help with tacho install

[smidge]

got a small 2" tacho i've tried to wire into the micra...

no luck getting it to work so far...

i've connected the positive switched and ground wires, as well at tapped off the blue wire on the dizzy and run it to the green wire on the tach...

here are the instructions, the needle moves slightly when i start the car but otherwise does nothing at all

any ideas?

 

[smidge]

the engrish instructions suck wang....

what is this thing supposed to be????

 

[CMF_fred]

sounds like its connected right, but its not set on the right number of pulses to work in the right 'zone' (eg, 4,6,8 cylinder engines) see the exclaimation mark, does changing that switch do anything?

 

[smidge]

nope doesn't do a thing unfortunately! its set on 4

i wonder if there is a way to test tachos?

 

[CMF_MacGillaZ]

Hmmm, sounds to me you have the same tacho as Dens. When he gets back from the Vic cruise I'm sure he'll be able to help you out, as I can't remember which wire it was I tapped into to drive his ...

 

[CMF_deNs]

Hmm, it does sound like it's wired up correctly. Any chance of providing some pics? Checked your grounding for the tacho or if you're getting the proper voltage into the tacho?

By the way, that extra bit you were asking about is likely the terminal for the parkers - so the tacho dims if you switch your lights on. I found mine is hard enough to see as it is, and it's definitely not too bright to have it at full brightness for night driving.

If you've got a spare 12V power source (i.e. spare PSU from a PC or a power pack that delivers 12V) then you could try powering it from that and getting the signal from the dizzy so you can isolate things. Apart from that I dunno what else to suggest..

---dens

 

[smidge]

well the red, black and orange wires coming from the top of the gauge are likely to be power and earth for the light in it, and then the orange one is for the dimmer

i can only then assume that the OTHER red and black wires (coming from lower on the unit) are for the tacho mechanism itself, and the green wire IS the signal wire...

the blue wire on top of the dizzy is definately the right one to tap into yes?

cause if so, its all wired up fine... just won't work

i wonder if there is a way to test the tacho using some kind of frequency generator?

 

[CMF_deNs]

What other set? Red and black are +12v and ground respectively and green will be signal. Orange goes to your parkers, but don't bother with it.

This is some pics I took of my install. I piggybacked onto a spare fuse I had and an unused fuse point that put out the correct voltage.

---dens

 

[smidge]

i think either my tacho is buggered or incompatible with the micra's ignition setup

the wiring diagram has it layed out like it would work on a gemini or something, maybe thats all it will work on...

hmmm

 

[CMF_ed.]

What tacho is it?

 

[smidge]

venom 2" tacho... generic brand i think... same ones that are labelled as autogage