VanMan
05-29-2005, 03:33 PM
I just finished puting an Autometer 0-5000 rpm diesel tachometer in my van! I just thought I'd give a few details here in case anyone is interested.:)
The whole idea of this thing was pretty simple actually. The gauge had two wires that attached to the signaling device you attach to the alternator, one wire for 12V power, one for ground, and one to light the gauge.
To get the signal to the tachometer, they include this really big hose clamp to strap this little gadget on the alternator. Two wires from this thing go into the cab and connect to the gauge.
To power the gauge, I tapped into the cigarette lighter wires because they were easy to access. And this is were I did a dumb thing. In a moment of enthusiasm, I reached in there with my wire cutters and cut the orange wire and black wire at the same time.:o: The little spark was kinda fun but I felt like a moron.:Wedgie: I did find out that the cigarette lighters aren't switched though. Oh well. I then went to Kragen and got a rocker switch to turn the power off to the gauge when the motor's turned off. Finally, I replaced the 25 amp fuse.):h
Ground for the gauge was easy to find. There was a bolt in the firewall that was already grounding one wire so now it's grounding two.
The hardest part of this whole thing was routing the wires around by the pedals and getting the hose clamp around the alternator. There's just not much room in this van around the motor!
The whole idea of this thing was pretty simple actually. The gauge had two wires that attached to the signaling device you attach to the alternator, one wire for 12V power, one for ground, and one to light the gauge.
To get the signal to the tachometer, they include this really big hose clamp to strap this little gadget on the alternator. Two wires from this thing go into the cab and connect to the gauge.
To power the gauge, I tapped into the cigarette lighter wires because they were easy to access. And this is were I did a dumb thing. In a moment of enthusiasm, I reached in there with my wire cutters and cut the orange wire and black wire at the same time.:o: The little spark was kinda fun but I felt like a moron.:Wedgie: I did find out that the cigarette lighters aren't switched though. Oh well. I then went to Kragen and got a rocker switch to turn the power off to the gauge when the motor's turned off. Finally, I replaced the 25 amp fuse.):h
Ground for the gauge was easy to find. There was a bolt in the firewall that was already grounding one wire so now it's grounding two.
The hardest part of this whole thing was routing the wires around by the pedals and getting the hose clamp around the alternator. There's just not much room in this van around the motor!