Date: Mon, 6 Jan 1997 01:29:47 -0500
From: H Steven Dolan <dworkin@mtolympus.ari.net>
Subject: Re: Dwell Meter/Tachometer, operation of.

So Mike covers the new Dwell/Tachs, Sean covers the middle-aged
Dwell/tachs, and it is left for me to cover the ancient Dwell/Tachs :-)

The Dwell/Tach I have been using since I was a callow youth is one of your
base-line cheapies.  In case you may have inheritied a similar pup, it is
easy to recognize in its simplicity.

It consists of an analog guage, a switch that reads dwell at one position
and tach at the other and a grand total of two wires, one red and one
black.

As always the black wire attaches to any convenient ground.  The
red wire attaches to one of the two terminals on the coil.  Ahh, but which
one you ask?  Well, if your car is functional, try both.  One will pin the
meter the other won't.  You want the terminal that does not pin the meter
:-)

If the car will not start, then you need either a friend or a remote
starter switch.  While the engine is cranking, try each terminal.  Again
you want to connect to the terminal that produces a reading, rather than
the terminal that pins the meter.

NB:  In the case that the engine will not run and *both* terminals on the
coil cause the meter to pin, then your points have stuck!  Try manually
opening the points a time or two.  For some reason, if an engine has sat
for a while, the points *can* stick closed.

NB2:
These pups were made in an era that assumed that you either owned a 6 or 8
cylinder car, so for a 4 you need to read the guage for 1/2 the 8
cylinder reading or 25 degrees dwell rather than the 50 that we all know
and love.

                           H Steven Dolan
                           Alexandria, VA

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