fitting a tacho to a ford 1.8 diesel ?

M

muso58

New Member
Joined
1 Dec 2008
Messages
7
Visit site
ive been scouring ebay for a tacho that will fit this engine. it seems that any 4 cyl version ,will do the job ,running of the tapping on the alternator. cant work out how its going to be calibrated correctly though??
would appreciate any info on this subject .or maybe someone has a suitable clock for sale .also looking for volts fuel, temp etc .cheers for looking
 
A tacho for a petrol engine takes a signal from the coil wire hence the number of cylinders..

I'm not sure how a tacho running on a diesel interprets what it can see into a reading.

On my diesels the tacho's are run by little dynamos!

Try ASAP in Beccles or Lancing Marine in Sussex for other guages.
 
You can get tachos that run on an alternator tapping. Faria do one. There are two adjusters on the tacho - a course one which you set to the number of coils in the alternator (eg 6 coils = 6 pulses per revolution, so it needs to divide by 6 in effect) and a fine adjuster which takes account of the pulley ratio between crankshaft and alternator.
You really need to borrow a portable shaft speed counter for an accurate calibration, which is then done on a mixture of knowledge and trial and error. Alternatively just set it so the maximum revs agree with the book figure.

Many alternators already have an extra terminal for this purpose. If not you need to read up on alternator design, open it up and solder a wire onto one of the stator junctions.
 
thanks for all the replies guys .been looking on ebay and a guy is selling them cheap smiths ones , i guess stripped from breakers ,so i was trying to work out if i could use any old electrnic tacho .im aware of the alternator tapping ,and i have that . i did it this way on a marinisation job a few yrs back with a birchwood 25 planted a transit diesel in ,and it worked fine.
budget is a bit tight this time though, and dont want to pay lancing marines prices this time i paid around 70 quid for one then . will keep on brain picking until i get bored i sposse /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif cheers guys
 
A BMC diesel which I once owned had a place on the injection pump to take the cable from a mechanical tachometer. It was covered with an elliptical blanking piece when not used for a tacho. s the pumps are a roprietary item, usually C.A.V., it may pay to look for such a drive on yours.
Peter.
 
quicksilver tacho's have a switch on the back to change the pulse counter from the alternator, easy to fit, justr wire it to the alternator then adjust the switch
 
I have fitted several XLD engines to cruisers and yachts.

The alternator can be driven from the 'W' terminal on the alternator.

On the rear of the Faro tacho's (from ASAP) there is a multi way switch which one sets to match the number of poles on the alternator and the ratio of the bottom pulley on the engine and the pulley on the tacho.

On a normal XLD engine with the standard alternator and pulleys this is the first position.

I have never had any problems except right now I have just fitted the tacho on my own boat and it will not read.

Unfortunately although the tacho has never been used it is well out of warrenty and cannot be opened up. Such is life.

I did run up the engine (XLD) a couple of days ago as the boat is scheduled for first launching in the spring.

The engine had not been run since it was installed 18 months ago and it started first time then ticked over nicely. Made me very happy.

ps.
I have been searching ebay secently and have seen several suitable ones there.

Iain
 
Straying off the thread I know, but, I have to replace the pullies on my 1.6 XLD 'cos the Johnson raw water pump seal failed and the pulley grooves are badly rusted. Continuing to run has worn out three new belts already so new pullies are in order. As I'm running a 70A alternator, has anyone done a poly-vee belt conversion to the 1.6. Can standard Ford parts be used ?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Straying off the thread I know, but, I have to replace the pullies on my 1.6 XLD 'cos the Johnson raw water pump seal failed and the pulley grooves are badly rusted. Continuing to run has worn out three new belts already so new pullies are in order. As I'm running a 70A alternator, has anyone done a poly-vee belt conversion to the 1.6. Can standard Ford parts be used ?

[/ QUOTE ]

The general subject is much the same so almost not really thread drift.

I would think that could be done quite easily.

The first of the 1.8 engines had a v pulley but the later ones have the multiple v grove broad belt. They were fitted on the turbo diesel cars and vans which had bigger alternators. Including the Mondeo. with air conditioning.

I would imagine you could probably find a suitable bottom pulley and the matching alternator pulleys in your local scrap yard.

I am just in the process of wiring up the charging circuits on my 1.8 XLD Endura engine. I have a 90 Amp alternator and am using a Sterling alt booster and several double splitting diodes.

Ten minutes ago I made up the wire which goes from the alternator to the 130 Amp splitter for the two domestic batteries using 25mm welding wire (I have the correct crimping tools).

I used the 'enforced' holiday - (SWMBO had stated 'you are not going out to work on the boat on Christmas day') So I spent part of the day working out the circuit diagram and calculate the voltage drops.

As I have the two domestic, an engine start and a 7Ah emergency batteries which can be charged fron the alternator, shore power, a wind generator and a solar panel. I can't just follow the car wiring from a Haynes book.

Cheers

Iain
 
Re: Strathglass

Thanks for that -reminded me I have a Haynes manual that covers both 1.6 and 1.8.
In typical Haynes style, it shows everything but the exact thing I want to see ! However, it does look as though the crank noses may differ and the 1.8 pulley/damper doesn't fit the 1.6 crank.
There is a fairly local breakers specialising in Fords ; I'll give them a try.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I have never had any problems except right now I have just fitted the tacho on my own boat and it will not read.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am sure that you have done this, but for others - when I marinised an XLD416, I couldn't get the tacho to work. Previous to this, the most I'd done to an engine was check the dipstick, so I was and am very much a novice.
My mate came along and quickly revved the engine harshly to wake up the tacho. I had been running it for a few weeks thinking that I'd done something wrong.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I have never had any problems except right now I have just fitted the tacho on my own boat and it will not read.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am sure that you have done this, but for others - when I marinised an XLD416, I couldn't get the tacho to work. Previous to this, the most I'd done to an engine was check the dipstick, so I was and am very much a novice.
My mate came along and quickly revved the engine harshly to wake up the tacho. I had been running it for a few weeks thinking that I'd done something wrong.

[/ QUOTE ]

Morning Gordon

No, I'm afraid I've tried everything. Faced with buying a new instrument, sometime in the future, another £50.
The hours counter on the present one works fine which is more important.

I am trying to let nothing delay the launching of the boat in the spring. As you know it has been quite a few years in the build. The first quote I got for a crane to lift it out of the garden was about £2000.

Cheers

Iain
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top