Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications General Mods auto meter tach

anybody else put in an auto meter tach and at idle have the needle bounce pretty rapidly? i installed it since my car didnt come with one stock and its a manual. but i thought it was odd that it bounced so much at idle, but i guess its just the way the gauge is made. just reminds me of my friends vacuum/boost gauge on his eclipse at idle. just was hoping for a smooth needle i guess.

oh and for those who might be thinking, its no monster tach. thats just not me, although some might think otherwise when they see the muffler but i got it with it. with removal of it? haha

When I had my Zetec MTX tour... I also didnt have a tach in the cluster... I thought it was odd, and hated it... My brother bought me a Sunpro 2 tach from Autozone... just an el-cheap-o one that had a white face (To match my overlays). I set it up so it hung down into the cluster to the left... Looked classy, everybody I knew liked the look of it right there... But upon install I never had a problem with the needle rapidly bouncing... I mean, the zetec in that particular year is famious for having a cycleing idle that bounces between 700 and 900 rpm's. So I guess I dont exactly know what your problem is... You might have a bad gauge...

when I hooked up my signal wire I had to run it to the engine bay, all the way across to the passenger side to a big cluster of wires, I dont recall which wire it was we spliced into... I could check my install book... But I never had any problems with signal...

ah the gauge is good. i mounted mine right up on the dash close to the a pillar. it doesnt exactly like bounce around, but it vibrates between like the range you said. the motor feels like it idles fine maybe a little jump here and there, but im just guessing its the way the gauge was made now.

but you didnt hook up a tach adapter? and i just ran my signal wire through the grommet on the driverside which took like half the dash to be removed and fuse box. i spent more time trying to get a wire through the firewall, then wiring everything up. the tach adapter was so easy especially having a metal bracket on the firewall (in back of intake) i was able to mount it on. coil 12v wire was right there so it was an easy splice.