defiant1

I picked up a 6K SW tach from fleaBay and it did not come with installation instructions. There are four wires (red, black, yellow, green) I need to know where each of these go.

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66ninetyeightls

If I remember correctly its Red= Constant Power, Black = Ground, Yellow = Key on Power & Green = coil signal.

stan 65 cutlass

yellow may be back light

highlander

will these tachs fit directly into a clock hole in the dash? sorry to hijack the thread. I have a 1972 i would like to get a tach for. also what kind of $dough$ are these. nice looking.

defiant1

The SW tach is smaller than the gauge opening. My plan is to cut out the back of the clock delete panel and mount the tach to the clock delete. Then I can use the 3 mounting tabs (from clock delete) to mount the assembly to the dash.

As far as price, the SW tach was part of a group of SW gauges. I got the tach, mech oil gauge, and voltmeter for $132 on eBay. Not sure if it was a good deal. But as far as tachometers go, I think I did alright as they can be pricey.

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defiant1

Anyone else have any input on how to hook up the wires on the SW gauge?

I am looking to install this tomorrow and any help would be appreciate it.

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66ninetyeightls

They are pretty standard tach wiring colors whats the problem??

Black = Ground
Red = Battery Power
Yellow = Key on Power or Illumination
Green = Tach signal from coil

http://www.tradervar.com/All%20Other%20Sun%20Tachs.pdf

http://www.offroaders.com/tech/Autogage-Tachometer.htm

defiant1

There is no problem (as of yet). Never installed a tach before and could not find the color code of the SW gauge. Usually a white wire was substituted vs. the yellow of the SW. Basically, I want to ensure I was wiring it correctly.

Thanks for the links, they should come in handy. I guess I was strictly searching for SW instructions and not thinking about other tachs.

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defiant1

I hooked everything up (except the yellow wire, since I can't seem to find an accessible light source wire). Turned the key the tach pegged out (far right). Started the motor the tach still stayed far right and bounced.

Shut it down and hooked the tach red wire directly to battery + and black wire directly to - side of battery and hooked green wire to - side of coil.

Turned the key and it pegged again.???

So now what? Is this a sign of doom or something else?

I did buy the tach from eBay and it was supposedly "new".

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Oldsmaniac

It has been so long since I hooked up a tach but it needs only 2 wires to work, a ground and negative side of coil. Doesnt SW have a web site with wire diagram?

joe_padavano

Oh, so close.

Black = ground
Red - Key switched power (why do you want the tach hot and (slowly) draining the battery all the time?
Yellow (sometimes White) = Illumination circuit
Green = Distributor side of coil (for points) or TACH terminal (for HEI)

Tachwiring.jpg

defiant1

I am using the Pertronix Ignitor III system w/coil. Would I still hook to the - side of the coil?? It is not a MSD or HEI system, but figured I would inquire since I am not using traditional points.

I hooked up everything according to the diagram above and the tach read 5500 rpm upon start up.

MJAKS462

If it is pegging it is not grounded.

defiant1

I hooked it directly to the battery + and - and it still pegged. Does the size of wire make a difference?? I went from 18 gauge to 12 gauge in order for it to reach the battery.

I'll double check my connections and try again.

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MJAKS462

Going bigger I would think would be better. I hooked up my auto meter gauges the other day and they are supposed to be self grounding when you screw in the sender to the manifold , but the oil pressure would peg when key turned on ,so I ran grounds and it is fine . you could also try grounding close to mounting location. or mabye it is just defective.

joe_padavano

What do the Pertronix instructions say as far as a TACH lead is concerned? Also, try temporarily connecting the tach to a non-Pertronix car to see if the tach actually works.

defiant1

Unfortunately, the instructions don't refer to the tachometer. I "googled" it and it seems some older tachometers are not compatible with the Pertronix system...

I will hook it up to my truck and see what happens. Thanks

defiant1

I guess I got a lemon. I hooked it up to my truck and it did the same thing.

Basically, I hook it direct to the battery and turn the key to "On" and the tach pegs out to 6000. When I remove the ground it goes back to 0. And as soon as I touch the ground wire back to the battery it pegs out again.

Let's hope that eBay buyers protection program works.

Anyone know of anybody who repairs tachometers?? I really like this one, but if it can't be fixed I need to start looking elsewhere.

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66ninetyeightls

Some tachs have a switch on them for 4cyl, 6cyl & 8cyl. Is yours set correctly?

MJAKS462

Did you pay with paypal ? Ebay sucks when it comes to this stuff but paypal resolves issues quickly.
I bought a 68 Firebird on ebay and it looked great in the pics provided ,and the seller said it never saw snow .but when I got the car I found that they repainted right over rust and anything else that was on the car. The pos bat cable was melted to the battery, was not a real 4 speed , 1/4s were tached on . I paid 8,000 and ended up parting it. Ebay did not cover one thing. They said they would cover a different engine or differnt car than described .The seller was going to give me 1500.00 back but I never even saw that. To top it off the shipper creased the whole driver side and told me it was like that when he picked it up. AAARRGGGGG

defiant1

No switch on this model.


Damn, I do not envy your experience. It is hard to trust people nowadays especially with incidents like yours.
I will give eBay a shot and follow up with PayPal. In my case, he said the gauges were new. Maybe 1 of the 3 gauges were new the others you can tell they were not (in person) due to being faded. Communication with this guy is about impossible (that should have clued me in) so we will see.

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