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Just finished wiring it up and mounting it. As you all know, the DX doesn't have a factory tachometer, so I got a Sunpro from Pep Boys friday after reading Nytejade's thread about his install. It turned out pretty good and completely removeable if I ever trade/sell/wreck the car. I had wanted to put it in one of the two blank spots in the dash, but after tearing down the gauge cluster, that looks almost impossible. You'll see what I mean in the forthcoming pics. As you'll see, my wiring outcome was, to say the least, original. Hehe.

I'm working on the pics now, so gimme a few min and I'll have them in my next reply.

 
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you should of goten a Autometer tach look at my car

My Ride

 
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After talking with Nytejade about putting a small tach into one of the empty spots in the dash, I got to work tonight to see if it was do-able. Let me say first that I did the install completely from the drivers seat, so it was a simple install that you can do even if the weather is bad.


The Sunpro 2-5/8" Tachometer Model#CP7906 was $29.99 plus tax.

First pic shows the whole gauge cluster from the side. Nothing disassembled yet.




#2 shows the gauge side with no trim at all. As you can see, it's just one big piece of plastic and the trim piece divids it into the four circular clusters.




#3 shows the rear of the cluster. Nothing fancy here, but it does show that if you were to try mounting the tach inside the cluster, you'd have to cut both the front piece and the rear as well.




#4 I was getting brave, so I removed the rear part and now you can see the circuit board guts of the cluster. Doesn't look like it's worth $500, does it?! This also shows that cutting the cluster to mount a tach just wouldn't work unless it was ultra thin and would fit between the front piece and the circuitboard. At this point, my idea was crushed and I gave up on trying to put it in there.




#5 Aha, now to the wiring. I found THIS THREAD, in which Atlantis gave us some valuable information about running the tach wire to a wire going into the cluster. After all, where would the factory one get its signal? So check out the blue wire with the silver splotches that I've marked with the arrow and dot and you can tap into it for the signal.




For the remainder of the wiring, I merely ran the three wires through the hole in the right side over to the radio wiring harness. The radio harness has a constant power, illumination wire and the ground. I merely tapped into those and it works fine. The wires were at least the same gauge size, so it shouldn't cause a problem. I ran the radio and had the car running to verify that it would not cause a voltage problem or interfere with the radio and had no problems whatsoever.




The last two pics are the finished install. I tied off the extra wire behind the radio and put some Velcro tabs on the trim and tach to keep it in place. This way I didn't have to drill any holes or cut any trim pieces. It turned out looking good and I'm happy with it.

 
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Well, not to diss you or anything, but I don't like those large tachs mounted to the dash or the A-Pillar. To me, that's only necessary if you're racing the car. Otherwise, in MY opinion, it's just too ricey and isn't something you can easily remove when you get rid of the car. If you like it, that's cool for you, but it isn't my style.

 
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Nice work; I know some companies make digital tachs in 2 1/16 that are easier to read than the tach you currently have. Just a thought...

 
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Very nice. Good job. Does the tach move at all when you go over bumps? Is the velcro tape doing a good job of keeping it in place? That's a nice alternative to drilling....But if you run autocross that double sided tape isn't going to cut it. The techs pull on everything in your interior to make sure nothing is lose. If that thing comes off, they're not gonna let you run... But you probably don't run autocross, right?

 
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That sounds cool... Got a link?

 
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Nytejade,
Nah, I don't autocross, so it's not an issue. Autocrossing a DX w/o a sway bar probably wouldn't be pretty! The velcro keeps it stuck in place very securely, so no problems with it bobbling around the dash. I did a thorough alcohol cleaning before putting the velcro on so it would stick. You can't see the velcro in the pics because I put it on the rear of the tach. There was more surface back there, because the front is made for flush mounting and has a bigger diameter. It's cleaner looking with it not showing, too.

As far as a digi tach, it wouldn't match the other gauges, and digi dashes have never impressed me.

 
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I was just looking around online for some. They're all pretty ugly, and I honestly wouldn't feel comfortable only seeing exactly what RPM I'm at. I need to see a gauge.

Hey, I have a DX and I autocross. (i was autocrossing before I got the rear bar)

(konis) : )

 
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Good job!
Do you have a manual? [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]

 
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Of course! If I had the automatic, I wouldn't care about having a tach.

 
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Well, you never know...
That's k3wl though. Now you can shift up to redline. I do it all the time. It's fun. Hehe... [IMG]i/expressions/demon.gif[/IMG]

 
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Nice work! Something that a DX really needs.

 
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Looks really good. I like that better then those huge autometer ones lots of people have.

 
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Yeah, I went to the dealer to see if I could just order a new guage cluster. He said there is no wiring harness for a DX. He said it would be real pricey and didn't even quote me a price. Is he full of ****?

 
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looks great! matches the dash

 
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yup looks great, i have a dx also and you just inspired me to get working on this