Tacho install

C

CooperWakefield

New Member
Hey all, I have tried searching for a diy or info on how to install a tacho. Complete noob at all this DIY stuff so any help on how to install a tacho onto my car would be great! Or a link to something that has been done before.

Cheers
 
Inside the engine bay, there should be a little blue connector above the or next to the wiper motor
it will look like this :
auto-part-wiper-motor-ncr-s001.jpg


Plug a splitpin or spade connector into that, and then thats your signal wire. Tacho's will have at least 3 wires, earth/negative, power and signal (often they'll have illum too).

All you need to do really, is plug the power into a 12v source that comes on when the car is on (any accessory 12v is good), earth the other wire, and connect the car signal to the tacho signal.
If the tacho has a 4th wire for illum (such as more/less brightness when the headlights are on) then you need to connect this up to a wire that only gets power when the parkers/headlights are on (try finding one under the dash, a good place to look is the cig lighter light, for example)
 
Thanks heaps!
When wiring from the tacho to the engine bay, where do you run the wires through :s sorry, never done any of this before. Also what do you recommend earthing it to?
 
Find a rubber grommet, there should be one directly below the blue plug, you can run your wiring to the passenger foot well then look up and you should see it, then run your wiring through that to your engine bay.

I tried installing a tacho last week, it had 5 wires, 12v constant, 12v ignition switched, earth, illumination (so the light goes on when the headlights are on) and the last wire is the rpm signal. Everything worked fine until i tried to find the rpm signal, The blue connector in the engine bay didn't work for me and either did pin 58 (rpm signal output) on the ecu. But try both the ecu and the blue connector and hopefully if your lucky one of them works. I have to take mine to an auto electrician to figure it out :(

EDIT: Check out this thread, it shows you where the blue connector is, and what pin to use on the ecu (if you have a 4g93 engine)
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1714&p=76345&hilit=tacho#p76345
 
Going by the wiring diagram, pin 2 from the distributor is where the tacho is taken from.
White cable. Pin 1 is Black/white.

Join into that and take it to your tacho.

Are you using a tacho dash or after market?
Have you checked if your car already has the tacho wiring in place for a tacho in the cluster?
 
CooperWakefield said:
An aftermarket tacho, I am going to mount it somewhere inconspicuous. ha
Click to expand...
Good :thumbup: none of this 5" tacho with shift light s***

Have a play around and if you cant work it out, easiest option would be to take it to an auto electrician. Try the easiest stuff first like mounting the tacho and hiding the wiring, then find your switched 12v and ground, then your illumination with headlights. A multimeter will make finding the correct wires a breeze.
 
CooperWakefield said:
OKay thanks, I will give it ago sometime soon maybe. haha
I just finished a CAI! :)
Click to expand...
sweet dude, what did you do? pipe to the stock box? or pod?
 
CooperWakefield said:
Piped the stock box. Proved to probably be more difficult then just doing a pod, but oh well, I am happy with the result. haha
Click to expand...
yeah i dont really like pods, unless they are done right. Most people just whack them on in place of the stock air box to get a "cool" sound. I could definitely feel a slight power increase when i piped to my stock box with a K&N filter:)
 
CooperWakefield said:
Yeah, is it worth replacing the stock panel filter?
Am yet to drive it with the new CAI so will be interesting to see
Click to expand...
If its old and dirty, i would say yes, but K&N filters are about $100 more then just a normal filter. I cant say weather it was my CAI or the new K&N filter that has made the difference but i think it would be a bit of both. In the latest episode of mighty car mods, they proved that expensive filters are no better then the cheap paper ones. So its really upto how much you want to spend. If your filter is old, at least get a new paper one, i think they are about $30.
 
This thread went from tacho install to cai install to might car mods is sick thread.....lol
 
mdclear said:
This thread went from tacho install to cai install to might car mods is sick thread.....lol
Click to expand...
hahah I was thinking that the other day when we started talking about Cai
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top