[Pirate]

Wiring the Turn Signal kit

First effort is to remove the upper dash cover to expose the back of the instrument cluster and determine if the green directional arrows in the instrument cluster can be used for turn signal indicators.

Its clear that the windshield must be removed. I had the dealer install the windshield and the electric windshield wiper accessories. I also had the dealer install the heater/defroster accessory.

First thing was to remove the windshield wiper. Note in the pic that the wiper at rest is parallel to the top edge of the windshield. Pop up the cover over the end of the wiper and note that there is a nut holding the windshield wiper on. Use a 13mm socket to remove the nut. With a little gentle nudging the wiper will come off.

Remove the rubber grommet, the large nut and washer on the wiper motor shaft. I used a crescent wrench as I don’t have metric deep sockets that large.

Then remove the “anti-rotation” bolt to the Driver’s side of the wiper shaft. Use a 10mm socket. I used my cordless impact as the bolt is more than 2” long.

Wiggle the wiper motor and it will back out of the windshield plate. It will hang safely out of the way.

The windshield washer nozzle does not have to be removed. Simply clamp off the fluid hose to the nozzle and pull it off.

Turn the four windshield clamps 90 degrees, and with help, lift the windshield off and set it aside.

Now remove the following Push Rivets:

The five across the front of the upper dash panel.

The two on each front fender forward of the windshield.

The two on each front fender down the vertical face of the fender inside the cab, door open.

With these all removed and with help, you can lift up on the fender, in front of the forward edge of the upper dash and begin to wiggle the upper dash rearward. I found the most difficult part of this to be getting the upper dash edge that laps over the front cage down tubes. Work one side at a time and it will move.

The pic below shows the limit of movement I have on my upper dash panel. I used soft faced squeeze clamps to support the upper dash.

Forward of the steering wheel you can see that little grey rectangle. That is the instrument cluster wiring Here’s another better view of the plug. There is some extra room in the instrument cluster “box”, but before drilling holes, tilt the steering wheel all the way up and see if you have room.

Reach underneath the grey plug and there is a ½” lever latch. Push up on the lever at the end furthest from the plug interface and gently pull the plug out. The wiring harness has enough length to get the plug out of the dash and onto a towel or blanket over the under hood area.

In the pic above you can see two little somethings at the corners of the plug horizontal joint. Those are small clips that must be pried gently apart to open the plug.

In the pic below you can see that pin locations 6 and 7 have a blue cover over them. This is a ½” long blank that can easily be removed with tweezers or an exacto knife.

Pin 6 is the LEFT TURN SIGNAL INPUT

Pin 7 is the RIGHT TURN SIGNAL INPUT

My hope is that by having the turn signal system apply power to Pin 6 or Pin 7 it will cause the green indicator light to blink, just as in an automobile.

But first, I want to verify that’s how things work and not short out or melt the plug!!!

If you look at the face of the plug it uses the smallest tube connectors I’ve been around. Checked everywhere in town, nothing even close!!

So what to do? I took a look at how long the plug is, and how deep a wire must go to make contact with the pin in the instrument cluster. Turns out to be just about 1 ¼”.

So after several unsuccessful efforts I stripped a the end of a piece of 18 gauge wire to 1 ¼” and used a soldering iron to coat the wire with lead free solder. Thus making it rigid for inserting in the plug.

The pic below shows my test wire for clarification if needed.

Sure enough, with one end of the test wire connected to the HOT post on the under hood distribution block, the plug connected to the instrument cluster, and the soldered test wire pushed into the Pin 6 port, the left turn green indicator lights up.

With the soldered test wire pushed into the Pin 7 port the right turn green indicator lights up.

A couple of notes:

Using my good Craftsman digital multi-meter. On the under hood distribution block, from ground to the HOT post I read +12V. From the ground to the SWITCHED post I read -12V. I have no idea why. Yet! But if I connect my test wire to the SWITCHED post, turn the key on and insert the soldered wire into Port 6 or Port 7 I get nothing. Connect the test wire to the HOT post and the green indicator lights come on. Not sure if the motor needs to be running. But not able to do that yet with the front diff out.

It looks as though I can use the appropriate color wire, solder coated for 1 1/4” and pushed into the plug until the light illuminates…the wire will stay in place and do as intended.

Next post will be installing the turn signal switch on the steering column and test to see that the green indicators will blink with the turn signal flasher.

Pirate

 

[Alaskan47]

Hey pirate, you don't have an opening windshield right?

 

[Alaskan47]

Sorry. Forehead slap. Looked at pic again.

