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Posts: 389
Location: Corning, Iowa | Took the boat out last weekend. Wasn't the first time this year. At about 3/4 open the tach was reading 6000. At wot, it should only be around 5100. I shut the motor down, and the tach was at about 1500. When I turned the key on, the tach went back to 0. When the motor is running, I can tap the face, and the tach needle will drop back to where it should be. First time in 12 years this has happened. I've been told, on other sites, this is normal. Maybe I want to hear something different, but I don't think this is right. I've had quit a few taches in cars, and never did this. Thanks Doug |
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Posts: 32885
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | That isn't normal. The Tach should zero when you turn the key, but it shouldn't move when the engine is running from a tap on the gauge face. |
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Posts: 389
Location: Corning, Iowa | Thanks Steve. Now how do I fix this, or do I get a new one? thanks Doug |
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Posts: 3480
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | I'd maybe start by taking a look at the contacts. If they are dirty or somehow corroded, clean them up and see what happens. If that doesn't help, it might be time to replace. Not a hard thing to do...couple of wires and a nut to hold it in place on the back of the dash...
Just make sure you get the one for your engine...different engines have different polarities, so they don't all read the same way... |
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Posts: 389
Location: Corning, Iowa | When you say contacts, are they on the back of the tach? I haven't taken it out yet. Wanted to ask question first. thanks Doug |
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Posts: 1936
Location: Eau Claire, WI | Doug,
I have had this happen on several boats. On the back of the tach there several places where the wires attach. Make sure the little nuts that hold them on are tight. The other place a wire ataches is off of your voltage regulator (that's where the tach gets it signal from), in most cases this is a push-together connection that has the insullating rubber around it (usually not a lot to go wrong with this one) another possibility could be a voltage regulator that is starting to act up but this would be the last thing I would check as in both cases I had my tested and they were fine.
In my situation I had a loose ground connection on the tach under the dash. In the other situation it was a bad tach. Both of my situations were on Ranger boats that were rigged with Merc motors and Quicksilver (merc) gauges. Not sure who makes their gauges for them suspect Tempest but I know there are various quality levels when it comes to gauges. I had Faria gauges in one of my old Tuffy boats and they seemed to be very reliable as I know the guy who has the boat now and never a lick of issues with the gauges.
Hope this helps you some.
Edited by Mark H. 4/17/2009 7:36 AM
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Posts: 389
Location: Corning, Iowa | Had a chance to go out , yesterday, and check thing out. I think the problem was the connection, on the back. Not saying I'm too big, but the old boats with a full deck, and windshield, would be easier to get under. The tach worked ok. LOL Thanks everyone. Doug |
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Tach isn't right