Rev Counter not working (was Fitting a 3rd tacho to a Mk5?)

[sparkyjf]

Hi all,

I've read a few posts here about adding a tacho to Transits - personally I think it's a good idea

I have a 95 Mk5, and I've checked that it has the 3 terminal alternator, and it does (it's a 2.5Di).

Has anyone tried fitting a generic third party tacho to a Transit - i.e. do you know if you can connect it to the alternator 3rd terminal and get a sensible reading? There's a few on ebay with adjustable redlines for about £25, electronic, compatible with 4, 6 and 8 cylinder engines or so they say, but I've never fitted one before and was just wondering if anyone knew if they would/wouldn't work.

I have to confess I have no idea

Thanks in advance for your help,

sparkyjf

[MrMPuk]

Take a look here and fit a Ford one!

http://fordtransit.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=257

[sparkyjf]

Thanks for the link - at least doing that takes the risk out of the operation, as I've no idea what these generic tacho's want to connect to.

Will keep an eye on eBay (plenty of petrol Mondeo dash's...), and have posted a request in the parts wanted board.

[Basil Brush]

If it,s a 95 onwards model then is the wiring already there and you just have to plug it in the back of the mondao dash or do you still have to run new wire's to your alternator even if has 3 post's ?

Basil

[WINDSCREENGUY]

you might still need to run one wire , i had to on a 97 di

[sparkyjf]

Hi all,

Thanks for your replies - just got my "new" instrument pod today, from a Mk1 (L reg) Mondeo Turbo Diesel. Looks in good nick.

Will hopefully try to fit it over the weekend. I've checked under the bonnet and I have a 3 wire alternator, and all 3 terminals are connected, so hopefully there'll be no additional wires to run...

grey van man - can you tell me what the additional wire was you had to run, in case I come up against the same thing?

Thanks in advance for all your help - will post my results here when the job is done.

Cheers,

sparkyjf

[sparkyjf]

Ok almost there - got my new Mondeo TD MkI instrument cluster the other day and just fitted it today. All working except - no rev counter

I've got a late 95(N) Mk5, and the alternator has 3 terminals on it, and all 3 wires are attached.

However according to the Haynes manual the tacho output from the alternator runs to an intermediate connector, from which another wire (in a different colour) runs to the instrument cluster. I've checked the pin that this wire is supposed to run to on the instrument cluster, and there's no connection to it - so it appears that, probably as grey van man experienced, there were some Mk5's where Ford only put in half the wiring for the rev counter.

Does anyone know where the tacho output wire that runs from the 3rd alternator terminal terminates - I can see it disappear into the loom, but can't work out where it ends If anyone has any experience of this and knows where to fit the wire between to get the rev counter working, your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

sparkyjf

[sparkyjf]

Ok - now have a working rev counter

In the end I couldn't find the other end of the wire connected to the alternator 3rd terminal, so I connected a second wire to it, and ran it through the bulkhead behind the dash.

The Mondeo instrument cluster I bought came with the electrical connectors still attached, so I was able to cannibalise one of these and carefully remove one of the metal contacts. I then put this into the connector on my van, and connected my newly run wire from the alternator to this. Fired it up, and the tacho works perfectly!

Hope that helps someone out if they have one of these MK5's where Ford didn't completely connect up the signal from the alternator to the instrument cluster.

sparkyjf