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Old Apr 29, 2007 | 02:18 AM
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Default tach wire

81 Vette mostly original. My tach wire that comes out from the dist. is not plugged in. I cant find a matching plug under the hood anywhere. It appears to be a yellow or white wire (cant tell) Can somebody tell me where this thing is supposed to plug into?

Great site!
Thanks for the help.

Brian
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Old Apr 29, 2007 | 09:53 AM
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On my 78', there is a white wire that comes from the "Tach" connection on the dist cap and goes through the firewall and connects to the tach somewhere under the dash. I would think an 81' is the same.
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Old Apr 29, 2007 | 10:24 AM
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Is your tach working?
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Old Apr 29, 2007 | 12:50 PM
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SOme cars had a Tach filter- looks like a condenser, mounted somewhere around the disty. Could be on the engine or the firewall, but would, in either case, be within reach of your Tach wire coming from the disty..
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Old Apr 29, 2007 | 02:31 PM
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On mine the dist tach wire is soldered right to the filter mounted on the intake. The wire off the filter then has a connector to another that goes on thru the firewall. Mine's original too......
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Old Apr 29, 2007 | 02:37 PM
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Here is the tach filter but that is an old pic and I can't remember the wiring setup.

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Old Apr 29, 2007 | 03:58 PM
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yes this wire does have the filter attatched but it isnt mounted to anything. No my tach doesnt work right now.

So this wire should go into the firewall and plug into the tach?

Actually there are 2 wires coming out of the dist on the tach side. both have the same female connection and arent pluged into anything. One has the filter and is 15 inches long. THe other has no filter and is only 3 inches long???

THanks
BH
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Old Apr 29, 2007 | 10:07 PM
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Originally Posted by blhaley91
yes this wire does have the filter attatched but it isnt mounted to anything. No my tach doesnt work right now.

So this wire should go into the firewall and plug into the tach?

Actually there are 2 wires coming out of the dist on the tach side. both have the same female connection and arent pluged into anything. One has the filter and is 15 inches long. THe other has no filter and is only 3 inches long???

THanks
BH
On an 81, the tach filter is mounted on the EGR solenoid bracket between the two solenoids. The wire coming off the distributor that is short is a test lead. It just hangs there for underhood tach readings. Follow the other lead to the filter, then from there, to the firewall. The wire is white. I can post pics if you need them.
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Old Apr 30, 2007 | 01:32 AM
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Ok I found where the wires plug together, but when I plug them in the tach bottoms out. So I guess my tach or circuit board need to be replaced???

BH
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Old Apr 30, 2007 | 09:03 AM
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Originally Posted by blhaley91
Ok I found where the wires plug together, but when I plug them in the tach bottoms out. So I guess my tach or circuit board need to be replaced???

BH
Try bypassing the tach filter first. If it still does it, yes.
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Old Apr 30, 2007 | 11:07 AM
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Originally Posted by Big2Bird
Try bypassing the tach filter first. If it still does it, yes.
Quite often those tach filters went bad. That's possibly why yours was disconnected. Bypassing the filter frequently solved th problem
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Old May 1, 2007 | 02:14 AM
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Originally Posted by paul67
Here is the tach filter but that is an old pic and I can't remember the wiring setup.

That's what filter looks like on my 78 4 speed car. Automatics had a different filter which probably could be confirmed by the AIM.
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Old May 1, 2007 | 09:24 AM
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Originally Posted by hunt4cleanair
That's what filter looks like on my 78 4 speed car. Automatics had a different filter which probably could be confirmed by the AIM.
I don't think so.
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Old May 2, 2007 | 03:44 AM
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Tach on my 78 is not working so following the thread here. Schematic shows the white from distributor going through a couple of connector blocks and onto the printed board of the tach.

Pink wire connects to the tach directly and than the white lead connects to a brown lead which routes through the filter and onto the white wire. Leads coming out of the filter are brown. I'll try dropping the filter out of the circuit as described above.
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Old May 2, 2007 | 10:51 PM
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Still no dice. I guess I need to replace the circuit board. When I plug the wires into each other the Tach pegs out. If I unplug it the tach eventually just wanders around with no change when the RPM's change. might go up, might go down, might peg out.

Thanks for the help
BH
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Old May 9, 2007 | 03:54 AM
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Originally Posted by gldnkngt
Quite often those tach filters went bad. That's possibly why yours was disconnected. Bypassing the filter frequently solved th problem
I got around to doing a bypass on the tach filter but tach failed to register a tic. What's next to check?
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Old May 9, 2007 | 11:11 AM
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Sounds like it may be the tach board. If you get the tach out, (the whole cluster does not need to come out) Just use care not to scratch up the housing because it's a pain to fix the scratches. On the back of the board are 6 screws. The top 3 are labeled. Connect 12 volts to the screw marked 12v, and ground to the one marked g. The pointer should go to zero. If it doesn't, that's a good indication the board is bad. It'll also give you a chance to inspect the board visually for any indications of burnt ares.
These are also liquid filled with a damping oil. Oftentimes the oil dries out and they act erratically, and need to be re-damped.

Last edited by gldnkngt; May 9, 2007 at 08:27 PM.
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Old May 10, 2007 | 05:09 AM
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Originally Posted by gldnkngt
These are also liquid filled with a damping oil. Oftentimes the oil dries out and they act erratically, and need to be re-damped.
Your saying the circuit board is filled with a damping oil?

In regards to the meter pointer, if it goes to zero, than the circuit is broken and therefore circuit board bad?
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Old May 10, 2007 | 08:05 AM
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A link for the circuit board replacement. gldnkngt referred to the 6 screws on the back.

http://www.corvettemagazine.com/2005...ch/tach-01.asp
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Old May 10, 2007 | 05:47 PM
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When these boards do fail, it is often one of a couple components and many times can be repaired. I've fixed several of them. If I can offer any assistance, please pm me.

Good Luck!

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