Would someone please tell me as specific as possible the location of the Rally Pac tach fuse and the wire color for the wire connected to that fuse. I'm looking at figure 15-55 in the CSM and wiring diagram on page 15-31 and I just cannot find the specific wire.
Thanks for any help.
Car is a 1969 442 stock gages

 

The '69 chassis service manual doesn't really show it that well. The '68 manual is much better. It's a brown wire, 18 gauge. About 6" from the connection to the tach is the holder for the 2 amp fuse so it will be under the dash pretty much directly behind the tach. The brown wire then passes through the firewall and ends up attached to the negative side of the coil. Hope this helps!

Randy C.

 

Randy thank you very much. I'll certainly find it tomorrow when I can get back to it. While I have the AC ducting out maybe I can see where to adjust/calibrate the tach.

 

I've never been inside the tach before but, in discussions with people who have, there is a "peel-n-stick" cover (stock ones are silvery in color and round) that has to be peeled back. Then there is a blade screw inside that you can access to adjust the setting on the tach. Just word of mouth, though - I've never done it!

Randy C.

 

I'll certainly let anyone who has interest know about adjusting it when I get my carb back together and I appreciate your info Randy. I'll check for the fuse tomorrow.

 

Well folks I have another failure today. I'm attempting to locate the tach fuse in my 69 442 and I just cannot find it. I have located the Brown wire attached to the Tach that Randy mentioned and I cannot physically locate the fuse mentioned. So I was going to attempt to remove the Tach and I cannot seem to locate any attach hardware to remove the Tach. So my question now is what needs to be removed in order to get the Tach out.
My car has a dash pad cap installed. Is this pad possibly covering the bezel attach screws and will have to be removed it to get the bezel and then the Tach out? I really would hate to mess up my dash if there is another way to accomplish the Tach removal.
Sorry for the mounting questions, but I'm having a really difficult time figuring this out and I really appreciate any help.
In addition to the above I also found a 2 wire connector(orange and pink wires that is connected to nothing. This connector is located next to a 10 wire connector attached on the right side of the steering column. Anyone know what this connector attaches to.
Is there a manual available the has good ledgeable wireing diagrams as my copy of the CSM really sucks and the wiring diagrams are nearly unusable

 

I find these posters to be very helpful.
http://www.classiccarwiring.com/cutlass/

 

Thanks Lance I just now ordered the chart for my 69 442.
Also I finally located and accessed the fuse. With about a 1/2 gallon of blood I got the fuse accessible (wiring is wrapped around the speedo mount and many other things). Anyway got the fuse out and checked and the damn fuse is good. So now I need to remove the Tach.
Will the Tach cone out by removing the 2 attach screws on the back of the Tach can?
I still dont see anyway to remove the bezel from the front of the dash

 

To remove the tach, it's certainly not fun. It's easiest to get at the tach, speedo and gauges if the steering column is removed the the tach is still accessible with the column in. In working under the dash from behind, there are built-in brackets in the back side of the dash that hold the tach in, located at about the 4:30 and 7:30 positions. on each side there should be a 1/4"hex head screw that goes through each respective bracket and into the tach pod. Once those two screws are removed (and it isn't easy), you can slide the tach pod out through the front. It may take a little twisting and turning to remove it, but it will come out. On the back side of the tach pod, you will find 3 wires attached to it. The orange wire is 12V and runs the clock. The grey wire is for your dash lights in the tach pod. And the brown wire is for the tach. If you go back about 6" from where the brown wire attaches to the back of the tach pod, you should find the holder for the 2 amp fuse.

Again, it's no easy job but it can be done. Another thing that will help ease the pain is if you remove the front seat(s). Just gives you a little more room.

Anticipate a significant amount of swearing as you try to figure this out! But you can eventually get it!

Randy C.

 

Here's a couple of pics I just took of my '68. The tach was not working properly and I took it out to have it rebuilt. What you see are the three wires that go to the tach pod - orange for 12V, grey for dash lights, and brown for the tach. I disconnected the grey lead from the harness behind the dash to ease access to the pod as it came out. Also note that I removed the heater switch unit from the dash. This gave me better access to the hex head screw on the on the pod that is towards the speedo.

If you have A/C, you'll have to remove all of the ducting first before being able to get to the back side of the tach. My '68 doesn't have A/C but my '69 does.

Randy C.

PS: I don't know how the pics got rotated to the left 90 degrees but you should still get a good idea on what's back there.

 

Thanks again Randy
I located the fuse you mentioned and it was good. That's the reason I'll now remove the Tach for repair.
I figured out in a hurry that the Dr seat needed to be removed , my old body doesn't bend like it did in my younger years.
I was hoping that removing the 1/4 " screws would allow the Tach to come out and as you said, they are difficult to get to, so I wanted to ask before I screw up something.
I fought the AC ducting till I removed 2 screws and it's (ducting) is out. I need to work smarter not harder.
I just now received a call from Cliff Ruggles concerning my carb. I'll update that on my "Carb rebuild" post in the Technical & Reference area.

