Tach question
Postmaster
Joined: Jun 2001
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Tach question
I installed a tach from summit in my 95. It has a shift light and the lighting matches the green used on fords. It only cost around $35 dollars. I asked around and talked to every dealer mechanic within a 150 miles of where I live and they swore up and down that it could not be done cause it did not come stock with a tach. Been using it now for around 3 months no problems. All you have to do is hook dimmer wire to your dimmer fuse and the power to a ignition fuse such as your radio fuse and then a tach wire from the tach goes to your coil I believe the one nearest the radiator and it was yellow and green not certain but if you are serious I will check to be certain and another wire to ground it, pretty simple. For the money this was a great addition
I used summit pn sum-g2905 $36.95 better than paying $100+, and it works great. Good luck, if you are serious I will check to see which wire I used exactly for the tach sender wire
I used summit pn sum-g2905 $36.95 better than paying $100+, and it works great. Good luck, if you are serious I will check to see which wire I used exactly for the tach sender wire
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Junior User
Joined: Sep 2001
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From: Northbridge USA
Tach question
Could you check on what wire it was? That would be great. Is that pretty much the only wire you need to hook up to for it to work? Mine didn't come stock with at tach either. Thanks.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 5,860
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From: Metro Detroit (Redford)
Tach question
Well my tach was $65 (below), but is the perfect rpm range for a stock 300 I6. I have a '95 F150. Put it in the dash to right of instrument panel. About 4" diameter. One wire to ignition (protect it thru firewall as I once had the tach cut out because the wire wore through at the firewall and shorted). One wire to ground, and two wires to hot (tach power and the light). I am installing a digital tach in my motorhome that has an induction pickup for the tach signal--you just clamp the pickup around a spark plug wire.
INLINE SIX POWER!
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300 Cubic Inches of Low RPM Truck Torque!
INLINE SIX POWER!
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300 Cubic Inches of Low RPM Truck Torque!
Postmaster
Joined: Jun 2001
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Tach question
Well the wiring goes like this as far as the tach I installed went.
One wire goes to a source that operates with the ignition. I used radio fuse.
Second wire is ground.
Third wire went to a dimmer/illumination, and I attached this to the instrument illumination fuse.
The final tach signal sending wire I attached to the coil wire that is yellow and white. If you look at the coil you should see four holes at the top the right one should have a red and green wire that is attached then the two middle ones are empty and the left one has a yellow and white wire attached, I used that one for my tach signal wire. Good luck
One wire goes to a source that operates with the ignition. I used radio fuse.
Second wire is ground.
Third wire went to a dimmer/illumination, and I attached this to the instrument illumination fuse.
The final tach signal sending wire I attached to the coil wire that is yellow and white. If you look at the coil you should see four holes at the top the right one should have a red and green wire that is attached then the two middle ones are empty and the left one has a yellow and white wire attached, I used that one for my tach signal wire. Good luck
Post Fiend
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 5,860
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From: Metro Detroit (Redford)
Tach question
Update re digital tach with induction pickup. Frustration:-(;Sending back for refund. May be a good tach, but not good for me. After hours hooking up it wouldn't work. Called company's tech support and was told to wrap the wire from the pickup in foil and ground the foil--duh, wish they'd have told me that before I installed it in the impossibly tight E350 engine compartment! Or better yet why don't they supply a shielded line in the first place. So I painstakingly wrapped this wire in foil and grounded it, and tested the ground, and moved the pickup around at their suggestion. Still dosen't work. So I decided to cut my losses and yanked the tach. I know the tach pictured in my post above is a good tach, but have no idea where to hookup the wire, or whether I can get reach the place to hook it up (which is why I tried the stupid induction pickup tach). Anybody know where to hook the tach wire in an E350 460 V8 1990? There are no wires beside the distributor like on my F150 where I hooked up the nice tach.
New User
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 3
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Tach question
I was wondering if it was possible to use the entire instument cluster from a truck that has the tach? Wouldn't it be possible to go to a junkyard and pick up the entire cluster and just swap it in? On 92 and up I think the speedo is digital too so it would just hook up with a easy harness or something. Any comments please respond
Don
1994 f150 4x4
5 speed
lean green machine!!
Don
1994 f150 4x4
5 speed
lean green machine!!
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Junior User
Joined: Sep 2001
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From: Northbridge USA
Tach question
That's a good point, but would the truck have to be wired for a tach? Plus it doesn't seem like many of these trucks came with them from the factory.
