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How to drive tach in whitebkock swap?

940 16 valve

Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
Location
Calgary, Alberta
Gotta admit, the mechanics don't intimidate with the whitebkock swap, even wiring up the motronic 4.4 was logical enough. But I've realized I don't know crap about how tachs work and how to get mine running (now that the car drives).

Car in question is a 89 760, so I'm looking to drive the 6 cyl tach. The 3.4 is converted to run COP if that makes any difference. Noticed M4.4 wire b21 supplies the tach in the S70/850, but I'm unsure if it's a usable signal (maybe with an adapter).

Was eyeing this as a potential solution but I'm not sure if I need a booster per what the seller is saying.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/141931549970

This is the response I got "For an '89 it's a crapshoot whether you'll need a booster, but you can check it yourself with a tap-tap test. Bounce the tach signal wire on battery+ or another 12V source and see if the needle responds in any way. Any response at all means the adaptor can probably drive it without help. If it stays dead then the tacho is a back-EMF type (high-voltage) and you'll need a booster along with the adaptor (see listing# 142171581596). In low-voltage mode (switch 7 on) the adaptor will work fine with the Motronic ECU output, whether it's 5V or 12V. Driving it off a COP is also an option since all COP's are essentially 1-cyl signals, but if the COPs are 2-wire you'll probably need to wire one of the filter resistors included in the kit. If they're 3-wire then you treat them just like an ECU signal (low-voltage). You'll use a 5:6 ratio for the Motronic, 1:6 ratio for a COP"

Thoughts?
 
Interesting. I cam across an old post saying that volvo outputted tach signals as 4 cylinder for some time. Any idea if the signal is the same voltage/frequency as what the stock 7xx/9xx would be expecting?
 
A standard 4-cyl tach signal means it works with 200/700/900 and most aftermarket tachs for four cylinders. Can't say what a PRV tach needs if you have that.
 
The response you got from the ebay seller is amazingly good. About the only thing that might be incorrect is that the ebay seller was expecting the 5cyl ECU to put out 5 pulses per engine cycle, instead of 4 (per RvolvoR). For 4, you'd use a 4:6 setting.

Try the suggested tap-tap test to see if you need the booster. The TBricks/MegaSquirt version of the booster is here: http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=311116 Some folks need it, some don't, when doing a 240 to MegaSquirt conversion.
 
B21 outputs a signal that works fine with a 240 tac, so I assume would work with a 7/9 4 cylinder tac that would have been triggered from the coil just like 240.
 
On my t5 swap in (88 volvo 740 with b234f) i just connected the motronic tach output directly to the dash tach and it worked fine. The instument panel was a VDO.
 
Just for completeness of this thread. M4.4 output straight to the tach feed coming from the old coil worked fine. The 760 tach read low, but I swapped it to a 940 tach and now all is well. Can't believe it was that simple!
 
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