My current project: JDM Climate Control - Page 4 - Honda Prelude Forum

go pre · 08-03-2002, 02:29 PM

just got back from the junk yard.. luckily they had a 97 cl with all of the interior still intact. i managed to pick up a few things:

outside temp sensor

inside temp sensor

sunlight sensor

power transistor

i opened it up and it looks like its pretty much just a regular transistor with a big heatsink and a capacitor wired in there.

i also swiped a few relays

and a moonroof switch, just because mine is worn down and this one said ////Alpine on the back

I guess what I need now is the air mix control motor, heater valve, and the evaporator sensor. I could have got that last sensor today but i felt sorry for the guy having to take the whole dash out and the evaporator was way in there. I'll probably go back next week to pick it up.. I've got a few parts to keep me busy in the meantime.

go pre · 08-03-2002, 02:48 PM

oh yeah, and one more thing. in the writeup it says to splice into the blu/red wire connected to the blower motor. i just wanted to clarify that this is the same wire as the blu/red wire on the 5-wire usdm harness going to the climate control. i'll probably attempt to connect the blower motor tonight and let everyone know how it goes.

Forbidden · 08-03-2002, 03:39 PM

Nice

your lucky you have a scrap yard that had a CL in your area, last friday I tried going to one of the biggest (if not the biggest) scrap yard around here but couldn't even find where it is... one thing I noticed though, do you have the connector for the transistor assembly?

Also yes the wire is the same it's just it splits in 2 somewhere in the harness, one goes right before it splits in 3-4 before the blower resistor and the other goes directly to the 5 wire connector on the USDM climate control unit.

For the heater valve I don't think you'll be able to find on on the 97 CL, I'm still trying to find from which car I could get one... I guess next time I go to my Acura dealer I'll ask them to popup a few hoods

Good luck man, let me know how it goes

go pre · 08-03-2002, 06:21 PM

ok.. I just hooked up all the wires for the blower motor. turned the ignition and air began to blow immediately. changing the fan setting did nothing, it was on full power all the time. after about 10 seconds, i noticed some smoke coming from underneath the control unit and so i shut everything off. i then disconnected the transistor and relay for the blower and turned it back on, the control unit seems to work like it did before. so, hopefully nothing was damaged.

i hooked it up according to forbidden's writeup and wiring diagram for the blower. the one thing i did different was i did not connect wires 1 to 3 in the diagram, because that section looked a little vague in the pic. so, wire 1 should connect to wire 3 and not wire 2 right? i also couldn't tell which way to look at the transistor when hooking it up, but i figured i could try out both configurations to see which one worked. after i noticed that i couldn't change the fan speed, i swapped the positions and that's when the smoke started coming out.

who knows, maybe the transistor is just not compatible?

Forbidden · 08-03-2002, 08:07 PM

Ouch... hope you didn't break something...

The black dots are where there's a connection between the wires, wire 3 is not connected to wire 2, for the transistor I just figured out there's a side on these, I just changed that out in my diagram.

I still don't understand how transistor works, but I would tend to believe that the one from the CL is compatible with the JDM climate control since it's 12V on both car, the reason you couldn't control th blower might have been cause you didn't connect the wire 1 and 3 together (I didn't really put the numbers for the wires in the diagram, they were there for the end of the wire like where to hook up that wire). Also you must've had the transistor hooked up the right way the first time, that might be why you saw smoke when you wired it the other way...

I hope your unit is still working correctly... if there's something else that's not clear let me know

go pre · 08-03-2002, 08:32 PM

thanks for the help.. i'll try rewiring it again tomorrow, i'm just a little more cautious now of burning something you know. I spliced into the blk/yel wire near the recirc control motor like you suggested, but for the blu/red wire i just connected it up at the 5p harness. maybe i should just bypass the resistors somehow?

anyway, is it just me or is this turning into a 2-person thread?

anyone else got some info to share?

ludebeginnings · 08-03-2002, 09:31 PM

I'm thoroughly impressed and just about as far confused...been considering trying this mod, but the more info dropped here, the more nervous I get.
Don't think I have the knowledge necessary to try this, might read a few books first (I like to learn before I break thinkgs) & then try to get all the parts. Go pre, if I can get all the necessary parts, you trying to assist with the install....come on...I'll get you a six pack...

Forbidden · 08-03-2002, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by go pre
thanks for the help.. i'll try rewiring it again tomorrow, i'm just a little more cautious now of burning something you know. I spliced into the blk/yel wire near the recirc control motor like you suggested, but for the blu/red wire i just connected it up at the 5p harness. maybe i should just bypass the resistors somehow?

anyway, is it just me or is this turning into a 2-person thread?

anyone else got some info to share?

Did you keep the blower resistor box? If so remove it, you don't use it on the JDM climate control, that's why there's a transistor, it replaces it. I don't think it matters where you connect the transistor on the BLU/RED wire but I guess if you could hook it up before where the wire splice in 2, it would be better...

Yeah it's almost been you and I for quite a while, I guess there are people waiting 'til it's finish to get the info on how to install it from us

prelude2005 · 08-03-2002, 10:25 PM

haha, if this is was plug and play...i would buy it in a heart beat.

