CJ428CJ and Blas seem to be correct. After correcting fan rotation and a 50 mile test drive, the fuse did not blow! I'll keep an eye on it but it looks like I'm good to go. Thanks guys!

Dan..
The newer tachs do not need a tach adapter. Yours is the newest style based on your car number. I remember reading about a problem someone had similar to this once before. I'm sure the the MSD tech people can help you out on this one, or Dennis Olthoff. Is this a Roush engine? they would also be a good resource. Check the easy items I mentioned and then follow up with these resources. And remember to post what you've learned here on CC. Just to be sure here, your tach signal to the MSD is coming from the "black/white" wiring on the back of the tach loom right? You have a small "red" power supply going to the ignition switch. Then the big "red" and the big "black' as mentioned earlier.

Don,

Take the tach out, the plug that goes into the back of it should be a six prong unit. Take the wire from the #3 position, move to the #4 position, do not reconnect #4 to anything and leave #3 blank This will make it pick up the correct pulse from the MSD. You will probably find that the wire coming out of the #4 spot currently goes to nothing, and is just a short stub in the wiring harness. This will cure your problem.

Thom

Thom, that may be it...!

Great info Thom,
I'll add this bit of information to 2 of the 3 versions of the SPF wiring diagrams. It should apply to only the newer style of tach...

Where do we stand with these 3 problems?

I'm not an any sort of expert, but here's what I figured out.

For my car the wire for the amp meter ran a very long length from the one wire alternator then across the front of the car, then down the left fender and then to the fuse area, then to the amp meter, then out the other terminal on the amp meter and then to the battery in a round about way. The length of wire and gauge size was insufficient for higher amp draws, so things tick a bit on the gauge when accessories are used. The amp draw isn't really huge as there are minimal accessories, so it didn't seem to cause any function problem other than a gauge tick when things turn on and off for an instant.

In addition for my car one of the spade connector wires on the amp gauge was loose, resting in location to touch and jiggle on vibrations and bums. The gauge is in series, so it makes an intermittent loss of connection causing a jiggle in the reading. In my example the car was a one wire alternator, so for the time the wire is not touching the alternator tried to send massive voltage to charge. It melted the internal regulator in the alternator. I put on a new alternator and plugged the amp wire on tight. It was good to go and just fine.

Another condition is if the one wire to the alternator is loose or falls off the alternator. That also causes the amp meter to do strange things. Fix that quick or you'll be in trouble.

I want to apologize for the delay of my response, I didn't realize that these threads could have more than one page. Dumb yes, if you don't know, you don't know.
Ok, first thanks for all of the responses and info.
Blas, of course you gave the necessary first things to check, but all of these issues were my first thoughts also.
So I pulled the 6-pin connector off and got the no. 4-pin out first. In the course of trying to get the no. 3-pin out, that 4-pin fell onto the floor. The wire to it was only 2.5in long! A wht w/blk stripe wire. I moved the 3 wire, a red w/blue stripe into the 4th location and started the motor. The tach still works, but because it is raining right now, I won't be able to drive it for awhile. I don't really want to rev it to 3 or beyond with cold oil.
Why is the tack designed this way and what did I accomplish by moving these wires around? Does it have something to do with the digital 6a?

They normally cut that white with black stripe wire in the cars loom and reuse it to connect to the MDS6AL.
See "Tach1" in my gallery photos (from my wiring diagrams)

Hi Blas,

I want to install a "one-wire" alternator and get rid of the manual voltage reg. and charging diode. My question is...is it possible to salvage the operation of the amp guage or is it best to change it out for a voltmeter?

I realize a voltmeter is wired in parallel and the ammeter is in series and will no longer work after I remove the manual regulator.

Thanks, Chakaron
SPF 1850

Blas - #2632 has 20 amp fuses...