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Postmaster
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 4,038
Likes: 3
From: South Kitsap County, WA
Tach question
It occurs to me that most auto manufacturers make one style of wiring harness for all the models of one vehicle. This saves on cost of production.
My '82 has pickoff points for a factory tach, clock, cruise and air, but came with none of these. The '99 E-250 work van had set-ups for a tach in the engine compartment under the master-cylinder. It had the light blue/ white wire for a dimmer and the green/ red for the pick up. The only problem was it was missing the wire to the ignition system and the tach in the cluster.
It may be an easy swap. You'd have to go to a junk yard and hope they have one in the year range you are looking for that still has the engine in place and a tach cluster in the dash. This way you can see where they connect and which wire(s) hooks up to it.
Kerry
"Ran fine for me, must be the operator..." -Dad
'82 F-150 4X4;
300-6; MSD Blaster 2 Coil;
245,000 original miles and still rolling
My '82 has pickoff points for a factory tach, clock, cruise and air, but came with none of these. The '99 E-250 work van had set-ups for a tach in the engine compartment under the master-cylinder. It had the light blue/ white wire for a dimmer and the green/ red for the pick up. The only problem was it was missing the wire to the ignition system and the tach in the cluster.
It may be an easy swap. You'd have to go to a junk yard and hope they have one in the year range you are looking for that still has the engine in place and a tach cluster in the dash. This way you can see where they connect and which wire(s) hooks up to it.
Kerry
"Ran fine for me, must be the operator..." -Dad
'82 F-150 4X4;
300-6; MSD Blaster 2 Coil;
245,000 original miles and still rolling
Postmaster
Joined: Jun 2001
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Tach question
I believe it is a drop in deal if you find an instrument panel of an equivalent year/model, there are a couple of people who have posted doing this before. Cheaper well that is up to whom you purchase the instrument panel. As mentioned above I paid $36 new from summit shift light and all and it matches the factory green illumination perfectly. Just a thought
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 429
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From: Lima, OH
Tach question
I just have one thing to say about tach's........DO NOT buy an autometer #2890 or #2891!!! I've been through 2 each and still don't have a tach that works right. I've sent them back and had them checked out to no avail. The first two worked for about 3 days then died, the 3rd lasted about a week, and the forth is still going but reads about 500rpm low.
I've tried changing grounds, power sources, switching back and forth from the coil and my MSD tach trigger.....nothing fixes it.
Jim
https://www.ford-trucks.com/dcforum/User_files/3aaa4bac6f539876.jpg
1993 F150 2WD
6" Pro-Comp Stage II Lift w/35's
Auburn Pro-Series Diff. w/4.30 gears
http://www.ProjectTrailDawg.com
I've tried changing grounds, power sources, switching back and forth from the coil and my MSD tach trigger.....nothing fixes it.
Jim
https://www.ford-trucks.com/dcforum/User_files/3aaa4bac6f539876.jpg
1993 F150 2WD
6" Pro-Comp Stage II Lift w/35's
Auburn Pro-Series Diff. w/4.30 gears
http://www.ProjectTrailDawg.com
Post Fiend
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 5,860
Likes: 4
From: Metro Detroit (Redford)
Tach question
What's so great about Autometer. Seems you read about some great car and they always say the guy has Autometer gauges. What about Stewart Warner gauges? I had trouble with a Sun tach and with that Eqquis induction pickup digital, but my trusty Datcon keeps on working fine--it is made for heavy equipment. Want a Datcon, Fuel Systems of Wisconsin has a whole selection along with SW. The one I have came from J.C. Whitney. Rather than change the instrument panel, I think the tach looks quite nice to the right, but only works if you don't have 4WD controls in that spot.
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Postmaster
Joined: Jun 2001
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Tach question
Look at the driver side of your motor and look at the distributor and then look to the left go to the front of the block about mid way down and there you should see a little coil/ black box with if yours is like mine two wires going in one on each side and to the left of the box there will be a wire similar to one going into the coil going to a small cylinder type piece, the one you want is the left wire in the coil. If this does not help post back and then I will try and get a pic
Posting Guru
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 1,021
Likes: 1
From: Florida
Tach question
Yeah i installed a sunpro on my door pillar, i love it, it makes the truck look absolutely awesome at night...it's a white face with white light........and a silver bezel. 35 bucks and i betcha when i go to resell it it will catch someone's eye 
The green wire is the hardest to find...lol i cant remember exactly where mine was and i aint got a digital camera to show ya, but overall a very easy install.
The green wire is the hardest to find...lol i cant remember exactly where mine was and i aint got a digital camera to show ya, but overall a very easy install.