I would like to put a tachometer (yes i know, i dont need one) on my 1991 honda acty. Because it is a 3 cylinder it is not as easy as going to the local auto store and picking up a tach...they are all made for 4,6 and 8 cylinder cars...mind you there are a few 3 cylinder cars like the pontiac sprint... Anyone ever hooked one up to an Acty? Is there a tach signal? I found this... http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/p...9055004683&assortment=primary&fromSearch=true If i hooked this up, could i use any 4cylinder tach? Thanks! -mark
J.C. Whitney sells a couple of tachometers that will hook up to any engine, and can be selected from one to 12 cylinders.
Good to know, thanks for the info. I never knew that! Do you know if there is a tach signal on the Acty? -mark
My assumption would be that you would hook it up to the ignition coil. I installed a cruise control in my Hijet, and it picks up it's tach signal off of the coil.
I purchased a Equus Tach, the same one that JC witney sells. Good from 1-12 cylinders. I'm going to install it today, i'll post me results! -mark
Cool. I'd love to see pics of the install. I'm planning on installing a tach in mine eventually as well.
Well, i went to hook up the tach last night, and i was going to use the inductive pickup off the spark plug, but the wire that it comes with was to short and can not be extended. So i guess i'll have to go the old fashion way and find a tach signal. I'm supposed to hook up to the negative side of the ignition coil, and i not 100% to sure where it is! I know where the distributor is, but where is the ignition coil? Please have a look at the attached pic and let me know. -mark
The easiest way to hunt down the coil, is to follow the high voltage wire back to it. You already know which three go to the engine, so it'll be the one left over. In my truck (Daihatsu), it was tucked away up high, under the bed behind the engine. The coil shouldn't be too far from the distributor, as the makers seem to like to keep the H.V. wire from the coil to the distributor fairly short.
Well, not so easy as i thought. I spent all night trying to find a tach signal, to no avail. I found the coil, but was unable to find any signal off it. The coil is tucked under the box, where it is near impossible to reach, with very short wires, so splicing was not an option. I tried to hook up to what thought was the negative (looked like a coil ground, had 2 black wires going to it screwed to bottom of coil) but was unable to get a signal off it. Any other idea's? I may have to use the inductive pickup (hook to sparkplug wire), and lengthen the wire, even thou I'm not supposed to. I just can not get anything off the coil. -mark
Make sure you try both low voltage taps. I thought the black wire was the ground on mine. Cruise wouldn't pick up any signal. I changed over to the blue one on mine, and cruise works perfectly.
Well, here's the pic i promised! It the most factory looking tach i could find. Black face with white letter. Only the needle color is not white. These are one of the few tachs i could find that work with a 3 cylinder motor. Very responsive and easy to read. FYI, i tried to rev it good(when driving), and it doesnt really sound like it likes it past 6000rpm, so i bet the redline would not be far off 6800-7000rpm max. -mark
Looks excellent. I'll have to look around for a similar one. The only Equus models Whitney is selling are white with black text.
My local NAPA has the entire line of equus of tachs. I'd recommended going there to get yours. Check out http://www.iequus.com -mark
Thanx. I found a nice 2.5" model for a reasonable price. I'll be calling my local friendly auto parts store in the morning to see if they have one in stock, and to order it if not.
noticed in the owners manual, on the pics of the instrument panel, that the one picture of the panel that had a tach on it the redline was 7500rpm.
Cool, thanks D-rock. You have a owners manual with yours! Wow, that must be a rare find. All in Japaneses i assume? I'd love to see the pics if you ever have time. Its funny, with all the Actys that come to US and Canada, i've never seen one with a factory tach. If anyone ever has, please post! -mark
I saw a picture of one with a factory tach. It wasn't a full on shot of the cluster, but I could see enough of the markings on it to identify it as a tachometer. I couldn't tell what the redline was though.
yep- a manual complete with cartoons and all in japanese! surprising how much you can make out just using the pics. i will scan a few pages that may be useful and post them soon.
7,500rpm actually sounds about right.. I forgot that the E07A in the Acty is carb, the E07A in the Honda Beat is fuel injected and the redline is 8,500rpm. Incidentally I hooked my digital strobe/tach and it seems at my normal highway speeds of 105km/hr its at about 6,000rpm in my Acty Attack..
Hey, good post misterturbo. I love to see actual numbers. I believe mine was at 5500rpm at 105, but not 100%. I will double check next time i'm on the highway. I'm super curious to see if the attack and the sdx 4th vs 5th ratio's actually differ. I'll keep you posted. -mark
correctamudo about that too. I would suspect some of the engine internals are different between them as well. The acty is probably geared more toward low end torque too, thou i would not complain if it had EFI! It would have cost them 100bucks to give it EFI! Cheap bums, this is the 90s for pete sake -mark
you da man d rock. Can wait to see the manual! Post when you have pics!!! Again, if anyone ever has a pic of an acty with a factory tach, please post. It must have been a rare option for the "luxury" acty's But seriously, i've seen hundreds of pics of acty interiors, and i always look for a tach to no avail. I would have figured the attack would at least have it, i thought it was top of the line? -mark
1991 Honda Acty Van Tach As per request. Not a truck but the Van is as close as I could find very similar dash.
Dick, I honestly don't remember Its been so long, plus my brother was helping me hook it up, and he was the one who actually got it working... Wish I could help more! Sorry, -mark
