Tach hook-up

elwood · Jul 11th, 2008, 05:17 AM

I bought a new speedo/tach combo for my 2003 Heritage Classic. The instructions for wiring into the EMC plug is for a different style plug. Does anyone know which socket the pink wire from the harness goes into?

cowboy · Jul 11th, 2008, 07:04 AM

elwood welcome to the site , there's a wireing chart in the back of your manual , I am not so good with wireing but the book is very simple to read

elwood · Jul 11th, 2008, 07:10 AM

Thanks, I will give it a look.

ringo912 · Jul 11th, 2008, 07:18 AM

The new speedo/tach kit should have come with 2 wires. One is 5" long and has a plastic connector at one end, and a socket terminal at the other. The other wire should be about 42" long, used for 1999 softails. Make sure you have the right speedo/tach kit. For 2000 and later softails, the kit number is 74461-03A. I have an 02' Heritage Classic.

There should be an extra wire, (pink), on the main harness that plugs into the speedo. This wire should have a plasitc connector on it. The wire will either be zip tied to the side of the main harness or tuck inside the plastic conduit on the harness. On the connector that plugs into the speedo the terminal holes are marked 1 thru 12 where the wire come into it. If there is a wire in terminal hole #3, you must remove the wire or it can damage the new gauge.

Using the 5" wire that came with the kit, plug the plastic connector into the pink wire on the main harness. At the other end of the 5" wire is the socket terminal. You will insert this end into the #6 terminal hole on the main connector that plugs into the speedo. You might find a plastic plug in hole # 6, you will have to pull it out in order to get the socket terminal to go in. Make sure you get the socket terminal seated all the way in the main connector. You should be able to see the end of it at the front side of the connector.

If the extra pink wire on your main terminal does not have a plastic connector on it, you will need to cut the plastic connector off of the 5" wire and splice the two together using heat shrink tubing. Do not cut the socket terminal off of this wire.

Hope this helps, let us know how it goes.

elwood · Jul 12th, 2008, 10:35 AM

Thanks for the info. I have the pink wire with connector and hooked properly. The problem is the instructions say to put it in hole #6 (just like you said). the illustration on the instructions are for a straight EMC plug with 12 inline terminals. On my 2003 the plug is one with two rows with 6 in each row. I have had it in both empty slots with no results. Frustrated !!

ringo912 · Jul 12th, 2008, 11:36 AM

The illustration in the instructions is not necessarily an exact representation of the plug on your bike. It is shown as a 12 hole inline plug because it makes it easier to show all of the wires in picture form. The plug in my 02' also has two rows of 6 holes. The number 6 hole is the correct hole for the pink wire.

Do any of the functions on the new speedo work when you turn your ignition on, back lighting, LCD readout? If not I would use a volt meter and make sure you have 12 volts at the pink wire in the main harness. If not, look at the wiring schematic in your service manual and trace the pink wire back to it's point of origin and make sure it is connected there. If it goes to the fuse block, make sure the fuse is not missing and/or is good.

If you do have 12 volts at the connector of the pink wire, I would do the following. Make sure when you insert the plug that the new terminal is not getting push back into the plug housing by the contact pin on the speedo. Look on the front of the plug and make sure you can see the end of the socket terminal in hole #6. If the socket terminal is not in far enough and seated, it can get pushed back by the pin on the speedo.

Plug in the new speedo and start your bike. If the speedo doesn't power up, push and wiggle the new wire in hole #6 and see if the speedo starts to work. If it does, this indicates that the socket terminal is not seated all the way in on the plug. I used a very small allen wrench and inserted it in the back of the #6 hole to push the terminal all the way in.

If none of this works, I would take the new speedo back to the dealership and let them check it.

Good luck, hope this helps.

Ringo

elwood · Jul 12th, 2008, 08:44 PM

Thanks Ringo for the info. I have power to the speedo..readout mileage,security indicator,lights and both tach and speedo re-set to zero when powered up. I am thinking the same as you on this one. I am going to send it back and ask for refund or replacement.
Elwood

p.s. will let you know how it all shakes out.