Anyone put one in their Aerostar? I am thinking of putting in an Autometer 4000rpm tach and was looking for mounting suggestions. Did any Aerostars come with a tach?

Robert
95 Aerostar Cargo Van 3.0L

 

I'd love to put a tach in the Aerostar, but it is my wife's and she wouldn't understand. I've always wondered what that 3.0 is turning when you stomp it to get up some speed on the freeway. Seems to drop down too many gears and whine like a banshee. I would expect that the 3.0 will turn higher than 4000 and would be reluctant to put anything less than a 6000 rpm tach in it. Anyway, if you do it let us know what kind of rpms it turns in various situations like 70 mph in OD and in Drive, shift points at WOT, etc.

 

I got a 4 grand tach coming in the mail so I will let you know. 4000rpm is kinda low but I wanted more accuracy, and I tend to drive pretty conservative so I doubt I will max out the tach too often.

Robert
95 Aerostar Cargo Van 3.0L

 

I agree you get more accuracy with the 4000 rpm tach. As you can see, mine has 100 rpm increments and a 270 sweep.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/dcforum/User_files/3a55d02e3ce54623.jpg

 

I installed a tach in my Aerostar. I bought a small round gauge that goes up to 8,000rpm. I mounted it in the corner where the small side window is.
Upon kickdown, the Aerostar will turn up to 6,000rpm.
I think only Aerostars with the digital dash had a factory tach.

Tom
1993 Aerostar XL 3.0L Ext.

 

TallPaul,

Is that an Aerostar that your tach is installed in? Must be an older model dash if it is. Did you find that 4000rpm was not enough?

Robert
95 Aerostar Cargo Van 3.0L

 

Sorry about the confusion. That is a '95 F150. I posted it to show the tach in response to your message that you liked the accuracy of the 0-4000 tach, but I forgot to identify the vehicle. That last post said their Aerostar turns up to 6000 on kickdown (I am suprised the auto tranny would let it go quite that far, or is the switch set for 4 cylinders?), but a co-worker has the 3.0 V6 in his late model Ranger and he says he's never had it over 4000--of course he drives like an old man and never stomps it. Would like to see photo of your tach when you get it, especially mounted. I suspect that in the Aerostar you will have to go with steering column or dash mount.

 

TallPaul,

my tach is set to 6 cyl. I was quite surprised myself when I saw the rpm go up that high upon kickdown. However, such situations are rare - regular operation is below 4,000. The tranny seems to take it fine.

Tom Ucen
1993 Aerostar XL Ext. 3.0L

 

Tomucen: I must have a lead foot. My wife's Aerostar (3.0) is always having to kick down, even just for moderate acceleration on the freeway and I always seem to wind that motor, but my wife says she never has that problem. It's not that it isn't running right. That motor is one of the best running motors I(we) ever have had. It just is a bit too small. I bet the Aerostar was a super dog back when it had a 4 cylinder motor.

 

TallPaul,

it's the same thing with us. I drive it a bit harsher than my wife does, therefore more kickdowns. Acceleration is very good up to 60mph, I have won several drag races at traffic lights. However, above 60mph, in 4th and OD, there is very little torque left. I think the gear ratios are too long. Chrysler minivans are much more agile, especially the Turbodiesels we have here.

The engine runs very nice and smoothly, the way I'd expect it from a 6 cylinder engine. But I think the 4 liter engine would be more suitable for this truck. With the 4 cylinder engine the Aerostar must have been grossly underpowered.
I have bought the 3 liter engine because in my country, gas is fairly expensive ($3.60/gallon) and the 4 liter engine has an enormous gas consumption. In addition, we pay road tax based on engine displacement - the larger the engine, the higher the tax.

Tom Ucen
Munich, Germany
1993 Aerostar XL Ext. 3.0L
(one of probably a dozen in this country)

 

You're right, Tom. The 3.0 Aerostar is pretty quick off the line and the 3.0 V6 is one smooth running engine. I can't say I ever had a better running engine. While we don't (far as I know) have tax on engine size, with the CAFE regulations, the auto companies must dump a lot of underpowered roller skates on the market to compensate for their performance cars and big trucks in the overall fuel economy game. The government is even in our toilets over here--yes, they have limited the amount of water used per flush. And now they are going to limit water use in washing machines. This all makes sense for California, but here in Michigan we have water.

 

We (my dad really) has a 90 with the 4.0,digital dash and factory tach,you are right in thinking that with the 4.0 they will roll. It has 220,000 on the odometer and will outrun alot of the vehicles on the road,it never gets babied,treated like a truck,and always comes through for us.

 

Hey I finally talked the wife into a tach in her Aerostar. I put a $23 2-inch mini on the top left side of the steering column where it dosen't really block anything. So first thing was to see how high it would rev. I got it warmed up really good and then going 10 mph, aimed for the freeway ramp and put the pedal to the metal and held it there. The 1-2 shift occured about at 5700 rpm. The 2-3 was around 5500 though by then I was going pretty fast and may have been lifting off the pedal slightly. In normal driving it will rev out to 3000 -3500 but on a kickdown for a lane change will hit up ito the 4000s. Anyway, the 5700 rpm 1-2 shift seems a tad high given the horsepower peak is at 4800 rpm. I assume redline is somewhere around 6000 or so then.

 

Ok. Can someone give me in-depth instructions on how to install a monster tach on a 93, auto 3.0. I have been wondering the same thing as all of you.... What its doing under there. If you need to email them to paddyd85(No Email Addresses In Posts!). Any help will be very helpful.

93'Aerostar XLT. Cherrybomb glasspack, dual 3" tip, K&N drop in, Super white blikers, fog lights, and headlights, Street Glow kit under it, mutiple neons inside, 1st van in Alababma Custom truck club, oh yeah i run a 11.5 1/8 and mid 16's on my 1/4.

 

First, let me correct that in normal driving it is revving in the 2000 range (I was a bit heavy footed the first couple days).

You have a 1993, so it should have a distributor (typical tach apparently dosen't go with later 90s distributorless ignition). Find a mounting spot and then it is simply four wires--black, green, red, and white. Black goes to ground (screw into a solid metal piece under the dash should work. Green goes to the coil (I will have to look into it for you, but is one of the small wires on the harness, usually more of a yellow or yellowish wire). Red goes to power and white to lights.

For the coil I had to pull the back engine cover which has three clips (one left and two right). First have to move computer (?) box out of way from under ashtray and move console (unscrew and pull hard upward and watch everything fly when it comes loose ). engine cover is pain to wiggle and pull and jam out of the constricted spot. Use a plastic connector that just goes on the wires and then a metal piece pushes through to make contact (what called?). I know these are not the best way to connect and may give trouble later (wavy tach needle on my pickup from poor connection due to corrosion) but it is pretty hard to do anyting else.

For the red and white I cheated and just jammed the wire in under the fuze (shame on you TallPaul goofing up all that highly engineered fuze box so the cover won't go back on), but make sure you jam it in on the side that is NOT hot (use test lamp to find which and to make sure fuze for red goes out with key off and for white goes off with light switch). Also, I would avoid the radio circuit as I don't know it if is good for the tach to have power with engine off and key in accessory position. A better way would be to find the correct wires and use more of those cheap snap connectors to tap in to the wires.

Well I probably raised more questions than answered. I will make a note to look up which wire I used and report back. Hey, while you have that pesky cover off (if it is anything like my '92 3.0) it is really easy to change the cap and rotor.

The tach installation took me about three hours.