Installing Your Diesel Tach
Installing Your Diesel Tachometer
For years diesel enthusiasts have had to deal with cumbersome workarounds to solving one issue, tachometry. This issue has persisted because most tachometers on the market simply won’t work with diesel engines. At AutoHack we saw this as more than an inconvenience and decided to do something about it. Our passion is solving automotive issues with the latest technological breakthroughs. In this article we would like to talk about our diesel tachometer, how it works, and how easy it is to install.
Technology At the Core
Our diesel tachometer operates wirelessly. There are two separate components, the sensor, and the gauge, the sensor is self-powered and sends the RPM information directly to the gauge wirelessly. There are some situations where you will need to hard wire the sensor to the gauge, but we have a simple workaround for that too. So, how did we build a wireless diesel tachometer? In short, we capture energy that’s lost in the motion of your engine and use it to power the sensor and send the signal. However, don’t worry, it is still an incredibly simple installation. There is an emerging tech field called energy harvesting which focuses on collecting small amounts of lost energy to power various devices, we have implanted some of this energy harvesting technology directly into our diesel tachometer.
What’s the result?
By using energy harvesting, we can use a sensor that reads RPM directly from the rotation of your engine. Typically, this is achieved by attaching our sensor near the harmonic balancer. The motion of the engine provides the information for RPM, and at the same time, energy is captured from the engine’s motion and is used to power the wireless signal for the diesel tachometer. While there is a lot of technology involved in the backend, it all works together to provide a simplified installation and an incredibly accurate diesel tachometer.
Installation Overview
Before we go any further, we recommend watching our installation video. It provides a clear demonstration of how to install our diesel tachometer. However, generally speaking installing our diesel tachometer only requires two steps. First is to install the sensor. Depending on your vehicle you have a few different options, when possible we recommend installing the sensor to the oil pan near the harmonic balancer. To achieve this, we have a custom replacement oil pan screw that the sensor mounts directly onto. Once the sensor is installed, you need to attach 4 small magnets to the harmonic balancer. While that may sound odd, we include an adhesive for the magnets in our diesel tachometer kits, and we have tested them on multiple vehicles for almost a decade with no failures.
After you have installed the diesel tachometer sensor, the only part left is installing the gauge. We offer several gauge styles, so mounting your diesel tachometer varies depending on which style you choose. However, the only wiring required is your basic power and ground wire. In our Classic gauge model, there is also a dimmer wire that can be attached when appropriate. After you have mounted and powered the gauge, you are ready to go!
Diesel Tachometer Simplified
As a side note, in case you do not like our available gauge styles we also offer a conversion kit that turns any gauge into a wireless diesel gauge. Our process is simple, and our core technology is cutting edge. Our goal is to bring you a diesel tachometer that is not only effective but easy to install as well.