 

[Pirate]

Why would that affect what I'm pursuing? perhaps I wouldn't have to remove the windshield to get the upper dash piece moving?

 

[philbricks]

I am pretty sure you can just unplug the wiper motor at the connector?

 

[Pirate]

philbricks,

But with the camera mirror and the overhead stereo...none of the wiring for the wiper motor is visible. So leaving it hanging and just removing the shaft from the windshield made a lot more sense, and took only a minute.

Got the turn signal switch mounted to the steering column this morning...not a whole lot of space there...but that's next post. Hopefully this evening!!!

Pirate

 

[Alaskan47]

Sorry late reply. I didn't look closely enough at your pics. I thought you might have the opening windshield so I was wondering why you took it off. My bad! I'm loving your descriptive install. Saving this thread for the future.

 

[DEW]

Following this. Thanks Pirate

 

[polarislars]

Hey Pirate,
I'm also following this really close...
Have the everything installed and wired. Only problem I have, and did mention this in a different post, is that I only get the green indicator light to work when key is turned and engine NOT running. As soon as I start the engine the indicators don't do anything.
I am using led turn signals.

 

[Ironsbrandon]

this is some good reading Pirate, and for you volt reading issue if you put the black test lead from your volt meter to power and the red lead to ground your polaritry is wrong. if you switch the test leads around you should read +12 volts.

 

[Pirate]

Funny, I use the same volt meter connections in both cases. Black on the ground post, red on the Hot or the Switched, and the Hot is +12V and the Switched is -12V

Wondering if it has something to do with whether or not the engine is running and thus the charging system operating.

Hmmmm

Phase 2 is about done. I just have to get the pics on Photobucket and then the write up.

I see on this Forum you're supposed to be able to "drop & drag" files for uploading. Anyone have any success with that...can you share that?

Pirate

 

[Pirate]

Turn Signals Phase 2

I purchased my turn signal kit from:

Edgewater Custom Golf Carts

“Club Car Precedent “Gas” Golf Card Turn Signal, Brake Light, Horn Upgrade Kit
#UG2 (171884994669) for $99.95

I chose this kit because it came with a chrome control that mounts on the steering column and came with brake light control so that I can tie into the General LED taillights. Also the turn signal arm has the horn button on the end. No more button on the dash.

To mount the control on the steering column I purchased, on Amazon, a couple of years ago. From Street Unit Performance. Here is a link to the 2” clamp required:

SURE Motorsports 2.00" Stealth Clamps

I also purchased their “Drive Hose Clamp Liner” that covers the clamp and makes for a better look. It is necessary to cut the liner so that it just covers the top of the clamp. Due to the signal control and the worm drive of the clamp. But makes for a nicer look that a hose clamp. Also I cut one of the liners to the length that just fits the circumference of the steering column. Something for the hose clamp to grip to without damaging the finish of the steering column. And being a silicone rubber, it won’t allow the signal control to move.

For front turn signal indicators I purchased two Flush Mount LED Turn Signals, Item Code 700-3176. From MONSTERGY6. Here is a link to the ones I purchased:

Flush Mount LED Turn Signals - MonsterGY6.com

And here they are installed:

Look very nice and are very bright, and thus very visible.

As this is a different post, here is the instrument cluster enclosure with the dash upper cover off:

I brought the turn signal control wiring harness up under the dash at the left rear corner of the instrument cluster enclosure. That would be the lower right corner in the pic. This keeps the wiring harness away from the steering column and tilt cylinder.

Here is the turn signal switch final assembled on the steering column. Note the horn button on the end of the lever.

Here is a pic of the turn signal switch with the wheel turned about 30 degrees to the left.

And here is a pic of the wheel straight ahead. Note the instrument cluster is unimpeded by the turn signal switch.

Very nice look!!

So now the fun begins, wiring the turn signals using the General rear LED tail and brake lights. Here is the wiring diagram that came with the kit:

A few notes as I move along:

The yellow and brown wires to the flasher outlet come pre-wired. The harness wiring is not the longest. So I mounted the flasher in the right rear corner of the instrument cluster enclosure. Checked to make sure that when the tilt wheel is all the way up, there is no interference.

I did two more things. I used a “mounting tab” for zip ties on the back vertical face of the instrument enclosure to hold the flasher in place. And I used a longer zip tie around the flasher and its plug to make sure the flasher wouldn’t come loose in rough terrain.

Just like these and we’ve all used them, I’m sure.

