TOPIC: Tach wiring

I had all my tach wires labeled, everything worked, I removed the labels, had to remove the wires to do a bit of work this a.m., and now I can't remember where they attach!

Seems to me it was green to negative, red to positive (both on one of the two coils) and black to ground. Can anybody verify that for me? It's an aftermarket auto tach set to 6 cyl, and works with a 2 stroke with dual ignition if you just hook it to one of the two coils. Jim S (marathon 6) turned me onto this trick at Silver Lake a few years ago, but when I email him he doesn't respond. Anybody know if he's okay?

Thanks for any help!

Frank

not knowing i would think red+ black- green Coil.

I think that's right too, makes sense eh Dave?

Frank

worth a try just touch the green one while it is runnins an see if it works.

works okay at idle, run it up and jumps all over

F, have you checked your connections, looked for pinched wire somewhere? Motor still running okay, right?

I made all the connections. Very rare my stuff fails, I been doing 12v wiring a real long time and am extremely careful (which doesn't mean I didn't screw it up somehow). I'm positive green went to negative on the coil, red to positive on the coil and black to ground. I'm wondering if taping the wires all together has the signal too close to power and/or ground?!? Beats the heck out of of me!

Frank

I sure wasn't questioning your craftsmanship Frank, just trying to think of what my be causing the intermittent craziness in the reading. I know you said you unhooked it to do something, and it worked right before. (I usually start re-tracing my steps backward at that point.) Taping the wires together shouldn't have any effect on the reading, unless there's a bare spot in the insulation on one of them. (We used to do it that way all the time, sure you have too.)

Do you still have that other tach? May be worth a try hookin' it up (temporarily) to see if it does the same thing. The white faced one may have gone south on you. (Highly unlikely, but possible.)

Yes, I have another tach, just couldn't find it yesterday. There's an anchor around here somewhere I can't find either. I need to find both soon! The only other thing I can think of is that this tach is not weather-proof. It's been fogging up inside the lens when it rains. We'll see.

Thanks,

Frank

try putting the + on a wire that goes on and off with the key not the coil.just a thought.

That's an interesting idea Dave, but gee, I had it working on the coil before. Ya know what tho? I put new coils on, forgot about that. Maybe I'll give your idea a try before I wire in another tach I have.

I need a working tach!

Frank

Does the new coils have internal resistor? Where the old coils may have had an external resistor. Just a thought.

That's good point Del, but I'm sure these are stock OEM replacements.

Frank