tach

[chevy94ss]

hey guys, i've decided to add a tach to my 85 cutlass. i am just going to get one of those sunpro ones @ autozone for $30. my question is how do i hook it up? which wires to splice into for switched 12v, illuminated, tach signal, ground? its got a sbc 350 w/ hei. thanks for the help

 

[357chevIn86]

hey guys, i've decided to add a tach to my 85 cutlass. i am just going to get one of those sunpro ones @ autozone for $30. my question is how do i hook it up? which wires to splice into for switched 12v, illuminated, tach signal, ground? its got a sbc 350 w/ hei. thanks for the help

i can help. i had to create a new email address just to help you... no biggie, thanx to yahoo. green goes to the tach signal, black is ground, red goes to 12 volt ignition, white goes to your dash lights... you'll need a test light for the install on the dash lights to figure out which one dims the lights on your tach when u find the wire just cut it and strip the wires and twist the tach wire and dash light wire together and put a butt spliceon, crimp and your done.... for a tach, let me suggest that the more $ u spend on a guage/guages the more accurate they are. in other words, "you get what you pay for."

 

[1986 Cutlass Supreme]

That would be like the 3 inch face?

 

[357chevIn86]

if you were to order an autometer or VDO guage, these in my opinion, are two of the highest quality brand of guages on the market. for the working man of course. your guages are your link to "reading" what your engine is doing so the last thing you want to do is to save some dough on your diagnostics for your motor. tach and temp are the two most important guages you have in the cockpit. rpms and heat are two of the most common killers of motors. If it were me I'd look into buying autometer guages from a place called northernautoparts.com. they are one of the cheapest places to buy auto products. Just get an aftermarket temp guage and tach. about 50 bux for the temp and 75-120 for the tach but you'll be pleased.

 

[chevy94ss]

thanks guys for the input... but i think im gonna have to hold off on the tach. i went to go pick up my cutlass from it's storage(not a daily driver) and i've figured out that i have an oil leak, either from the timing chain cover gasket or the pan gasket. with my luck its probably the pan gasket so im going to have to pull the motor again. so back into storage it went till i get the time to fix the oil leak. but thanks for your help guys.

 

[Chevyman85]

I would deff. have to agree that you should spend some extra money and buy some quality gauges. When you do wire them up I'd recommend not cutting the backlight into the headlight switch. I did this and it sucked the power from the gauge cluster. It wasn't a big deal with just a tach, but when I added my oil press. and water temp on the A-Pillar it caused the factory gauges to get really dim. I recommend splicing it into a switched power source. Then any time the key is on the backlight will come on. This makes it a lot easier to wire in, and you can avoid the problem I had. Mabey I'm the only one whos had that issue with the factory gauges.

I swear by Auto Meter, and their Pro Comp series arn't that expensive.