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Dakota Digital GSS-3000

This blog post will show you the connections that you need to make between your Infinitybox 20-Circuit Kit and the Dakota Digital GSS-3000 Universal Gear Shift Sender.  The GSS-3000 is designed to drive the gear selector indicators on your dash from any automatic transmission.  Their kit has a rotary potentiometer that connects to the shift linkage on the transmission.  It learns the position of the different gears and sends signals to indicators on your dash to show you what gear you are in.  It is a simple and clever product.  The Dakota Digital GSS-3000 has contacts that are designed to drive your back up lights when you have the transmission in reverse.  It also has a set of contacts for a Neutral Safety Switch.  This sends out a signal when the transmission is in park or neutral and it is safe to start the engine.  Your Infinitybox system can take in these two signals to easily drive your back up lights and manage your Neutral Safety Switch.  Keep reading to learn more.

Before you go any further, it is important that you read and carefully understand the instructions for your Dakota Digital GSS-3000 Universal Gear Shift Sender.  You can download these instructions from their website by clicking here.  This blog post is only going to cover the ignition power to the GSS-3000, the neutral safety signal and the connection to the back up lights.  Please follow their instructions for the rest of the wiring to the module.  This picture will show the wiring diagram for the connections to the GSS-3000.

Picture of Infinitybox Wiring Diagram for the Dakota Digital GSS-3000

Picture of Infinitybox Wiring Diagram for the Dakota Digital GSS-3000

First, you need to provide key-on ignition power to the module.  When the key is in the run position, the module will get its power.  You’re going to tap into the ignition output on your front POWERCELL.  Check your configuration sheet for the wire color for your ignition output.  You can splice into this wire directly or you can use one of our Splice Saver Kits to make a simple and clean connection for ignition power.

Next, you can take their Back Up signal and use it to control the back up lights in the back of you car.  The advantage of doing it this way is that you’re running less wire.  The signal will come from the GSS-3000 in the front of the car and connect to the MASTERCELL, also in the front of the car.  The back up lights will get their power from the rear POWERCELL.  You are not running a wire all the way from the GSS-3000 in the front of the car to the back up lights in the rear of the car.  The GSS-3000 puts out a positive signal for the back up lights.  You need to use one of our inVERT Minis to flip this to a ground signal.  See the details in the wiring diagram for how to make these connections.

Lastly, you can use the Dakota Digital GSS-3000 to send the MASTERCELL the signal for the Neutral Safety Switch.  The MASTERCELL needs to see a ground signal through the input for the Neutral Safety Switch.  Check your configuration sheet for specifics on the wire color for your system.  This blog post will get you more details on the Neutral Safety Switch input.  In a lot of transmissions, there is a switch built into them that will give you this signal for when it is safe to start the engine.  If your transmission does not have a built-in safety switch, you can use the signal from the GSS-3000.  This is a ground signal from their SAFETY terminal.  We recommend wiring a 1N4001 diode in series with the MASTERCELL input to isolate the MASTERCELL from the GSS-3000.  This blog post will get you more details about wiring this diode in line.  When you have the transmission in the park or neutral position, the MATERCELL will get the signal that it safe to start the engine.

The is an important consideration here regarding using the GSS-3000 neutral safety signal and the Infinitybox built-in One-Button Start feature.  This feature will not work if you are taking the neutral safety signal from the GSS-3000.  Since the GSS-3000 is getting its power from the ignition output from your POWERCELL, the module will not trigger the neutral safety signal in time for the MASTERCELL to process this.  You will need to use an external neutral safety switch if you want to use our One-Button Start feature and the GSS-3000.

You can download a PDF version of this wiring diagram by clicking this link.

Our technical support team is always available to help you wire your car or truck with our Infinitybox system.  Click this link to contact our team with any questions.

 

 

Reverse Lockout Solenoid

A customer just sent us pictures showing how he wired a switch into his transmission shifter to control his reverse lockout solenoid.  He wanted to make sure that he couldn’t accidentally shift into reverse when he was in the upper gears.  By using our Infinitybox wiring system, he was able to easily control this solenoid.

Ed K. is building a 1968 Pro-Touring Mustang fastback.  He has transplanted a Coyote engine from a 2014 Mustang and mated it to a Tremec T56 6 speed transmission, feeding a Ford 9 inch rear end for the drivetrain.  He is using our 20-Circuit Kit with inLINK, inRESERVE and inMOTION to wire his car.

The Tremec transmission is outfitted with a solenoid lockout feature that further pre-loads an already compressed spring acting on the shift gate to prevent accidentally engaging reverse while downshifting from 6th gear to 5th gear, which would be catastrophic. In order to engage reverse, when desired, this solenoid must be energized to remove this extra spring pre-load. Typically, this solenoid is energized by a body controller when the car is moving at 5 miles per hour or less to allow a shift into reverse. Ed wanted a simpler way to engage this reverse lockout solenoid in his 1968 Mustang.

Ed modified the shift lever to add a microswitch to it.  When he pulls up on the shifter handle, the switch closes.  He can use this switch to control his reverse lockout solenoid.

Ed picked the OPEN output on his front POWERCELL to power his reverse lockout solenoid.  The OPEN outputs on your configuration sheet can be used for practically anything.  They are auxiliary outputs for any additional electrical accessories that you may have on your car.  Click on this link to learn more about OPEN outputs.

Ed connected this open POWERCELL output wire to the solenoid, then grounded the other side of the solenoid wiring.

Next, Ed found the MASTERCELL input that corresponds to the OPEN output that he used.  Your configuration sheet shows you which input and output wire colors go together.  Ed connected this MASTERCELL input to the normally open terminal on his shifter switch.  Then he connected the common terminal of the switch to ground.  When he pulls up on the reverse handle, the switch closes.  This connects the MASTERCELL input to ground.  The MASTERCELL sends a command to the front POWERCELL to turn on the output, which energizes the reverse lockout solenoid.  This pulls back the reverse gate, which lets him shift into reverse.  Here is a simple wiring diagram showing how this was connected.

Picture of simple schematic showing how to control a reverse lockout solenoid with the Infinitybox system.

Picture of simple schematic showing how to control a reverse lockout solenoid with the Infinitybox system.

Ed was able to wire his reverse lockout solenoid easily with our Infinitybox system.  He didn’t have to add any relays to his car to do this.  He was able to use the flexibility and expandability of our system to get what he needed in his car.

You can download a PDF version of this wiring diagram by clicking this link.

Click on this link to learn more about what the Infinitybox system can do for your restoration, street rod, resto-mod, kit car or pro-touring build.