Bryan is our member, and our new Motorsports Director. You can PM him directly on this website. FInd his name anywhere, and press it. Also, any entry he has posted on this website has a little icon to press for his PM or Email.

He just had his first kid, so he's busy lately, but he'll get around to his mail eventually.

Have you tried calling the MSD Co. Technical service ? They can be very helpfull. An 800 number or check their adv. in car mags.
Irv R.

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'71 240 Z

I took a look at the 280ZXT schematic and the tach appears to work like all the other models: + and - to power it and a sensor feed provides the input. This pulsed feed can come from either the Haltech, coil, or crank sensor...the trick is getting the signal voltage just right or the tach can't comprehend it.

1975-78 280Zs connected the tach sensor directly to the negative terminal on the coil...a resistor was put inline on the wiring harness by the factory to lower the voltage...otherwise the tach needle would jump around. I used to have several 280Z tachs to experiment with...7500-10,000 ohms was the proper value for the resistor I used between the tach sensor and the - coil terminal.

But If you're using the MSD 7AL you don't want to connect the tach sensor to the negative terminal on the coil. There's 450 volts going across the coil and your tach circuit will fry. Instead you have to use the dedicated sensor wire from the MSD...which I believe is too low to trigger the Z tach. Hence the need for a MSD adaptor which is a transformer that boosts the signal voltage to a level the tach can read.

In other words: try the MSD tach wire directly to the MSD adaptor and then run it directly to the tach's sensor.

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Bryan Little
Datsunzgarage.com

1970 240Z - enhanced F54 L28 w/P90, Weber DCOEs, 4:11 R200, Nissan T5 5-speed

Bryan,

Thanks for the reply. I wasn't expecting an answer so soon, but again thank you.

I'll forward this off to the repair shop. I have the 8910 adapter already. According to MSD, this should be the one.

I'll keep the post updated.

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WaZZabi
...Rice burner with a Twist...

.......hmmm.....I wonder if they might have already fried his tach?

Is there a safe benchtest to see if it still works with proper voltage?

For informational purposes here's the diagram on how to hookup the 8920 adaptor. Your shop will need to combine the top schematic with the 7AL version on on the bottom. Good luck.

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Bryan Little
Datsunzgarage.com

1970 240Z - enhanced F54 L28 w/P90, Weber DCOEs, 4:11 R200, Nissan T5 5-speed

I LOVE THIS CLUB.

Bryan, again, many thanks.

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WaZZabi
...Rice burner with a Twist...

Bump!

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WaZZabi
...Rice burner with a Twist...

Okay fellas,

The shop has printed copies of all the replies, as well as what Bryan had given me. I've also sent along a spare tach, in case the one in the car is toast.

I'll keep you updated!

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WaZZabi
...Rice burner with a Twist...

I got off the phone with a tech at the shop today. He was on the phone with MSD regarding the tach and distributor. Apparently, the distributor I have on the car is missing the module that sends signal to the tach.

Does anyone know where I can source a module, or would I need to get a whole new distributor?

Thanks in advance!!!

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WaZZabi
...Rice burner with a Twist...

Just browsing thru the forums again.

Which module will I need?

E12-80 module
E12-92 module

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WaZZabi
...Rice burner with a Twist...

You're using the Turbo distributor and crank angle sensor aren't you?

If so a turbo expert needs to chime in here. The dist/crank angle sensor/ECU all work in synch to provide a signal to the coil. I thought of rewiring a turbo dist into my NA L28 one time but never sat down to figure out the wiring...what to elimininate, etc.

If you have a non-turbo distributor it's easy to setup: you should use the E12-80 module, that's what I use.

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Bryan Little
Datsunzgarage.com

1970 240Z - enhanced F54 L28 w/P90, Weber DCOEs, 4:11 R200, Nissan T5 5-speed

Bryan,

I'd have to check to see if the crank angle sensor is still there. When the car was in the shop from hell, the engine was in pieces, the distributor was missing. I bought another distributor from a dealer about 6 years ago to replace the missing one, but didn't check for the module.

When I got the new engine, it was just a block and head.

Should I start looking for a crank angle sensor as well or should I see if he can source one from Haltech?

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WaZZabi
...Rice burner with a Twist...

Ok,

I found this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... K:MEWAX:IT

this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... K:MEWAX:IT

and this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Nissan-2 ... 335ae428c2

Which one will work, and do you think I can find these parts anywhere else? Better quality / maybe less expensive?

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WaZZabi
...Rice burner with a Twist...