First, I have a 1992 3.1. My question is where to connect the green wire to the distributor...? I know it is supposed to be on the negative from the coil...My coil has wires connected with the plastic clips...so where do I put the green!?!?!? I thought I would tap into the wires behind the gauges but found a big circuit board when I removed them... ...lol I know, duh. Thanks!

 

Why would you install an aftermarket tach? Do you have a 5spd? Need to know where it shifts? Or do you just want to look cool? Your car already has a tachometer. Adding another one is just stupid. Take the 5" monster tach back to Pepboys and get yourself a dancing hula girl for the dash instead. Take the $50 you'll have leftover and take a girl out for the evening. It's more productive.

 

I placed it on the dash to make it easier to see. I have trouble seeing my stock one without resituating. Whats your problem? I wanted it so I got it for MY car. I didn't put it on YOUR car...I put it on MINE!!!. Thanks... Would someone kindly help me out with my question? Thankyou...

 

Well you see its called guilt by association. People see your car, which is similar to my cars. They see that you're an idiot cause you've got some rediculous tachometer off Jeff Gordons Chevrolet and they think that everyone else who drives the same car is just as stupid as you are. By association they will think I'm an idiot. See where I'm coming from?

Not to mention that when you sell your car, or wreck it the next owner will have to deal with the reputation you've established. The dashpad will have a bunch of holes in it from the drywall screws you used to mount your symbol of stupidity which will reduce the supply of parts I and others have available to keep our cars in better condition.

I'd love to help you out if the question you were asking was something that wasn't easy to figure out, wasnt something that's probably explained in the instructions that came with the tach, and wasn't something that gives every related enthusiast a bad name.
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Lose the gangsta lean and adjust the seat and steering column and that won't be a problem. Not to mention if your car is an automatic the tach is just window dressing anyway, if its a 5spd you should be listening to the engine and understanding what its doing rather then watching a tachometer.

 

ur coil is in the dizzy cap right?if so look were those wires plug inot the dizzy cap there will be one spot with nothing connected,on the top it should be labeled "tach",hook the green wire to that terminal,
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hey drew lay the **** off,some of us actually have a need for aftermarket tachs,and who gives a **** what ppl think about u and the car u drive.if u worry about what somone else does to there car cause its gonna make ppl think something about u,u have serious issues
edit

my bad im thinking v8 hei for the some reason,but it still applies,there should be one free terminal on the dizzy cap for u to hook to labeled tach

 

The coil isn't in the cap, its a divorced coil... like every other 92 fbody.

I'm not going to lay off. You wouldn't expect someone on the street not to point and laugh at you when you're being stupid, so why would you expect something different online?

The only reason I care about what other people think is because I've got a couple of these cars I'd like to sell, but no one takes them seriously because of red neck mods and idiot owners.

Edit: funny, red neck is censored.

 

Gangsta lean? I always ride with my seat one click back from straight up. Plain and simple, screw you. I didn't buy a Autometer Monster, its only two freaking inches! Gasp... Drywall screws? I thought I'd put two and two together and used the ones supplied with the tach. You don't have any idea what I'm doing with my car or how I use it. If my question is insufficient for your supreme knowledge than just butt out. I'm sure someone would have the decency to answer a beginners question.

 

It'll still look just as bad as what I described, trust me. I can't honestly see why you're having trouble seeing the tach... Seems you'd have the same problem seeing the spedometer.

ps: I thought under 4'9" required a child seat by law?

 

Ha...speaking of which I was just looking into an aftermarket speedo. For some of it's hard to see through the steering wheel comfortably. Whats the problem Drew? Why do you have to put your two cents in on everthing? You couldn't have just answered a question? Thanks to anyone who wants to help me out...

 

Well technically you don't GOTTA get pissed off... I guess you could just accept that I find your question a little humorous and chose to poke fun at you. A REAL man probably would have just chuckled and let it roll off his back.

As long as you're relocating gauges, why not just relocate everything... Maybe put the seat on top of the car, or cut the roof off completely... like Lord Humungous...

 

I dont have an answer to the problem but uhhh, Yeah drew i understand you gotta post your opinion but it isnt your car

 

Drew a real man, wouldn't care about what other people do to thier vehicles.

Besides, I really don't see how someone installing an aftermarket tach in thier car is going to effect the sale of your car.

On top of that, it's not unheard of that Camaros, might be upgraded and the owner wants to see what RPM the engine is turning at, hence the desire for an aftermarket tach, placed in a position that is easier to see than the stock location.

