Shift Lights. Which one works with what?

May 7, 2020
  1. Can I install a shift light with my existing tachometer?Short answer is “sure”. Long answer is: Yes, but the shift light you choose depends on the tachometer you have. If you have a tachometer that has shift light controls on the front, and has a 2-wire, rectangular connector, you may then plug in the AutoMeter Quick Lite, the AutoMeter Super Lite, or the AutoMeter Shift Lite.

    If you are using a factory tachometer, or an aftermarket tachometer that does not have shift light controls, you may still use any of the above mentioned shift lights, but you will now need an RPM Switch, an RPM Activated Module, or Playback Box. Examples of these items are 5312, 5313, and 5314, as well as the recently discontinued 5310. Even if you are running no tachometer, you may still use the RPM activated devises, and any of the above shift lights.

  2. Can I use a shift light without an RPM module, or tachometer?Yes, however you need to choose a “stand-alone” shift light. This would be a shift light that has its own built in circuit to read RPM. An example of these types of shift lights would be any of the DPSS (digital pro shift system) shift lights, or the recently discontinued Pro-Shift Lite. A quick way to identify such a shift light, is that it will have more than 2 wires. Usually at least a red, black, and green wire (although there are some that have more wires, or a different combination of wire colors).
  3. Do I need shift pills, or RPM chips?The only AutoMeter products that require these are the Pro-Shift lights (5340, 5341, 5342), and the recently discontinued model 5310 RPM activated module. All of the shift light tachometers use either buttons, or a dial of some sort. All of the DPSS stand alone shift lights, and the DPSS RPM Switches & Playback Box (5312, 5313, & 5314) are push button programmable, therefore no chips or pills are used, or required.
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