 

Well folks with the help and advice of Randy(rcorrigan5) I was finally able to get my tach removed with only the loss of another 1/2 quart of blood. As Randy said it will come out from the front with a lot of will power and frustration. It's difficult but can be done. Now I just have to get it repaired and decide if I want to have the clock converted to quartz or just have the clock fixed as original. Opinions please and reason why. I'll update this post after repairs are made.

 

I had my clock repaired as original. Just a personal preference, as no doubt a quartz movement will last much longer. However, when my cars are in the garage and covered up, I disconnect the battery and the clock doesn't run. My thinking is that it will give an originally restored clock more lifetime. I had the clock in my '71 Corvette restored to original in 1980 and it still runs when I connect the battery.

Randy C.

BTW, the '69 I just completed is my 2nd '69 4-4-2 as well. My very first car was a '69 4-4-2 holiday coupe. Bought it in April 1972 with 44,610 miles on it for $1800!

 

Well folks it kinda looks like I may have fought as previously described to remove my Tach for no real reason. I was cleaning up some wiring issues on the 442 this morning and I found the tach input wire was shorting out itself where it goes thru the firewall. After further looking I found the wire had 7 splices poorly done and not insulated at all, so I've ran a new wire from dist to Tach and I left enough wire so I can calibrate the Tach with the gauge in the engine bay. also fixed several other wire that was pretty knarley
I will have it wired with ground , 12 VDC and Tach wire from dist.
Does anyone see any problem with what I want to do. It will be a few days before I can try this due to the fact that I still have my carb removed and waiting on parts from Cliff Ruggles for the rebuild and then I still want to get the clock fixed as original before permanently reinstalling all.

 

Just a heads-up on grounding...there should be a short black wire that runs between the gauge pod and the speedo pod, and then another short black wire that goes from the where the passenger side hex head screw holds in the speedo pod to the driver side hex head screw that holds in the tach pod. These short black wires serve as the ground for all of your dash instruments.

Good catch on the brown wire problems.

Randy C.

 

Well glad you possibly may have found your tach issue, it will save you a kings ransom if it works out.

 

Randy
There isn't/wasn't a ground wire hooked to the Tach when I took it apart. I'll be sure to ground all when I reinstall the Tach and hopefully I'll get my new wiring diagram that Lance suggested by then. When I ground tach to speedo does it then need to go to a separate ground spot? Steering column mount? Other location?
Also I've made arrangements with John at Redline to fix the clock to original.
I wanted to use a different guy in Phoenix but his fee and time to repair was out of line.

 

As I recall, all of the gauges are grounded to the dash, the dash then to the firewall which is grounded to the engine block. For the gauges, there should be a short black wire that loops from the inboard hex head screw on the gauges to the outboard hex head screw on the speedo. Then there should be another short black wire that loops from the inboard hex head screw on the speed to the outboard hex head screw on the tach/clock. the inboard hex head screw on the tach/clock is attached to a piece of metal on the inside of the dash. That's the grounding system for the gauges. Without that all hooked to ground, my temp gauge does weird things, as does my dash lights for the tach and the operation of the clock is messed up.

Randy C.

 

Wow Randy you are fixing some of my problems without even knowing what they are. When I first joined this site, I posted about my temp and oil press indicators fluctuating with turn signal usage. I'll make sure to loop a ground to all. I bet that will fix that.
Thanks for your help

 

I have had John at Redline rebuild several sets of gauges for me, he is good people!

btw, take John's advice about installing a brass cut-off switch on the battery, it will save the contacts on your factory clock movement.

 

I seem to have introduced another electrical issue. I currently have the Tach removed from the car and now I have No power at all. Dash is completely dead with or without key on. Lights do not work and horn does not work. Batt is connected and has 12.99 VDC charge and a Batt tender connected at all times.
As previous stated in post # 6 I have a 2 wire connector(orange and pink wires) located under dash near 10 wire connector mounted to pax side of steering column that is not connected to anything. It is possible that I may have knocked it loose while working on tach removal.
I do not see any place to reconnect it in its wire length.
Also, does tach need to be connected to supply power for the dash.
I hope to get my wiring diagram in the next couple days that may help me figure out some of my issues. The diagram in my CSM is unreadable
Any help or suggestions on where to look will be greatly appreciated.
This 47 year old car is kicking my butt

 

In addition to the above I have also repaired a couple wires in the engine bay as follows: 16-18 gage Tan wire with a "slide on open end terminal" was jerry rigged connected to a black 16-18 gage wire that appears to go back thru the firewall to pax compartment. I strongly suspect that the tan wire was originally connected to coil neg terminal and the black wire does in fact go to ground. All I did with these wires was to securely connect them together.
Also in same wire harness(dont know if original) is a 10-12 gage purple wire that I suspect goes to starter. This wire has several areas that need to be insulated which I'll take care off when time comes for that.
I am really stumped as to why no power at all

 

What a difference a day makes.
Got my Carb rebuild and installed today and low and behold my electrical problems have just disappeared.
I have no idea what the electrical issue was. Car started up after a maybe 20-30 revolutions and now continues to run very nicely with no additional adjustments. I have right at 6 PSI fuel pressure, so maybe I will not need to install a pressure regulator.
I sent my Tach to John @ Redline for clock repair. I probably will not drive the car until I get the Tach back and reinstalled, then I'm gonna have it DYNO tuned.
Thanks to all for your help and advice.