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Fitting "4 pack" Instruments and getting the Tachometer to work.

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  • Fitting "4 pack" Instruments and getting the Tachometer to work.

    Any Instrument Pack from any Maestro or Montego will fit in any other Maestro or Montego (although the digital ones won’t work, they are totally different ‘behind the scenes’).

    The best bet for a replacement Instrument Pack would be your local scrapyard, I paid £10 for a ‘4 pack’ from a Turbo (not sure if Maestro or Montego, but it has the 150mph speedo) in 1999 - and they are even cheaper nowadays, I paid a fiver earlier this year for a set from a Montego Mk II with 130mph speedometer. If the colour scheme of the new clocks matches the old then you can swap the speedometer part of the Instruments from the old Instrument Pack to the new Instrument Pack or you can reset the mileage on your new speedometer to match the old speedometer’s reading quite easily if you prefer. The existing speedometer cable will fit the speedometer from any other model – I fitted the Instruments from a 2.0SLX into a Ledbury, for example (different gearboxes - and the speedometer was just as inaccurate as before).

    -----

    First job is to remove the Instrument Pack surround, remove the 5 mounting screws for the Instruments and ease them forward. Then remove the speedometer cable from the back of the old speedometer (can be quite fiddly) and remove the two connectors from the back of the Instruments and remove the Instruments from the dashboard.

    Also make a mental note of which connector connects to the Instruments furthest from the speedometer (ie which is the left hand connector, as you look at the Instruments from the front as you remove them), you need to make a connection to one of the wires from this connector later on.

    The tachometer isn’t usually ‘plug and play’ on 1.3s and 1.6s (I am not sure about the 2.0s but I suspect they are the same in this respect) and a new wire is needed to the coil from the Instruments. I would suggest using a 5 foot length of cable to be sure there is plenty of length, and you don't need particularly thick cable, either. If you could get hold of some black/white cable then that would be a nice touch so it is clear what circuit it is. I fed the new piece of wire from the coil along the nearby brake pipes, behind the servo and then through the hole in the engine bulkhead where the speedo cable goes through (and up towards the instruments). Connect the engine end of the new wire to the Coil’s negative terminal.

    Then connect this new wire to the black/white wire on the left end of the left hand connector (as seen when removing the instrument pack from the dashboard, sat in the driver's seat). This connector has 10 'contacts', a group of 4 and a group of 6, and it's the end wire on the side of the connector with the 4 'contacts' (there is a 'divider' between the 2 groups, it's easy to suss when it's in front of you, and the other connector is split 8 'contacts' and 2, by the way).

    Basically, it's the black/white wire to the Instruments you are after. I cut this wire and attach the new wire directly to the instruments, taping up the loose end that leads from the wiring harness.

    Then connect the wiring connectors to your new Instruments, start the engine and make sure the Tachometer works (and check all the bulbs as well, you don’t want to find some of them have blown when the car is back together unless you are a masochist!) then switch off and put it all back together (don't forget the speedo cable).

    Et voila, one working Tachometer after maybe an hour’s work. It’s dead easy, why not give it a go?
    Rich Smith

    "Joe", aka "The Ryton Express", aka E838 VJO. Peugeot 309SR main car
    "Kryten", aka A560 SCW. Left hand drive MG Maestro 1600 'R' second in command
    "Fleagle", aka F929 NNA. Montego 1.6L saloon stored, status "doubts set in"
    "Cracow", aka CCW 925Y Maestro Vanden Plas - the oldest known to the Club stored, status "will fight another day - eventually"

    You can email me here
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