Tac Problems

[Bill Mckinnon]

Change ingition to electonic on 454's and work fine with the old tac's. had to replace one and used the Telflex ones. They short out and shut engine down. Have replaced twice. Any help on Tac for gas motor or recommendations? Thanks

[Tony Meola]

Bill

What year are the engines and do you have the old Thunderbolt ignition? If you do that may be the problem. Bruce would be the best one to help you out. Tony Meola

[Bruce]

Bill,
Are the tachs shorting out right away or do they work for a time?

Were the old tachs two wire and the new tachs three wire?

[randall]

bruce.....duncan idaho's most important lesson "fear is the mind killer".....................................on a completely different galaxy...my sons toyota has an annoying quirk....bout every 10 starts....nothing.....but everything else works....lots of juice...very easy to bump start but its gettin old.....any thoughts?

[Rawleigh]

Dead spot on the starter perhaps Randall??

[randall]

rawliegh....ive heard that mentioned many times but not sure what it really means or if there is an "easy" fix............i'm keepin these two old toyotas runnin by bringing them back from the grave repeatedly...the truck is runnin at the moment on old boat spark plugs.........needed a tire...guy tries to sell me four.........."take a good look and see if you can grasp the concept " says i

[In Memory Walter K]

Randall- Are the starters easy to switch? If so, the easiest way to find out if a starter rebuild is all you need is to see if the other car has the problem now. Walter

[Rawleigh]

It could also be the starter solenoid, but I don't know if that would be intermittent. Most of mine have been straight out failures. Next time it happens check for current coming from the starter side of the solenoid. if you have current there, check for loose cables and good current at the starter. If you have current at the starter it is your problem. How much for a rebuilt one at Advance Auto or Pep Boys, etc?

[randall]

well it sure as hell aint as easy as the boat........walter gave one of his old chrysler starters and i changed them out so many times in one day the last time took less than five minutes..........on the other hand toyotas for all their good qualities are so over engineered and have so many vacuum tubes and what not crammed into such a limited space that working on some things is a nightmare...we'll see.....thanks for the advice..........more to come

[Bruce]

Randall,
Over time heat can affect the starter and solenoid if the solenoid is part of the starter.
Same goes for start wire to solenoid.

If everything else works then main power to starter ok.

First would be to squirt some CX in the ignition switch. Start with something simple.

If an automatic it may be the park switch. Try and find and squirt.
If a stick does it have a depressed clutch start swtich? if so squirt.

Still acting up, remove start wire from solenoid.

Take a jumper or better yet a remote start switch between battery + and the start wire terminal on the solenoid.

If it cranks, wiring or switches. No crank starter or solenoid.

[Bill Mckinnon]

Changed the ignition system to electronic couple of years ago. Had no problem with the orginal tachs. Had to change one because glass was broke. Put in the Telflex ones and the will work for about 4 or 5 hours the kills the engine. Engine turns over fine but no spark, take take out of the loop and engine will run fine. Wired new tach same as old, Maybe they are just not built heavy enough or should I look for some other problem?

Thanks

capt. Bill

[In Memory Walter K]

Tach wires or tach itself warm or smell at all? Will the engine start again with the tach connected after an extended wait? Walter

[Bill Mckinnon]

No bad or burnt smell once they fail engine won't start unless you discnnect Tach, Going to try some of the ISpro capt. Pat suggest maybe heavier duty, Thanks for the help Guys