My tach isn't taching anymore

[Guest]

What would be the first step to diagnose it?

It was whining a bit yesterday I believe (like an onnying phone ringtune).

Today it was stuck on zero.

 

[Brendan W]

Cable seized or broken now.

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Disconnect the cable at the engine and at the back of the tach. Pull out the inner cable from the engine side. How many pieces are there. Should only be one. When my speedo cable broke a few weeks ago, there was a 2 inch piece still left in the speedo. You'll want to clean the spindle inside the tach, the part that turns. I think that's where the whine comes from. I'm not sure of the exact preferred method. There have been recent posts about it. I made the mistake of blasting brake cleaner up inside and it stained the blue and red lenses on the tach face. So don't do that. But it did free the spindle. I used the 2" broken piece in my drill chuck and inserted into the spindle. Spun the drill (on Reverse/counter-clockwise) to verify clean and no more whine. Lube the spindle with something, White lithium or engine oil. Also lube the new cable. Opinions on what to use for lube vary.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, I will try to get it off tomorrow.

Is the wire something I need an OEM part for or is this generic?

I guess since I know the bike fairly well now, I am not absolutely desperate to have a tach. But Ill have to get it fixed at some point.

 

[timebombprod]

Thanks, I will try to get it off tomorrow.

Is the wire something I need an OEM part for or is this generic?

I guess since I know the bike fairly well now, I am not absolutely desperate to have a tach. But Ill have to get it fixed at some point.

you can get an aftermarket but make sure its for yours, ive got an aftermarket for my 650 and it works just fine, just make sure it looks like your cable!

 

[cowboyup3371]

Aftermarket will work but OEM is the best fitting bet.

 

[Guest]

I took the wire off, and I pulled the wire out of the thing the wire is inside of.

The wire was in one piece (two if your count the brass thing towards the engine), and covered with the nastiest oil I have experienced. It was more like tar... The wire seems slightly degraded where it attaches to the brass thing.

Is there supposed to be things on the other end of the wire? Its just wire going into the instrument panel...

I am not sure where to go from here.

There were no drill in the garage, so I couldn't spin the wire to test (I tried with a flat iron, but I was nowhere near 1000 rpm).

I think maybe the brass bit doesn't like, attach well to the wire.

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

The inner "wire", at the tach end is square and goes into the tach spindle. The engine end of the "wire" has a slot that fits the tach drive tab that comes out of the engine part. Pictures would help.

 

[Rijko]

Pictures would help.

I would have started on the engine side :

connect inner and outer cable to the engine.
Start engine.
See if the inner wire rotates, and maybe whines.

 

[rphillips]

Ya'll got me confused. If you disconnect from eng. & from back of Tach, there should be only two pieces. A cable & a housing (hollow tube). The cable should slide right out from the eng. end. The tacho end should be square (flat on 4 sides) it slides in to a square hole in the tach. The other end is the cable with a small round piece of metal attached (possibly brass) that has a slot in it, it slides onto a flat piece inside the tach. drive. the two pices you're describing doesn't sound right. Seems the slotted part, with the slot in it, that should be attached to the cable, has broke loose.

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Ya'll got me confused. If you disconnect from eng. & from back of Tach, there should be only two pieces. A cable & a housing (hollow tube). The cable should slide right out from the eng. end. The tacho end should be square (flat on 4 sides) it slides in to a square hole in the tach. The other end is the cable with a small round piece of metal attached (possibly brass) that has a slot in it, it slides onto a flat piece inside the tach. drive. the two pices you're describing doesn't sound right. Seems the slotted part, with the slot in it, that should be attached to the cable, has broke loose.

sounds like it.

 

[Guest]

http://imgur.com/gallery/xdeh5ar

In the link there is pictures.

Rphillips your interpitation sounds correct.

The piece with the slott wasnt brass, I cleaned it and it lost its color

I have submerged the wire in brake cleaner.

The wire will spin if not inside the tach, so Im assuming the damaged end of the wire lets it spin freely.

My plan to restore it is to use threadlocker inside the slotted part to make it attached again. And oil the wire with engine oil and litiumfat on the square end.

If I buy a new wire I get both the inside and outside part right?

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Noreg, you can try that but I think it'd be a waste of time. I highly doubt that threadlocker is going to keep it together. Get a new OEM cable. You can ride without one til you get it. No big deal. Just listen to your engine. (coming from the guy who just blew up his engine by over-revving it). New cable comes with inside and outside part.

 

[Guest]

Noreg, you can try that but I think it'd be a waste of time. I highly doubt that threadlocker is going to keep it together. Get a new OEM cable. You can ride without one til you get it. No big deal. Just listen to your engine. (coming from the gut who just blew up his engine by over-revving it). New cable comes with inside and outside part.

I gave it up, I hardly need a tach anyways.

I ordered a new OEM cable.

I agree I can just drive it from sound. And like realistically, any speed I can go here is okay in second gear... I am not sure what speed I would go if I went 1st gear in 9000 rpm (Id guess 80ish kmh?).

It will probably take a while before it arrives.

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Not very fast and not very far in my very recent experience

 

[Rijko]

The part on the engine you screw the cable in,
is prone to leaking.
Not a bad idea to ride around without a cable
for a bit to see if it drips engine oil.

 

[Guest]

When you say to grease the spindle, is tha the non-engine-square-end of the wire? Can I just dip it in lithium grease? Or do I have to dissasemble things? My new wire is arriving tomorrow (hopefully, I accidentally ordered it to my old adress).

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

No, by spindle I mean the threaded piece sticking out the bottom of the Tachometer, the part the the square wire of the tach cable fits into. Just don’t spray anything up in there that could reach the tach face and glass or you’ll have a mess. When you get the new cable you can completely remove the wire out the engine end and lube it easily with oil or whatever.

In fact, don’t ever ride with the cable connected at the tach but disconnected at the engine. The wire will just fall right out and you’ll have a useless empty cable.