5" autometer tach set up on '92 ranger

[4dranger]

Hey every one. I just signed up and it looks like you could be just the group I've been looking for. I have a 1992 ford ranger with a 4.0 V-6 and I was given an Autometer Tachometer by a friend. I went on line to find how to wire the tach but it is still showing an inacurate reading (i.e. RPM is off by 500 - 1000 rpms at idle, and very slugish responce). I have gone on the sight for autometer and made sure that i had the right wire to splice into on the coil pack but still there is not a working tach in my truck.
Any help would be greatly appriciated. Thanks in advance.

[Marbles1984]

Sounds like he gave it to ya for a reason. Its probably broke. Try it on another car and see if it does the same thing. There should be 4 wires coming out of it. 1 for the positive side of the battery, 1 for the negative side, 1 for the light inside the tach, and 1 for the coil pack. Sounds to me like you don't have the right wire on the coil pack. I dont know about the 4 liters but on my 3 liter its a green wire. If your positive that you have all the wires hooked up correctly then its probably the tach.

[4dranger]

i have the wires all connected and was hoping i had found the right wire on the coil pack. the light works inside the tack, the power is connected and the groung is grounded, but i dont have a manuel for this truck yet. On the Autometer home page it says to plug it into the #2 pin on the ignition module. Since my truck has the coil pack on is im not too sure which is the #2 pin on the connector to splice it into. Out of the 4 wires leading into the coil pack i have it on the wire twards the center of the plug, but on the left hand side. i want to move it to the right hand side but i dont want to have to worry about crimping and soldering all that much, especialy when it has to deal with making the spark any weaker to the coil then it is already. I appriciate the feed back and the help. Every one here has already exceded the help i got from the other forums.

[stuzman]

Originally Posted by 4dranger

i have the wires all connected and was hoping i had found the right wire on the coil pack. the light works inside the tack, the power is connected and the groung is grounded, but i dont have a manuel for this truck yet. On the Autometer home page it says to plug it into the #2 pin on the ignition module. Since my truck has the coil pack on is im not too sure which is the #2 pin on the connector to splice it into. Out of the 4 wires leading into the coil pack i have it on the wire twards the center of the plug, but on the left hand side. i want to move it to the right hand side but i dont want to have to worry about crimping and soldering all that much, especialy when it has to deal with making the spark any weaker to the coil then it is already. I appriciate the feed back and the help. Every one here has already exceded the help i got from the other forums.

One of two things...either the tach connection isn't correct or the tach is bad. Did you try to move it to another connection as far as #2? Personally, I would have a wiring diagram before I tried this method. On the other hand, if the connections are correct, you know the rest of the story!

[4dranger]

Well, unfortunatly i have tried the opposing wire on the coil pack, now the teach is opperating smoothy and it is metering the RPMs much faster upon acceleration and decel. but it is still in the 500's at idle. im pretty sure i have the wires correct for the main four but i am concerned about the 4 smaller wires that are next to the main four, they are orange and brown. my guess is 18-20 gauge in size. i have tried to play with them and at times the tach is redlined and other times it is near 200 RPM, I really do appriciate all the tips and help from every who has tried to help me but i am really close to just going out to buy one that hasnt been used before. i'm just really cheap and "stubborn" as so many of my "friends" tell me. again, thaks for your input.