Unfortunately, this part of the repair/upkeep process of my Brick is somewhat out of my hands at the moment, but I'd like to get advice anyway.

Last week, my tachometer began getting stuck at about 1,400 rpm. It would move appropriately fast as engine speed increased up to that point, but then it would lock into position, no matter how fast I revved the engine. Dropping below that speed would bring the needle back down.

Driving the car a few days later, I noticed the needle seemed to be sticking at a slightly higher point. When I ultimately took the car to a shop for other repairs, the tach was maxing out around 2.5K rpm.

My guess is that some kind of crud got in the tachometer itself, gumming it up a bit and blocking the needle from moving how it should. Slowly whatever it is was working itself free, but it wasn't gone completely when I handed the keys to the mechanic, so I told him to take a look at it. Probably all it needed was a good cleaning, but I figured the mechanic would be able to fix things more quickly than I could, and I'd already be paying him for working on the car for a few hours as it were.

I called today to check on the car. The mechanic said he had taken the tachometer apart and that he'd probably have to put in a new tachometer, with the implication being that he couldn't figure out what was wrong with this one. I told him to check on the prices for a used one, but that what I'd probably want to do is have him put the old tach back in and not worry about it (I can pull the cluster at some point in the future and clean things).

However, he said that if he put it back together I'd have to pay him (and I guess there isn't a guarantee it will work), so I told him to check on the cost of getting a used, working tach to put in its place. He said he'd do that and call me back.

What should I do? My expectation for the cost of a new tach would be about $50, a little under the cost for the time I would probably be charged for the tach to be put back together. Thus, a new tach seems to make economic sense, but I don't know how tough it will be for the mechanic to find one--most, if not all, of the junkers I've seen have had the big clock, not the tachometer. I would guess that getting a tach from the dealer would be exorbitantly expensive, too, and I don't think he'd be too eager to install one I found myself (though I don't see why not), either from eBay or a junkyard.

What do you think the mechanic means by "took the tachometer apart"? I know that it can be removed from the instrument panel, but beyond that, it didn't seem to be that easily disassembled when I replaced my odometer gear. I trust the guy not to do stupid, unnecessary things with the car, and I realize that some leeway is needed because the problem was so weird, but I'm beginning to get concerned that the mechanic is messing around with things that really aren't that important.
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'89 244 GL -- 106,XXX miles (see profile for info on car)

Buy the tach from Rob and be done with it.. the difference of the flat black and satin black are slightly noticable. satin is a little shinery,, I used an 82 in my 89 and it looks ok by me..Also the post about the stuck tach is correct in my book also,, I had another brick with a sticking tach,, it was the parts sticker off the inside back.. took a long tweezer and remover it. no problem,,,check your mechanic,,, sounds like he is not familiar with the tach setup...Max
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Max..1989 244 DL 5 Spd., Bilstein HD, Turbo Swaybars, Poly Bushings all round, Turbo Wheels, Black leather interior, Electric mirrors, LED dash and gauge lights.

If you get a used tach be sure it has the right face color, your '89 has one of the rare later tachs, earlier ones are a satin black yours should be flat black.

That being said, I've seen 2 tachs get stuck, both had a sticker from the instrument cluster that came loose and got stuck in them, both were easy fixes.
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Dave Shannon
Spring Valley, California
'84-245T 190K+
'88-240 190K+
'65 1800S ????K
'73 1800ES 117K
'92 745Ti 150K
Jeep Wrangler Sahara 10K
my pages

You wouldn't happen to have scanned or have seen online any comparison pictures of the two tach faces, would you? I've heard this difference mentioned before, but I can't quite get a mental picture of how a "flat" black face would differ from a "satin" black tachometer.
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'89 244 GL -- 106,XXX miles (see profile for info on car)

Just happen to have a couple here. The older one is on the left with the 6500 rpm redline, the '89 and later one is on the right.



Cheers


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Dave Shannon
Spring Valley, California
'84-245T 190K+
'88-240 190K+
'65 1800S ????K
'73 1800ES 117K
'92 745Ti 150K
Jeep Wrangler Sahara 10K
my pages

Thanks for the picture. Is it only the face that's consistently different, or are the different redline indicators consistent between the flat and satin black faces?

You can see that the area between 6 and 6.5K is red on the later face, while it's a box on the earlier one. Do all of the newer ones have the double red boxes?

(Is the redline different between years--I know fuel injection changed for '89--or did Volvo simply redo the redline paint, with no mechanical variation, for the end of the series?)
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'89 244 GL -- 106,XXX miles (see profile for info on car)

I have tachs here with a box starting at 5500 rpm and a 6000 redline, box from 6000-6500 with 6500 redline and 6000 redline and no box (in both faces). The only later style I have is the one shown. I don't know which cars came with which older tach face, as they have been on hand for a while, the newer one came out of an '89, I remember that because they are fairly scarce. I do know with the small 2" tachs they went to 6000 redline with the advent of the B-230 and its smaller rods/bearings. I don't think it went back up when they increased the size a bit in '88 in the K motors.
Cheers


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Dave Shannon
Spring Valley, California
'84-245T 190K+
'88-240 190K+
'65 1800S ????K
'73 1800ES 117K
'92 745Ti 150K
Jeep Wrangler Sahara 10K
my pages

Hmm. The small tach I have has a 6500 RPM redline.

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alex

'89 765T, 178,7xx mi

I have a tach I will let you get for 25.00 plus shipping.
Rob2dog@aol.com