator!

Sir Dan · March 2, 2010

Summary: very professional looking unit/cables, straight-forward install (take your time), functions well, and looks great! Since I regularly use my 4WD multiple times per month, most months of the year (and a lot this winter), this has been a long overdue feature and my main complaint with the truck. The LED on the switch obscured by the shift column is simply not enough.

I just finished my install. Due to unrelated interruptions I do not have an exact install time. I'd reckon over 1 hour but less than 2 hours, and that was with me being extremely careful and methodical, never having installed anything like this in a vehicle before, and having a cable routing issue (see below).

Before starting this I'd highly recommend you watch the three install videos. It is not difficult, but they do help explain the process:

Tools you will need:

Torx T15

9/23" (or more correctly 7mm) socket driver

Torx T10

Six small pieces of painters tape - easily lifts off without leaving residue or removing cluster markings

Felt or gel pen type marker - something that marks the tape surface without having to be pressed down

Fine nosed snips, or sharp modeling type knife - to cut path for cable in cluster

Pliers - to crimp connectors

Tools that I also found helpful:

Smallish bright flashlight - I was working indoors in a garage

Small narrow bladed screwdriver - helped pry open some of the plastic tabs (saved my fingers)

Pair of latex gloves - to keep prints off the gauge cluster

Clean micro-fiber cloth - I finally got all the dust off the outside of the cluster plastic cover!

As noted by others above the gauge needle procedure is easier than some of the removing and re-fitting of the trim panels. Watch the videos, take your time, and apply pressure at the fastener points. I had no problems and everything re-assembled with no gaps or loose or broken pieces. Before you mark the needle positions push them very gently (but not enough to spin them on the shaft) anti-clockwise to ensure the stepper motors are actually against the bottom stop before marking. When I took my cluster off the truck the stepper motors/needles were sitting slightly above the bottom stop. After the install the needles all function perfectly. I have a ScanGauge II and I verified the analog speed, rpms, and charging voltage against the digital ODBII readings and they matched like they did before I dis-mantled the cluster.

The only minor glitch I had in my 2500HD was trying to route the power cable to the aux fuse panel. I was unable to find a path down behind the 4WD switch. Maybe I was not patient enough or my hands were too big, but instead I rerouted the power cable out the front, underneath the front trim, and down the gap at the right hand side of the steering column. This was also much easier.

One final piece of advice. When the 4WD switch was disconnected I accidentally turned the ignition on (the key went past the accessory position) when I was trying to move the shift lever to reinstall the trim around the radio. This is not an issue, but it did cause the 'Service 4WD' indication to come on. I am not exactly sure about the fastest method to reset this, but it did take a few ignition on/off cycles and operating the switch from 2WD to 4WD Hi with the ignition on before the 4WD in my truck operated again. It is probably a protective mechanism in the computer. It is completely unrelated to the new LED indicator unit as I previously had the identical problem when the unit was not installed.

Thanks to Chris at Poly Moto Engineering.

I did the same thing with the 4x4 switch. I still had it disconnected and turned the key to get the shift lever down and the "Service 4WD" message came in to the DIC. Right away I figured out that it was the switch causing it so after I got the cluster back in, I shut off the key and reconnected the switch. No further message and everything worked correctly right away. It is tricky figuring out how to get the cluster and panels back in on the SUV dash since there is no removable top piece.

C. Charles Hahn · March 2, 2010

Any solution on the red brightness? I'm am very interested as I noticed that it is way harder to see the original indicator!

So by having the LED in the cluster, you're saying that the LEDs in the 4WD switch itself are now dimmer than they were before installing the new module?

cgalford · March 2, 2010

I think he was asking if I got the red color more even (see Sir Dan's Post above) since he's looking to buy one. Right now its about as even as the "brake" light for the parking break but there's still room for improvement and I'm working on it.

ak63 · March 2, 2010

So by having the LED in the cluster, you're saying that the LEDs in the 4WD switch itself are now dimmer than they were before installing the new module?

I did not notice any change in brightness on the LEDs on the 4WD switch after installing the unit. They are pretty dim and hard to see even without the unit installed.

I think they are discussing the relative brightness of the red and yellow "add-on" LEDs on the gauge cluster. On my 2500HD (with no auto) the yellow is 4WD High and the red is 4WD Low. There is a brightness difference, but not enough to bother me, and both are clearly visible. I am more than happy with the current unit especially since I can easily tell if I was in 4WD Low anyway. But I know that Chris would prefer it to be perfect. I wanted this to avoid a possibly expensive repair sometime later in case I did not notice it was in 4WD High.

ak63 · March 6, 2010

I was out midday today in full bright sunlight with sun glasses on and tried it out. Both yellow (4WD Hi) and red (4WD Lo) were clearly visible on the cluster gauge. Fantastic!

andyems · March 8, 2010

So how does it look at night? Dim like the other dash lights do? Does the light fill the whole indicator or it is brighter to one side like others have said? I'm going to order one as soon as he has more ready to ship. Post pics if you can.

cgalford · March 8, 2010

The lights dim at night with the other indicator lights and match the brightness of the factory lights in both day and night conditions. The difference in brightness is slight only in the red color (see pic from Sir Dan) but I've updated the design a bit so the color is more even. http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?...ost&id=1646

I really should make some promotional material that answer these questions, but I'm an engineer so I have a hard time with stuff like that. My sister's a graphic arts major, should get her to help me.

So how does it look at night? Dim like the other dash lights do? Does the light fill the whole indicator or it is brighter to one side like others have said? I'm going to order one as soon as he has more ready to ship. Post pics if you can.