Hi Chakaron, just FYI the ammeter just measures current flow on the main 12V source from the alternator, it makes no difference which alternator (or generator) you use. I put a 1-wire alternator in mine, ammeter worked fine (as much as they work, I don't like 'em). I changed out my ammeter for a voltmeter, but that had nothing to do with upgrading to a higher output 1-wire alternator. If you do remove the ammeter (with the battery disconnected!) you must bridge the heavy red wires from the ammeter connect posts together and super insulate that connection to preserve the 12V source into the fuse panel :3DSMILE::3DSMILE: Now if you meant the red light (charging light) on the dash left side, that's a different story. That function is lost when changing to a 1-wire alternator (there's a way to redo it, but I preferred to use my warning light for low oil pressure rather than as a charging light). Just IMHO I'm sure Blas will respond as well, but as I had put in the 1-wire alt I figured I could tell you it worked for me :D:D

Hey Blas,
I'm just curious as I have your wiring diagram for old 1723. I was looking at the wiring for the headlights and there's a service tech tip #0625mt?? where is this found??? It's #4 at the bottom of the page. I only have a 3 wire harness.

Greg #1723

greg, I just took mine apart and put it back together, was there a thing you were trying to figure out >? --Steve

Greg,
That tech note was about converting the original "WIPAC" 3 piece headlamps to a generic style sealed beam headlamp. The "WIPAC" headlamp had a separate lens and replacable main lamp with another small internal bulb which was used as the parking light. (or running light) This tech note covers how to cut up the original wiring, change the lower single filament turn signal sockets and the main bulb socket so you could use a generic "DOT" approved sealed beam headlamp (hi/low beams only) This modification required you to relocate the internal running light tha was originally part of the "WIPAC" lens assembly to the lower light fixture. (lower light fixture was originally just the turn signal). I believe you could purchase a retrofit kit from SPF at one time.
I don't see the tech note posted on the SCOF website. So you can send me an email and I'll be happy to forward it to you. And that goes for anyone else who is interested in this tech note or for information on my detailed wiring diagrams for their MKIII. (My email is below) Glad to see your putting my wiring diagram to use. Seams like lots of people apparently study these wiring diagrams during the winter...I Wonder Why?.....(SNOW & COLD MAYBE)
Steve - yours headlamp design I believe is different than Greg's...you may have the sealed beam from the factory? I think the feds made them change this - at least for a while??? Perhaps some original car owners can verify what type headlamps they have (sealed or replacable bulb style) along with their SP car #...

Thanks Blas, You have an email. Blas, is there anyway to have the parking lamp in the headlights and the lower lights both work for parking lights and the lower act as turn signals also? .Steve, I'll talk to you when I see Ya.

Thanks,
Greg

You would first need to change out the sockets in the lower turn signal units to a 2 filament sockets, one for the new running lights (low filament side of bulb) and one for turn signals (high filament side of bulb) then just tap the running light + wire in the headlight for power..easy as pie...your doc is in the mail too.

Thanks so much!!! You the man!!!! :D

Greg

ahhhh i get yah.

Blas, Yes, on 2734 the wipac ABS plastic headlamp cups exist and are filled with a generic sealed beam bulb from the folks at Trans-ssylvania . DL2 or whatever.

When I last saw Greg I was in the middle of upgrading my headlamps to Hella H4 carriers and a higher wattage bulb.

I used the painless harness 30815 that uses an existing headlamp socket as the trigger wires for relays to then subsequently feed the H4s. (nice setup)

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

not 110% plug and play on the SPF but definitely worth the hassle. Example : the headlight plugs for the H4 end of the harnesses come pre-terminated ( as they should be) and inserted into the headlight plug.

--- problem, to get them through the SPF fender well grommet and into the rear of the WIPAC ABS bucket, I needed to pop the blade connectors our of their plug carriers and feed the wire through the allotted holes. (fenderwell/bucket) --then re insert the blades connectors into their ABS " plug" for the headlamp(s).

Painless leans towards using GM wire colouring on their generic stuff. so example; Tan is base headlight + , green is hi-beam + , and black is ground.

Catch you later !

Steve



everything is back together now and works FANTASTIC. I have 80/100s in there now and can give people suntans at night.

I also updated my Driving lights to a pair of Lucas LR8s (pictures on the way.)

--See you guys soon.

Steve

Hopefully one of you electrical gurus can help me with this one. I go for a drive today, 45F temp never gets above 80c and the cooling fans are running. I never turned them on, the engine temp never got hot enough to turn them off and even with the car off the fans run, regardless of what I do with the switch on the dashboard. I had to unplug the fans to prevent the batteries from running down.

I looked at the connections they all appear fine. Any ideas? Thanks