My tach is stuck almost straight down. Doesn't move with the engine on or not. The truck runs fine otherwise, no check engine light. Any ideas?

 

Has it ever worked since the header install? Which, btw, thanks for the terrific post & tips on installation!

Anyway, I'm wondering if the wire could have accidentally got unplugged during the install.

 

Have you tried the diagnostic trick? If your truck is 99 or newer you can turn your odometer into a diagnostic screen by holding the button down as you start your truck, then push the button till you get teh tac one, if you dont have information there, your plug or gauge wiring is loose somewhere

 

Super Duty trucks have analog odometers like the '97 & '98 F150s. That (very cool) F150 trick won't work unfortunately.

 

The tach has been working fine since the header install. The latest thing I did was tranny fluid change and addition of tricumulator springs and Sonnax valve. That was on Saturday, tach just stopped Monday afternoon. I think it's odd that the needle fell over on the high side (7000rpms+) rather than 0.

 

The fact that it goes to the high side sounds like it is getting power from somewhere. does the needle fall if you disconect the battery?

 

It stays there with the keys on or off and with the battery disconected.

 

Broken tach... hopefully. If it's the back-plane (circuit board), then it can be really expensive.

 

Now more weird happenings... My battery idiot light will blink on once or twice every once and a while. If my headlights are on at the same time they will get brighter. Only lasts a split second. I did spill some tranny fluid on the engine(about 1/2 qt) and some did get on the alternator. I hosed everything off and dried with compressed air. I've done this before, just cleaning the engine with no problems. Guess I got problems now.

 

Any diagnosis yet?

 

Oh it gets better. See my newest post.

 

Just got a call from the dealer. Sure enough, my alternator was fried. They will replace it today. Not so good news on the tach. He says it is also fried but they have to replace the whole instrument cluster to do so. They have to send it to Ford so the new one can have the milage adjusted. That takes a week to week and a half. The good news is my aftermarket warranty will cover all. I think it just paid for it's self. The dealer also said my battery is shot. It was working when I took it in however. He wanted to charge me $120 for a Motorcraft battery. I don't think so..... Thanks again for everyones replys.

 

Good thing you got the extended warranty! It probably did just pay for itself. I know that dashboard was expensive.

BTW, what kind of extended warranty do you have? And, if you don't mind- how much was it?

 

It's North American Warranty Srevices. I bought it thru my Credit Union. When I bought my truck, I had the option of buying the warranty then or up to 33k miles. I decided to wait. At the time, it was something like $700. When I bought it it had gone up to $900 something. It'a a 100k, 5yr bumper to bumper plan with $25 deductable. I had to pay the $25 and $7 shop fees.. The warranty picked up the other $365. I didn't have the tach fixed yet. Need to make plans for that.

The service advisor said that North American is a good company. They've never had any problems with them. He said that he's never gotten a reply as fast with any other company. He faxed them the repair order and in 5 minutes had authorization and payment returned. This makes me feel good. You sometimes hear horror stories with aftermarket plans. I'm kinda hoping that my tranny takes a dump at 98k... so they will rebuild it..

 

Thanks. I'm going to look into it.