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yel-mel
Samba Member
Joined: May 07, 2015
Posts: 427
Location: Tampa Florida
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 Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2024 6:18 pm Post subject: Reading rpms without a dash tach |
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Having idle issues & trying to adjust my carb. How are you guys getting a rpm reading if you don't have a installed tachometer ? I'm trying to get the idle around 800-900 rpms. My engine runs great but dies sometimes when Im at a light idling.
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Glenn 
Mr. 010
Joined: December 25, 2001
Posts: 76969
Location: Sneaking up behind you
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| Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2024 6:26 pm Post subject: Re: Reading rpms without a dash tach |
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That's what a tach does. You can do a temp install and just run a wire from the coil to a tach laying in the glove box.
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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"
Member #1009
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Semper_Dad
Samba Member
Joined: May 14, 2005
Posts: 3511
Location: Indiana
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Who.Me?
Samba Member
Joined: July 14, 2014
Posts: 2214
Location: UK (South)
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| Posted: Yesterday 12:19 am Post subject: Re: Reading rpms without a dash tach |
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| Semper_Dad wrote: |
| Some timing lights have a built in tach. |
That's what I use. A tach in the dash is useless for adjusting the carb, unless you want to keep getting up and walking back and forth from the dash to the engine, or have someone in the vehicle relaying the reading to you.
You could get a cheap tach off ebay and wire it up in the engine compartment, just for carb adjustment, if your timing light doesn't have one.
Be aware that some cheap tachs might ground the coil though.
I tried one to save digging out the timing light when doing a basic carb adjustment and found that I couldn't start the vehicle with it attached because it was either grounding the primary coil winding or sapping too much current, so the coil couldn't energise the secondary.
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Andy
Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786 |
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FarmerBill
Samba Member
Joined: July 25, 2017
Posts: 768
Location: New England
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| Posted: Yesterday 5:06 pm Post subject: Re: Reading rpms without a dash tach |
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| You can also get a photo or magnetic tachometer. We used to use them to measure rpms on hydraulic motors. A handheld photo tach is $40 at Harbor Freight these days. |
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