The electronic board on my tachometer is shot. I went to remove it and noticed I could spin the needle 360 degrees counterclockwise and also 360 degrees clockwise without any resistance or the needle stopping. Is the tach completely gone, or does the board control where the needle stops once it has power to it?

I'd like to order a new board tonight, but I need to know whether I need an entirely new tach, or I can just get away with a new board.

 

it is usually the board, look at Willcox, he a video on how to replace them. OR, he can do all of it for you at an additional cost, comes back and ready to install. Have you checked all the wiring leading to the tach?

 

yes the wiring seems to be working just fine. all I nee to know is whether the needle on mine is broken or if the way it is functioning is normal and i just need a new board.

 

ok, did you look at the video??? I think you have to pull the needle off anyway to put it on the new board.

 

YES...you do have to pull the needle...and do not worry about how the needle moves now. When you follow the instructions on how to set the needle position to get it to read correctly...leave it alone and do not worry about how much the needle can move when you manually move it. They do not self correct. It will correct itself when you apply current.

DUB

 

Jeremy- I don't remember what year the car is.. But for all 1975-1982 tachometers.. as Dub said above.. the needle will move freely until power and ground are applied. What you don't want to see is a needle that will fall up or down if you tilt it forward and backwards. This is an indication the oil inside the analog movement is dried up or leaked out and in most cases the tach will still work but it will respond too quickly to the signal and not be very accurate. It's a sign of the aging movement that will fail sooner than later.

When the movements were new, and you turned off the key, the needle would hold the approximate position, maybe falling a bit. On one that is wearing out, they will fall almost to zero.

Removing the needle can be a tricky but in most cases they will just pull off. If they are stuck a small fork will usually do the trick. You just don't want to break the needle. While there are vendors out there that say a needle is available, they are not. The tach needles were a different spindle shaft size than the speedometers and the 1975-1977 needle was counter balanced.

Here are he videos if you need to watch them.

Willcox


1978-1982


1975-1977