In both of my '88s, the 5-speed and the automatic, there is a red and white wire with a spade connector that is bundled together with the rest of the wires that go to the instrument cluster - the black round and half round connectors, the speedo connector, and the red & yellow spade connector. Neither of my '88s seem to have this connecting to anything, and I'm wondering what it's for and if it should be hooked up somehow. It's quite possible that I disconnected them accidentally.

The white with red stripe wire is the coil wire for the tachometer. GL models came with a large tach/small clock setup. DLs had a large clock. If you find a large tach and wish to install it in your 240, you would simply plug that wire to the bottom spade connector of the tach. Power, Ground, and Lighting would be provided by the cluster.

Hope this helps.
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Regards,
Eric Staufer,
'89 244DL 121k
My 240 Page (new window)

Yes, thank you. That makes sense. A tachometer for my automatic would be a waste of time and money, but I've been considering doing the large tach/small clock thing for my 5-speed and I'm glad to know it is so easy.

Actually, a tach can help you monitor how hard you are pushing your auto. You can see what RPM the engine is shifting at. Also, if you adjust the idle screw, you need to have a tach hooked up (either right on the coil outside the car, or in the instrument panel).

A tach is not as worthless as some make it out to seem.

If nothing else, it would keep any passengers from asking you "What time is it?" because they can see the clock next to the radio (on the modified dash of course) a lot easier then they can inside the cluster.

"A tachometer for my automatic would be a waste of time and money"

personally I disagree I have a large tach in my 245, while not a necessity it is more fun to watch than a clock the size of big ben... and it does help in some diagnostic situations...
But that's just me... ask anyone they'll tell ya thats just...
Bret
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rust free in west Texas

Good point, Bret: who needs a clock the size of Big Ben?

I see you are rust-free in West Texas. Well, I was CLOCK-FREE for the longest time in my 700 (extracted Big Ben), until I gave up. I just couldn't come up with something sensible to jam in the space of that behemouth.

Whatever possessed Volvo to put Big Ben in 700s?

Has anyone successfully replaced it (opposite the tach, across the speedo)?
With what?
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Gregg in MN

plus...with one your car becomes "tacky", with the other its "timely", take your pick. Image is everything you know...