Tach cable burned up
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,912
Likes: 12
From: Schaumburg (Chicago) Illinois
Tach cable burned up
Driving my car a little last Saturday. Everything was great and then smoke was coming out of the hood and also through the dash. Thought the whole thing was burning up. Turned out to be the tachometer cable. it got hot, started burning the casing. Finally got all twisted up and broke. My tach and speedometer weren't working beforehand. So I guess it was binding somehow and the extra stress made it eventually burn up. I assume this also tells me the distributor side was ok, right?
Would I have to have the tach rebuilt or can I open it up and fix it myself? If so, where can I get parts for the internals?
Would I have to have the tach rebuilt or can I open it up and fix it myself? If so, where can I get parts for the internals?
Pro
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 526
Likes: 1
From: Millington TN
AWilson- I had a similar incident last night with my mechanical tach, minus the smoke. After sitting 7 months I finally got my 72 running again. The tach cable was VERY squeaky at first. So I squirted some white lithium grease in there and the cable freed up nicely. Then last night the cable got really squeaky and the RPM's were jumping all over the place and all of the sudden no PRM's at all. I would hope we can just replace the cable. A search turned up little for me though. Someone help us!
-CR
Last edited by 'Bochawa72; Aug 25, 2007 at 03:21 PM.
Racer
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 265
Likes: 1
Corvette America has replacement tach and speedo drive cables.
Its really important to pull the drive cable out of the casing and inspect it for rust or wear whenever the car has been sitting for an extended period of time.
http://www.corvetteamerica.com/cf/di...20tach%20cable
Its really important to pull the drive cable out of the casing and inspect it for rust or wear whenever the car has been sitting for an extended period of time.
http://www.corvetteamerica.com/cf/di...20tach%20cable
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 219
Likes: 0
From: Jupiter FL
Corvette America has replacement tach and speedo drive cables.
Its really important to pull the drive cable out of the casing and inspect it for rust or wear whenever the car has been sitting for an extended period of time.
http://www.corvetteamerica.com/cf/di...20tach%20cable
Its really important to pull the drive cable out of the casing and inspect it for rust or wear whenever the car has been sitting for an extended period of time.
http://www.corvetteamerica.com/cf/di...20tach%20cable
That's the first place I'd look, because if that fixes the problem, that's the least outlay. If the tach has to be rebuilt, it's tough to do without some specialized equipment so I'd send it out to have done. If you do get you're tach out and apart, put a little drop of bearing oil or clock oil in that little jewel in the center of the magnet. That dries up over time and makes all the difference in the world in making it run smoothly, if there are no other issues.Same with the speedo, but a bit more complicated with a series of gears in there.
My off hand guess is if they're not working they need to be repaired. Once you get that done, make sure you have good cables, because the best speedo and tach won't work right with an old and worn cable.
