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New Pertronix coil or Tach adapter

Discussion in 'General Truck Info' started by wheelio, Jul 22, 2020.

  1. wheelio

    wheelio New Member

    I bought a GlowShift Tachometer (second one) and they do not seem to work with my ignition. I have a 94 Hijet with the 660, the stock coil and distributor but no points. The MSD Tach sensor to make it work is like a hundred bucks. I was thinking it might be a better to buy the pertronix coil instead. My thinking is it will work with GlowShift tach and that way I can get a better coil with the ability to sense the tach pulse. Please let me know if you have any experience installing a tach in this situation or have any advice or suggestions.
    FYI I bought the White elite 10 w/upper and lower shift light. (https://www.glowshiftdirect.com/elite-10-color-tachometer-gauge/)

    Thanks,
    Wheelio
     
  2. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    Wheelie, I haven't messed with the ignition on mine. Once I saw that it was point free I left it alone. There are two wires next to the coil that are capped. They are where the factory “Service Tool” Tach plugs in. I would try hooking the tach lead to those before I tried anything else.

    I was going to go out, lift the bed and get a picture, but it has decided to rain.

    And, please add your vehicle info as your signature line. It helps when folks are trying to give advice.

    And, And, How are you mounting the tach. I’ve been trying to figure out a clean solution for my truck.
     
    Limestone likes this.
  3. wheelio

    wheelio New Member

    Thanks Jigs,

    I was sure there must be some place for a tech to get rpm without using an inductive pickup on a coil wire. I will look around for a plug in that area. I have seen other misc plugs here and there and i just chalked it up to a missing component like a/c, diff lock and whatnot.

    For mounting it i am looking at the A pillar, fwd corner of door, top of the ignition cover or on top edge of dash. I would really like to get it into the dash somewhere like the location of the 4x4 switch. I already used that space for a round USB/digital volt meter. Now i need to move the 4x4 switch into one of the rocker switch spaces. I'll post some pictures once i get it all sorted out.
     
  4. wheelio

    wheelio New Member

    I was just reading on the pertronix website 3 cyl engines might have a resistor on the coil. If so I may have hooked it up on the wrong side of the resistor and possibly diluting the signals strength. I will check it out tomorrow. Pretty funny if it turns out to be part of the service port for the tech. I cant wait to find out.
     
  5. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    What little I could pull out of the bit of information out there, leads me to believe, that the stock control module may have some form of multi-spark function built in. Which would mess up the signal if you tried to tap in at the coil Negative. That was a common 80s strategy to meet emissions.

    There had to be a reason, they spent the money to install a test port for the dealer mechanics...
     
  6. wheelio

    wheelio New Member

    The manual I have does reference an SST for the EF-TS series engine but i haven't found the port in their drawing below anywhere on my truck. To be honest all the drawings in this manual are a bit difficult for me to get oriented to but It should get better as I understand more. We also have an old auto electric shop a couple miles away I might see if they can find a tach signal for me. There must be 250 yrs of experience in that shop and I'd be surprised if they couldn't solve it in under an hour. But first I'm going out to look around for that port some more.
    Thanks again
    btw If I can't get an rpm pulse, what do think about new pertronix for a hundred (new coil n signal) vs MSD adapter for 75 (just signal).
     

    Attached Files:

  7. wheelio

    wheelio New Member

    [QUOTE="And, And, How are you mounting the tach. I’ve been trying to figure out a clean solution for my truck.[/QUOTE]

    Here are a couple pics.

    I temporarily mounted the tach in the drivers vent until i get it working (might stay there). I also have an external shift light to put somewhere later. This spot might be a little low but Ill wait until my tach adapter gets here and i can wire it up b4 i know for sure. I moved the 4Wd switch to put in the usb charger/voltmeter. ill need to make another trim piece for the switch too. I just ordered the MSD tach adapter rather than change the ignition coils. seemed to be the least expensive and simplest solution. I hope its easy to use.

    IMG_0651.jpg IMG_0652.jpg
     
  8. wheelio

    wheelio New Member

    Okay I finally got the tach wired up without using the tach adapter. The reason it didn't work in the first place was my failure to get good contact with the coil wire in the harness. The tach works okay but the shift warning features not so much. you can set the up and down shift point with a warning light and alarm but they both seem to function as up shift points and only alert when exceeded. I set them both to 8k and turned them off . The temp tach location in the vent is blocked by the steering wheel so i will move it to the top of the ignition cover on the steering column.
    I have a inductive clamp for my harbor freight multi-meter and it reads 950@idle and 3700@90k the glowshift tach is about 1500@idle and 4700@90k. I ordered a non contact rpm laser gauge and I will find out which one if either is right. I would like to find out the best rpm for up and downshift and what a good sustained freeway rpm is. I don't want to burn it up to fast as it is my daily driver. It sure feels a lot better driving now after having the drivers seat stuffing replaced including added lumbar pump.

    To answer my own question from the subject of this post. If this didn't work the way it did I would have likely changed to the pertronix ignition after having the MSD tach adapter in my hand. It just didn't look right to me.

    Jigs,
    thanks for the suggestions and I think the steering cover is a better place to mount the tach and their included wiring harness will reach the radio connectors (wont reach the a pillar). I really liked running all my wires and making the connections behind the radio. There is plenty of room to work and i don't have to stand on my head like working under the dash. Testing my work in there is almost as easy as if it were in my lap.
     
  9. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    I’m thinking about a gauge pod, mounted to the dash above the factory gauge cluster, on mine.

    If you pull the factory gauge cluster, (two screws at the top), you can pull the entire dash out. (I’ll see if I have pictures of mine out), which gives pretty good access to most of the wiring, and enough room to get in and work. 4F99E52F-F691-40AA-8CF0-82F47E317CC8.jpeg A90163DA-E510-45CD-8166-742A890ACDA5.jpeg A90163DA-E510-45CD-8166-742A890ACDA5.jpeg
     
  10. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    Potential pods I’m looking at: GlowShift Universal Black Triple Gauge Console Dashboard Pod - Fits Any Make/Model - ABS Plastic - Mounts (3) 2-1/16" (52mm) Gauges to Vehicle's Dash https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HDFJ9M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_SzbmFbVXJA08W

    GlowShift Universal Black Triple Gauge Swivel Dashboard Pod - Fits Any Make/Model - Swivels 360 Degrees - ABS Plastic - Mounts (3) 2-1/16" (52mm) Gauges to Vehicle's Dash https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HDFAQO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_mCbmFbF503RY7

    GlowShift Universal Black Triple Gauge Console Dashboard Pod with Dome Lip - Fits Any Make/Model - ABS Plastic - Mounts (3) 2-1/16" (52mm) Gauges to Vehicle's Dash https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007NZ9NSU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_XCbmFbPHJN25H
     

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