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Tach pickup wires come from distributor (archive)
[ Follow Ups ] [ 3-series (E21) Message Board ] [ Msg. Board FAQ ]
Posted by DHoang on February 28, 2000 at 14:19:49:

In Reply to: Tach problem with engine swap posted by Aleksander Johannesen on February 28, 2000 at 12:32:38:

I can't prove this with schematics, but I remember how the plastic electrical plug (not spark plug wires) going to the base of my distributor came loose on one of my drives, and at that instant, the tach needle dropped to zero - instantly.

I got out and checked a few things to confirm that I was getting no spark, then wiggled that plastic electrical plug on the distributor to fire up the engine, and noticed on the way home how my tach needle floated erratically, not working as it should. Weeks went by where I did this and that to cure the tach but got nowhere with it.

Finally, on a hunch, I took my distributor loose, positively secured the plastic electrical plug to the distributor's female plug, and I no longer have the erratic tach behavior.

: Hey there..
: When i bought my 81' 323i it had a 86' E30 323i engine in it and the tach was all dead, i've checked the power and everything but its dead.. i've spoken to some auto-electrical specialists saying: "the tach is reading from the ignition coil". there is three cables out of the tach one purple ("+") two brown
: ("-" or something) and a black one that the haynes electrical diagram says its "-" wich i cant understand where do the tach pick up the rpms? from the center lead or the two brown wires.. they all read 13volts. But when i try the purple(+) and the center lead, then it reads like 0,250 or something.. when i clamp the throttle down it reads different but not logical. i want to try to take the center lead and connect i directly to the coil "-"
: where there is two black cables wich makes perfect sense one to whatever and one to the tach the. "+" one on the coil is green. Since i got one spare intrument panel, but i dont want to blow the whole ignition. so i hope a auto-electric expert can help me out get the tach back to life.. or someone email me a scanned wiring diagram so i can understand a bit more

: Regards

: Aleksander



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