Im good at wiring, but im scared to blow something up or fry my ECU.

Anyway, if anyone is willing to make an adapter for Plug and Play...ill but it from you hahaha

Forbidden · 08-03-2002, 11:42 PM

I don't see how someone could make an adapter to make it plug and play, since there's a bit more than just swapping connectors... I guess once we have it fully functionnal, we'll be able to tell you how to do it without frying your ECU

PreludeRacer023 · 08-04-2002, 12:26 AM

if you had a prelude front clip..wouldnt it all be in there? including a harness to plug into? just curious..peace

Forbidden · 08-04-2002, 07:17 AM

Yes with a front clip everything should be there, it would still not be plug and play but you'd have all the parts you need that harness you have to splice the wire into is the main harness, it goes into the engine bay and all the way under the dash from one side to the other

go pre · 08-04-2002, 10:38 AM

ok.. I just tried wiring the blower motor again and still no luck. fan just turns on full blast and won't change speeds. i removed the connector from the blower resistor, and i patched wires 1 and 3 together. so, I'm really at a loss for what to try next. is there a way i can test the fan speed wire on the control unit with my multimeter to make sure it's still working?

Forbidden · 08-04-2002, 12:56 PM

If the fan turns on at full blast it means you're close to having it working. Probably a wire not connected correctly or something like that. Have you grounded the #6 wire? Check the diagram I made and make sure every place there's a dot the wire are connected and where the wires end on my diagram it means it goes to a wire you already have in your car.

go pre · 08-04-2002, 03:11 PM

I just played around with it a little more and noticed a few things. i have the transistor hooked up in the first configuration that i tried and it doesn't smoke anymore, so that's good. once i was sure it wasn't going to burn up, i started playing with it.

it seems now that i can get 2 speeds, which are equivalent to full blast and a step down from that. when i press the fan button to increase the speed to full (4 bars) on the display, the relay will click about a second after i press the button, and then the fan speed increases to full blast. when I press the button again, the speed immediately goes back down 1 step (although it shows only 1 bar on the display) and i can hear the relay click immediately as well. so, to avoid confusion, the actual fan speed is around level 3 when the display shows 1,2,or 3 bars, and the actual speed is 4 when the display shows 4 bars.

i dont' know much about electrical stuff but it seems like one of the components isn't working correctly. even when i press the off button on the control unit the fan still blows at speed 3.

Forbidden · 08-04-2002, 10:40 PM

My guess is that the transistor is not hooked up the right way... ok when you look at the top of the transistor with the single connector on top, the single connector is for the BLU/RED wire the one on the left would be the #5 wire and the one on the right would be the #6 (ground) wire.

Anybody got a picture of a JDM Climate Control unit at night? I think I have a few LED or bulb or whatever what's inside it that doesn't work...

shadowZZ · 08-05-2002, 03:36 AM

Wow reading this makes me very confused, good job on the play by play Forbidden, question for you, I have a couple JDM prelude front clips sitting around, what would I need to take out of these ludes to have the JDM climate control working? Since I do have everything that came from the JDM lude will this make the install easier, do I follow with the JDM wiring? Or is it totally different? Sorry for all the questions. I never have really thought about doing this but after reading your thread is doesnt seem as difficult as I thought it would be, also will this be easier since I have no A/c sorry for all the questions but you have got me thinking now of adding something kool to my car! -Nick

Forbidden · 08-05-2002, 09:38 AM

If you have access to a front clip you should have all the parts you need in there, I've updated my write-up and included where the parts are located on the JDM Prelude. If you can, take the wiring that goes from the back of the climate control and follow the wires as long as you can, but there are wires that goes almost everywhere in the car and the harness they are in is the main harness. If you can't have all the wiring you need just cut it a few inches after the connector so you can splice the wires and try to get a few inches of the wires after the connectors for the sensors and all other parts too. It won't really be easier to do even if you have all JDM parts but you won't have to search for parts if you can have all the parts you need. The hardest part will be to adapt the air-mix control motor on your heater blower. As for A/C it won't make thing harder or easier to do if you don't have if since it's only a single wire.

go pre · 08-05-2002, 12:12 PM

I just read up a little bit on transistors and relays, and tested the voltages on the wires in this circuit for the fan blower:

this was without the transistor hooked up, just the relay:
#2 wire is getting slightly over 12v, #4 is getting around 12v, #3 is getting 12 volts, and wire 5 is getting no voltage.

From what I understand of how a transistor works, wire #5 connects to the base of the transistor and will have an effect on the voltage going to #6, the emitter. so, theoretically the fan speed should be controlled by the voltage going through wire 5 from the control unit, but I'm not getting any voltage on that wire at any of the fan settings.

so, either my control unit is busted or it's the wrong wire. forbidden, can you please double check your diagrams again and make sure it's the WHT/BLU wire on the jdm 16p harness?

go pre · 08-05-2002, 12:17 PM

oh yeah and here is a pic of the control unit at night..

i think i might have a bulb burnt out though too, because my defrost symbol doesn't light up.