One thing I have already learned about the General is it has a very tight cab…its very difficult to get wiring out of the cab and into the under hood area.

I did purchase three of the Grommet-Electrical, Cab Polaris PN As there are two under the hood now, and they look to be a means to get wiring through with very little leakage potential for dust or water.

I chose to bring the wiring through the “box” to which the radiator overflow bottle is attached. By removing one Push Rivet you can verify there is nothing inside the box. First I used a 1 ¾” hole saw to cut the hole for the Grommet-Electrical, Cab in the top of the box. Then I had to reach through that hole to drill a ¾” hole through the firewall to get the turn signal wiring harness through:

As you can see, not the easiest task, but went very well. Do be sure to control the drill so that your drill just cuts the firewall plastic. Pushing the drill much further will wad up or cut heater/defroster hoses. Yes, there are a lot of them, and I’m sure glad the dealer did the install. Doesn’t look like much fun at all!!
With the hole drilled in the firewall, and the Push Rivet removed from the corner, you can use something like a short piece of 2x4 to wedge between the box and firewall to assist in getting all the wiring through the Firewall and then up through the grommet and into the under hood area.

This pic shows an awful lot, but behind the coolant overflow bottle you can see the grommet and the turn signal wiring harnesses coming through the grommet.

Its probably early in this write up, but you’re looking at the picture. All of my wiring is enclosed in “split loom” wiring cover. I use a 3” piece of Scotch 88 electrical tape around the split loom every 6 inches to keep things together.

I used ¼”, 3/8” and ½” split loom for this project.

Looking at the grommet, you can see three split loom harnesses. The ½” carries the front turn signals, the horn and the power and ground for the turn signal switch.

The 3/8” split loom carries the rear brake lights and rear turn signals.

The ¼” carries the brake pressure switch wire.

An interesting thing about the grommets, they come with the location for splitting the center to allow wiring or tubing to pass, but you need only make the cuts to have a hole large enough to pass what you need through. By limiting the size and number of cuts, you improve the ability of the grommet to keep water out.

So now the wiring:

From the ½” split loom coming through the grommet:

The Brown (Orange in my case) and the Black are power to the signal switch control. I ran the Orange to the “Switched” block and put in a 20A fuse. The Black goes to my brass ground post (bolt).

From the ½” split loom into a ¼” split loom:

Green goes to the left front turn signal. An important and very frustrating issue with the Monstergy6 LED lights. They have two wires, one red, one white. By electrical standards the red would be the hot wire and the white the neutral/ground. Well, having cut all the wiring to overlap splices neatly. I found that the white wire is the hot wire and the red ground. Being an LED (Light Emitting Diode) power flows in one direction only…and for these lights, its from white to red. So messed up my beautiful wiring, but the fix is all covered with split loom so no one will ever know…except me!!!

I added a separate Black ground wire running from the brass ground post to the LED turn signal, also splits off and runs to one post of the electric horn and then splits again and runs under the radiator and across to the right front turn signal. Another note, I choose not to use the typical splice crimp connector. Instead I cut the main wire and strip ½” at both ends. Then strip my offshoot wire ½” at one end. Then twist one end of the main wire and the offshoot wire together, place them in one end of a crimp butt connector an crimp. Then put the other end of the main wire into the other end of the crimp butt connector and crimp. Much nicer looking, fits in down to ¼” split loom and is, to me, a better splice.

Blue/White (Blue in my case) goes to one post on the electric horn.


From the ½” split loom into another ¼” split loom:

Just the red going to the right front turn signal. Remember the issue of checking which side of the LED gets power.


You can see a ¼” split loom coming through the grommet.

It contains a Grey/Black (In my case Purple) wire. This is a major difference between turn signal kits that add light fixtures for each of the four turn signals. In my case, I chose a Signal Switch Control that allows me to use the General’s rear LED taillights for the rear turn signals.

The system must know when the brakes are applied with a turn signal on…one brake light will light up solid and the other will flash. Just like an automobile.

Where to tie in the Purple wire? The tie-in point needs to be at a location down stream of the brake switch that gives a permissive for the engine to start. Thus an excellent location is downstream of the brake switch.

On the General, the brake switch is on the inside of the brake system master cylinder. If you remove a bit of the black cloth tape Polaris uses to cover wire harnesses on the General you will find two wires. One is Red/Dark Blue and one is Orange/Blue. If you use a test light you will find that neither has voltage present. The brake switch simply completes a circuit giving the permissive. The Orange/Blue wire is the downstream wire to be spliced into with the Purple wire. Thus the engine start permissive function is not affected.

