Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hello everybody,

Old topic I know but I have just got a tacho off ebay to replace my one that doesnt work. It is exactly the same type as my other one (RVI) The problem is my car has electronic ignition (luminition) and it starts first time with the old tacho wired in however I get no spark when I plug the new one in.

Please... (in simple terms) help me solve this issue, otherswise it looks like a sicky for tomorrow to get it fixed.

Thanks
Simon

Simon,

You can just bypass it to get the car mobile again - short it out with a wire connecting the two main terminals on the tacho. The tacho won't work, but at least the car will !

The RVI tacho connects in the feed to the ignition unit, and 'senses' the ignition pulses in a low resistance coil of wire inside the unit. It sounds like this coil is probably faulty in your 'new' unit. A faulty eBay purchase?? Surely not...!

Alternatively, you could add a new feed wire to the electronic ignition from the appropriate fuse box terminal (needs to be one switched on when the ignition is on). You haven't got the complex 4-fuse-box wiring have you ?

Matthew

I think Lumenition suggest you take the feed for their unit direct from switched live and not through the tacho so, the previous post is spot on accurate
Regards
dave

thanks for the advice. I shall try and sort it out however my electronics is poor at best. I bloody hope the tacho I have just bought works as it cost me the best part of ?50! Is there any way of 'bench testing' it to see if it is ok before I kick up a fuss?

Simon

Just wondered, is it a given that this tacho is broken the fact that it is not working when I plug it in. I understand the point being made on how to short the tacho out so the car will run, but the problem is getting the tacho working with the lumenition system. Do they normally not work (RVI tacho's) if you have lumenition? I would like to know so I can try and get my money back of the bloke who sold it to me.

Any advise on what I should expect to see is good.

If they normally have a prob working with lumenition what is the way round this to get it working?

Simon

Hi Simon,

I recently had my tacho refurbished by SpeedyCables. They needed to know whether I had fitted (or might in the future, decide to fit) electronic ignition. This affected some part or other (forget what) that they were going to replace.

It could be this is the problem.

Before servicing, my tacho jumped all over the place, sometimes not working at all.

Regards,

Stuart.

Simon
Mine's a RVI and works a treat with Lumenition,did have a problem with it years age,eventually found a crack in the circuitboard,so i'd get back in touch with your seller

John

Simon, I can probably find my Lumenition fitting instructions if they might be of use to you. If so send me a PM with your address and I will post them to you.
Regards
Dave-M

thatks for the help I really am not to sure what the answer is. I rang up one of the companies that do rebuilds of tachos, and they specifically said that an RVI would not work with lumention fitted. However clearly for some of you it does.

Dave, thanks for the offer of lumenition instructions, however I think I still have the ones for mine so ill give it a look.

Regards

Simon