mvftw

iTrader: (1)

I have a '86 Camaro 2.8L Auto. Which wire on the coil is for the Tach? Some cars have an extra wire for a tach hook-up.

TomP

You're going to have to patch into the coil wiring harness, I'm afraid. It's on the gray coil connector, tap into the black/white wire. "Supposedly", this black-white wire terminates somewhere, and you just plug a tach in. But I never saw a dangling plug, and I had the whole engine harness out of my car. 'Course, I never hunted for it in depth, so I might've missed it, but...

Try to avoid using the blue splice connector that came with the tach. A kid I knew saw my install and said "Hey you shouldn't use those, they cut thru the wire eventually!" He was usually wrong about cars so I didn't believe him- a few years later, my car died as I was driving, and wouldn't start. I rolled into a parking lot, popped the hood, and started trying stuff... everything looked fine, so I wiggled all the distributor wires. The car started! I wiggled them again as it was running- stalled. I found out by changing the position of that tach wire at the splice, the car would run or die. I got home quick, and took the blue connector off- it cut thru all the strands, leaving me with 2. Two!! So to fix it...

I bought a pack of non-insulated butt connectors (crimp style) from Radio Shack, I think it was $3 for a pack of 50? Anyway, I cut the wire where the strands were sliced away. I stripped all three wires. I attached the butt connector to the coil side of the wire. I twisted the tach lead together with the engine side of the black-white wire, and crimped 'em in. Then I soldered each end, and put solder thru the hole in the center of the butt connector, and heat shrunk the connection.

For you, since your wire's intact, you could strip the insulation of the black/white wire back a bit, without cutting the wire. Then separate the copper strands into two pieces, so they look like an = sign. Then, insert the tach wire between the two pieces, twist the tach wire around the coil wire's copper, and solder 'em up.

mvftw

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Tom. I'm not putting in a Tach, I'm hooking up a tach/dwell meter (remember dwell) to check the idle. So I'll cut back the wire, hookup the meter and then tape up the wire.

KED85

I'm installing the factory tach gauge set.
Tom.
Do I have a wire already, for the tach, in my idiot light gauge wire harness?
I need to go to the yards for an idiot light gauge cluster plug. I want to match my two plugs outta car for the easiest gauge installtion.

TomP

Hm; good question Karl, I don't know. I'll try to check the 'ol book tonight.

KED85

TO ME, logic would dictate, SINCE I have to rearrange wires in the idiot light dash harness (to activate oil pressure gauge & water gauge & electrical gauge, fuel gauge is already active), I'M HOPING, the wire is there, just not "hooked" up to the end source (a dash tach).
That's why I chopped off the gauge package male plug to the dash I took.
I'm almost close to ready to install the gauges.
I have oil gauge sensor in now (I also caused a slight leak in the oil filter "fittings", oh well). I'm hoping the 3.4 block I have in there already has the water temp gauge sensor.
Since the Firebird is a daily driver, this gauge swap will take a bit of down time.
Fitting/swapping is so easy.
Wires...
Plus I'm droping tranny from the Blazer today.
It's less than 100* out here today.

Xenodrgn

Ok, Karl I have good news for you, and let me post my experiences with installing my tach for all those who are going to do it in the future (I sure hope this post comes up when I tell them to search for it... )

Ok, I have an 85 automatic SC dash, 85 MPH speedo, idiot lights and NO tach.

But!

NO Problem!!! (kinda)

Pull the cluster out (PITA!!!!!!) and on the left connector, snap it out of place and pull it towards you... I forget the color of the wire (There are other posts that post the wire color) I believe it was white, anyway, thats the signal wire! Attach the tach signal wire to it and hook up power to the fusebox and ground right to the ground point near there, then the dimmer switch controller I ran to the console to those wires...

FYI, the 145 MPH cluster will plug right in and work correctly, just change the sending units to the proper ones...

That connector I told you to pull out to instal an aftermarket tach, you will see it comes into the connector, the guage just doesn't use it, you will see the "tach cluster" will use it...

The biggest PITA for me was getting the cluster out.... had to destroy my hand getting behind it to pop the cable off.

ALSO!!! Do not play with the needles!!!! the gas guage may look like fun and will spring back to place somewhat, but if you whind it too far it will be off, my guage now reads full when I'm empty, and off the chart when I'm fulll... the speedo needle pops off, but make sure to put it back on in the right spot, my speedo reads a few MPH off now... I'm too lazy to go back in there and fix itl...

Hope that helped someone...