I decided to move my hood tachometer issue to a more specialized heading other than "general" Long story short from my other thread I have a repop tach that is not reading. It lights up but no needle movement. I have not tried the recommended "mechanics fix" hitting it to see if the needle is stuck. I want to know what readings I should get from the harness. I got one ground. one 12v power and the coil wire is showing power when engine is running with a test light. I do have a meter but have not read exact voltage. I assume the voltage should vary as something has to make the needle move? Before I contact the seller and tell him what a piece of sht the thing is I want to make sure I have everything correct

BTW I got the tachometer from the parts place as recommended. It is my second unit from them, the first one came and there were three melted/smashed edges on it, so I will be pissed if I have to return and wait for another one

If you have the original harness and its wired into the Lamps circuit in the fuse box, than with the tach you have you'll have to pull the headlight switch for the lights to come on AND for the needle to move. It seems you have the correct readings, if you have power with the engine running, ground is good (verify with Amp meter) and you are connected to the coil and you pull the light switch the tach should work. The Parts p[lace, mildly put is not one of my favorite suppliers, they offer 2 tach styles, 1 was made in 2007, the others are new, and they are still selling both styles. You can see on the tag when yours was made. The newer one has better electronics and the older one may need a tap to free up the needle.

Do you have a points distributor or HEI ?

Some repop Tachs are made only for HEI and others for points.

Well the way I understand hei distributors don't have a coil they are built on top of unit. At least the one I had in a Chevy did so I assume points is what I ordered. I did have powered on lamps but moved to acc. The only thing I didn't try was the hitting it. If engine is running and I unplug 12 volt power what should happen. Also I am using harness supplied

The wire that goes to the coil has a fuse. Did you check to make sure it is getting good contact?

I did because I am getting a voltage reading at the end of the harness

Problem solved with mechanics fix. I hit it. Seems was stuck in silicone from manufacturing

Thanks all for helping

Well now I know something has to be wrong with the tachometer. It intermittently works. Does seem to still stick then will work for a while. Then needle bounces around then works then doesn't? Drove 20 miles yesterday didn't work once. Drove some the day before and it didn't work from the start but did for about 5 miles?

Looks like I'm screwed on a return and got to guess something not right inside because it must be connected right if it has worked? Any ideas?

Go with the tach from Classic, they are dead on for looks and I have never heard anything bad about them.

Agree. Have purchased three of them now. Very nice!

So what about the tach I got. Just eat it. Might be cheaper to get it fixed if there is someone who does that

I'd try to return it with your valid complaints...

What a shame. Mine worked perfect on the first one. Have you already painted it?

I would defiantly call and let them know and return it. Tell them after three tries, you have to move on.

Unfortunately I did paint it, my fault I guess for assuming that it should work? I guess my fault to assume when you pay good money for something new that it should work? Will try to contact but last email they sent me they said I must have done something wrong?

You chances of getting a replacement is slim. Here's what I would do. Get some small needle nose pliers and take the bogus screws off and take it appart. Set it on the fender without the top portion of the housing. Sometimes the top portion of the housing will trap the needle and prevent it from moving. Also look at the back clearance of the needle to ensure nothing rubs and make sure the 3 pin plug is tight inside the housing/board. Good luck, hope you'll get it to work.

Well...

So I was hoping to not have to send this tachometer back but I could no longer take having its random operation. Sometimes it would work sometimes it bounced around and sometimes it did nothing. Finally during one of the times it worked it tapped on the housing and the needle just bounced around. Some buddies of mine and I determined had to be something loose inside, and that it shouldn't be my responsibility to take it apart. So I removed the tach and sent it back with a note describing its operation and told them to test. I also told them that if it worked to tap on housing to see needle bounce. I also told them to please test the next one before sending be another one.

We will see what happens I will keep anyone interested posted

Ok so I sent it back. Here is their response.
We tested this tach, and it seems like the board is fried. It would not do anything, and it would not do anything. After looking at the tach we noticed the date code on the bottom was from 2007, and you purchased this in March of this year. There is only a one year warranty on these. We can not change out the movement as there have been revisions made since 2007.

Thank you

- thepartsplaceinc

Soooo. What does this mean? They think I'm trying to return a tach from 2007. I just got the car. They sent me this one. They said all they have are 2015 models. I think I talked him into the fact that this is what they sent me. We will wait and see if one gets sent

Kind of a cryptic response... Hmmmm.

Continue with the saga as things develop. I wonder if it was a return from someone else and they shipped it to you. Didn't you say earlier in your post that this was a recent exchange for another that was not working?

The guy is known to be a douche. The fact is he sold 2007 model tachs throughout this year(friend of mine got on too). He's trying to reinforce the "The customer is NEVER right" statement. If you goggle his business or look at all the neg. feedback on ebay, you'll know what I'm talking about. I dealt with him 4 years ago when he sent me some dried up trunk splatter paint, even had my painter talk to him...never got anywhere. He will not replace anything! Sorry, probably not what you want to hear, but most likely fact.

The first one I received parts of the edges were melted. Like someone squueezed it with metal gloves. The reluctantly took that one back and sent me this one. He claims he only had 2015 models and that I bought this one in 2007. Even though he just sent to me and that I told him I only owned the car for 1 year. I think he is sending me a new one because he said he couldn't put my painted housing on the 2015 unit. I said send it I will paint it myself.

Revising this thread as I too am the (un)lucky owner of a hood tach purchased from the Parts Place, mfr'd in 2007.
I bought it mid-way through the year in 2013, installed it, and it worked beautifully throughout the summer of 2014.

Unfortunately, after washing the car one day in early 2015, I noticed the tach was behaving erratically; it was jumping between zero and the actual rpms. I quickly disconnected the tach, with the assumption that some water had perhaps found its way to the bottom side of the tach, i.e. between the hood and the tach's case. I never sprayed water directly at the face of the tach, but perhaps some humidity was affecting it?

I reconnected the tach after a couple days, with the assumption that it would have dried out, and it worked fine for a few weeks. From this time forward, I always disconnected it when washing for a few days. Nevertheless, after a few more weeks, it started behaving oddly, as the needle would move, but it wasn't responding to the actual RPM's. Disconnecting and reconnecting it would often correct the issue. Late in the summer, it stopped working completely; the tach lights up, and all connections are good right to the circuit board, but the needle sits at zero.

Enough of my tale of woe. My question to those of you who purchased units from Classic Industries: do you take any precautions when washing the car, or doing anything else? Thanks in advance.

Nope. Never really thought about it. I spray water every which way. Have never had an issue. They should be sealed water tight at the factory from what I could tell looking at them before installation. I have placed a bead of caulk on the bottom edge of the underside to help seal it to the hood. That keeps water from leaking underneath through the hole and getting the hood insulation all wet. But that really has nothing to do with the tach itself.

Thanks... looking at Classic's site, and they do seem to sell sealed units, however they're only for points ignition, and I switched to HEI a long time ago... will try to source the mfr and see if someone else sells the same brand for HEI.

I thought Classic sells a conversion plug or something for HEI. But that's just going from memory...

This might help. HEI kit