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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Tach question

The tachometer in my 72 midget does not work. All the other gauges function properly. I'm open to any suggestions...
GF Greg Smith

Never worked? Stopped working? Have you tapped on the glass? Checked the ground?
Trevor Jessie

Greg, wish I had more information just like Trevor Jessie. The tach in your car should be a pulse sense type with a power wire and ground wire and a pluse wire that ties to the - side of the coil, the same terminal where the wire from the distributor attaches.
If you loose the connection to any of the three inputs, power, ground, or sense it won't work. If you have a light showing then you can reasonably be sure that the ground is ok as the light circuit uses the same ground. You'll probably have to pull the tach out to check the wiring connections, not much room under the dash with it in place.
Bill Young

on my car it never works till i tap the screen to wake it up,then its works fine.
roy j

Thanks for the replies. The tach didn't work when I purchased the car, it's an RVI and the car was stored for years.
GF Greg Smith

I'd say to check out the things Bill suggested (especially the pulse wire, make sure it is intact all the way to the coil), and if they all check out as OK, then mail it to Nisonger Instruments, in Mamaroneck, NY for a rebuild. They will return it to you better than new.

Does anyone know if the coil is hooked up backwards, will that also cause an RVI to stop working? A car will otherwise run pretty much normally with the coil hooked up backwards (though the coil runs hot), and this is a classic mistake a lot of cars have, due to DPO.

Norm
Norm Kerr

I'm not quite done building this site yet, but it may have some helpful information for you.

http://www.spridgetguru.com/Smiths_Tachometers%3A_Dissasemmbly.html

http://www.spridgetguru.com/Smiths_Tachometers%3A_Calibration.html
S.A. Jones

Hi,
On the subject of tachometers- the tach on my 78 Midget 1500 doesn't move until about a minute or so after starting - is this ok?
Bill.
W Wood

If, by tachometer, you mean rev counter, then yes, this is fine - tap it if it doesn't
rachmacb

This thread was discussed between 28/07/2010 and 18/08/2010

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