Here’s a pic of the brake switch connector and my Purple wire. The Orange wire is the one to splice into.

You can see a 3/8” split loom coming through the grommet.

This 3/8” split loom comes out of the new grommet and back through the firewall at the existing grommet. It contains a White and a Grey wire. These are the wires that will run to the rear taillights to provide turn signals.

The General has a very tight cab. Thus running wire through and down the cab side of the firewall is a real challenge and will surely cost you a bit of flesh and blood!!

First, remove the four Push Rivets that hold the lower console cover in place. There are two on the Passenger side of the cover and one in the center of each end of the cover. I ran the wires in 3/8” split loom down the firewall, along the Polaris harness and the split loom cover over the rear view camera harness.

Here is a pic of the open lower console and the wiring harnesses:

Now we reach another location of importance in wiring:

Tilting the bed up you will see the connector in the pic below on the top of the frame.

There are four wires in the connector:

Red/Dark Blue – Taillights

Orange – Left Brake Light

Orange/Blue – Right Brake Light

Brown – Ground


The forward end of the connector is shown in split loom indicated with two yellow 4” zip ties. The split loom covers where I removed the Polaris harness cover to expose the four wires. About 2” forward of the connector cut the Orange wire and the Orange/Blue wire. Use electrical tape to cover the cut ends of the Orange wire and the Orange/Blue wires and fold them forward over the harness. They are disconnected and not used again.

Use butt crimp connectors to connect the White wire to the Orange/Blue and the Grey to the Orange wires. Then cover the exposed harness and wires with ½” split loom

This done, the Signal Control Switch now controls the brake lights and the front and rear turn signals.

One disappointment, the wires I soldered and inserted into the instrument cluster plug do not cause the green directional arrows in the instrument cluster to flash. I can pull the wires out of the plug, attach a test light and they flash. Push it back into the plug and nothing.

I am pleased that the LED indicators on the Signal Switch Control are bright, and the Control makes a good sound to let you know a turn signal is on.

And voila turns signals, a step towards being "street legal"

Pirate

 

[MMX]

Nice work Pirate.

Makes me want signals on mine, and I don't even need them. lol

 

[polarislars]

One disappointment, the wires I soldered and inserted into the instrument cluster plug do not cause the green directional arrows in the instrument cluster to flash. I can pull the wires out of the plug, attach a test light and they flash. Push it back into the plug and nothing.

Hey Pirate,
Very detailed look into your mod. thanx

The problem with the directional arrows is driving me crazy too.

 

[Pirate]

Irons,

Yup, black to ground and red to the "switched" post on the under hood terminal block. With motor off, reads -12V

Haven't tried it with the motor running...but the turn signal control switch is connected to the "switched" block and with key on...everything works fine.

I dunno!!

Pirate

 

[reedjet]

Did anyone ever figure out the turn signal indicator problem. I just wired one up and they only work key on engine off, as soon as you fire it up the outside signal work but the gauge ones do not it is driving me crazy

 

[Pirate]

Reed,

Help me understand what you're saying....you added an aftermarket turn signal switch and it only works with the key in the "ON" position, but it doesn't work after the engine is started?

But you wired to and the two green arrows in the Instrument Cluster continue to work after the engine is started?

Did I get this right?

Pirate

 

[reedjet]

Green arrows on dash only work key on engine off. As soon as you fire it dash indicators no longer work yet outside blinkers still do. Must be getting some kind of tach interference?? do your arrows on dash work? Or are you using indicators on installed blinkers switch?

 

[RockinRonnie]

As with all new vehicles the lights are most likely hot all the time and ground switched! that's why they work with engine off and not with engine running and why pirate got his -12 volt reading . JMO.

 

[Pirate]

Ronnie,

Had to remind me didn't ya!

Well, that's why I ran another hot wire from the battery forward to under the hood. It's a #8 stranded copper, red jacket wire. It's fused back at the battery with a large blade 30A fuse.

It goes to a fused distribution block that is hot all the time. From there a hot wire goes to a relay that is triggered by the Polaris switched accessory wire. Thus my turn signals and horn only work with the ignition switch is in the "ON" position.

To activate the green turn signal indicators in the Instrument Cluster...I tapped into the wires running from the Turn Signal Switch to the left and right front turn signals and ran those wires to the Instrument Cluster plug. The turn signals use pins 6 & 7. But I'm still struggling to find the correct pins. Found a new route to perhaps find the pins/plug and will post that if I find them! Wish me luck!

Pirate