I don't own an F-body, and part of the reason is because I don't like the OEM gauge location, I have to take my eyes too far off the road to read them and then I have to look at them, not just glance to see what they are reading. A friend of mine had one that I drove a few times, hated it.
I'll get to the other reason shortly.


JDK1987.
The wire you are looking for is the white wire at the coil. The pink is 12V "ignition", the white wire is the coil trigger Some people call it a "points trigger".

Oh and Drew, the other reason, **** heads like you, it seems there's far too many people that own F-bodies that think they are something greater than they are.

 

Thankyou very much for answering my question. It has been a stressful thread, please excuse me if I offended anyone...I was getting upset. Thanks again for the help!

 

I had to wade through a lot of useless material to find out if this fellow's question had ever been answered, so I'd like to point out a few things.

From the ThirdGen.org Message Board Rules.

"Under the Agree and Objectionable Message clauses, users are also prohibited from:
# Posting insulting words, phrases, comments, or anything off-topic.
# Name calling.
# Posting just to get your post count high.
# Substituting symbols for censored words and/or phrases."

"# Maintain a sense of humor and decency."

"Do not post messages about site policy, criticism of Moderators, Administrators, or other Members."

That is all.
Thank you.

Oh, one other thing. A nice place for a small tach like that is in a gauge pillar pod on the A-pillar. Tachs in that location are small, unobtrusive, and can look decent (rather than an out-of-place 5-incher on the dash). An aftermarket tach can also be very useful in situations where the stock tach is not correct, which is VERY common on third gens.

 

I actually mounted my tach (way back in 1994) so it blocks the driver's side a/c vent. Only problem is, when I'm driving with my left hand and shifting with my right, my left arm blocks the tach. But I haven't found another place that I like to mount it (I prefer the hidden tach look).

 

take the green wire and attach it to the white wire on the coil jus cut some of the insulation off and there u go then go under the dash and cut the white wire to ur stock tach...a nice place 2 mount the tach is on the right side of the vents under the dash at an angle...it look really good there..good luck

 

dam nothing liek bringing back an old thread

 

If you're going to go through all teh trouble of cutting the wire at the factory tach, why wouldn't you just use that wire to feed the aftermarket tach. It doesn't come from the coil itself.

 

I was just going thru these messgae from years ago trying to find info on how to wire a test tach to my '86 Bird, 2.8L that is idling too fast. I am slowly turning back the idle screw on the TBI and using the seat of my pants to determine what feels right. So far I've had great success but I would like to set idle properly, but since the coil and dizzy don't have an obvious place to attach a test tach I thought I would ask you guys how to hook it up.
In response to all those out there who think, as I used to, that a tach in an aoutomatic is just show, I discovered that while driving my wife's car (auto with a factory tach) there can actually be some value to it. While driving on streets I can see where the tranny shifts and how much of a reduction in RPM there is when it upshifts. For example, on her car, I can drive at 35-40mph and the tach will read 2000-2300rpm. If I go just a little faster (40-42mph) and it shifts to 4th, the rpm drops to about 1800rpm. If the engine is turning slower, I have to be saving gas as long as I keep the speed under 45mph. Using this philosophy, this is what I do with my 2.8l 'bird, even tho I'm using the seat of my pants to determine shift points, since I don't have a tach, yet.

 

Um, there is a REALLY easy place to connect a "test" tach in-line. There is a plastic "test" connector in-line with the white wire coming off of the coil. Unplug it and plug the "test" tach into it. It's about 2 inches from the coil connector, and it's sticking out of the coil harness. You can't possibly miss a big GRAY connector right there.

Or you could just get a factory instrument cluster with a tach...

 

Thanx a heap for the info. As I said, it wasn't obvious 2 me where to hook up the tach. Now that we got thru Sandi and the nor'easter I should have time this weekend to do it. I hope u got thru the storms ok.

I actually have an instrument cluster for my 'bird that I found at a car show, but when I checked out replacing my current one w/ idiot lights for instruments I realized that I have a mechanical speedo, and the cluster I bought has an electronic speedo. The printed circuits don't appear to be interchangeable, so when I stumble on the info as to what parts I need for the speedo, and sending units for the gauges, I'll do the swap.

Thanx again.

 

my camaro is a five speed and is dosent have a tach i have a 2in vdo i want to put in where did u put yours , good view of it ???

 

regardless thirdgens, (i wanna say 90 - 92) have mega stock tach problems so adding a new one makes complete sense for accuracy and like you said looks.

 

Drew was completely rude about all that, what if the tach didnt work? Aftermarket tachs are ok, just throw it in a pillar pod and mount it.