First thing you have to do is get the monopod out of the car. You can follow the recommendations of the manual to pull the knee pad, the column cover, and then the entire pod with harnesses.....or if you feel a little dangerous you can do it like I did....just take care of that clear plastic. I didn't take any pictures of this, but its pretty simple. Pop the trim ring off the front of the pod. Contorsion it out from behind the column and out of the way without scratching your gauge cluster face. Then there are just four screws in the corners to release the inner cluster from the pod shell. Once those are out, roll the cluster forward and face down and disconnect the four harnesses. Then contorsion the cluster out from behind the steering wheel. Pushing gently on the monopod shell helps in this step.

 

Translation?

First thing you have to do is get the monopod out of the car. You can follow the recommendations of the manual to pull the knee pad, the column cover, and then the entire pod with harnesses.....or if you feel a little dangerous you can do it like I did....just take care of that clear plastic. I didn't take any pictures of this, but its pretty simple. Pop the trim ring off the front of the pod. Contorsion it out from behind the column and out of the way without scratching your gauge cluster face. Then there are just four screws in the corners to release the inner cluster from the pod shell. Once those are out, roll the cluster forward and face down and disconnect the four harnesses. Then contorsion the cluster out from behind the steering wheel. Pushing gently on the monopod shell helps in this step.

John, thank you for all info, was just reading it with great interest.
Got your info via Dutch Spider Club.
I want to check and clean lights of the dashboard part with speedo and tach from my Spider III 1987 Aerodinamica (bought it in May this year. a dream come true!) The lights seem a little dim, must be possible to make it somewhat brighter (yes, the dimswitch is on MAX )

Can you translate what you mean by Monopod?
Tried to with help of translation-sites on www but failed

Tnx in adv. for info!

 

Now seperate the gauge cluster into its two halves. There are four screws to remove highlighted in the picture below.

 

So lets start with the tachometer. This type has the air bag light within. There are three screws to remove from behind on the ribbon board. Also the tachometer sits on 3 prongs that are soldered into the board. Lift at the corners to pull the tach off the prongs once the three screws are removed. Eventually the tach comes out in your hand as below.

 

Here is picture from the back for reference when removing the tachometer. The three screw holes are highlighted as well as the solder points for the prongs. Its a good idea check these to see if you need to resolder these as I found mine somewhat loose.

 

And here is a picture of the three prongs from within the housing once the tach is pulled. Its very important to keep these guys straight for easy reassembly. After all you may have to install and uninstall several times before you get the tach adjusted correctly.

 

Once you get the tach out, you will find the adjustment screw on the back. Its got some hot glue on it to keep it from moving. 1.
1. Note the position of the screw.
2. Go ahead and break the screw free of the glue by turning counter clockwise.
3. Turn back and forth a few times to insure a good electrical connection and discover the range of the screw. It turns about 300 degrees total.
4. Now return screw to original position.
5. Turn screw clockwise to increase indicated rpm (a good digital multimeter with tach comes in handy to set it up right from the start).
6. Connect the tach back on to the prongs (note in the picture the female connector for the prongs in the housing)
7. Plug pod half back into its 3 wire harnesses and test to see what your reading is.
8. Repeat 5-7 until you get it right.

 

The Speedometer is very similar but easier as better prongs. Speedo comes out like this.

 

You remove the speedo with 4 screws noted in the picture below. Make sure to check its prongs soldering too.

 

And here are the speedo prongs inside the cluster casing.

 

And finally the speedo adjustment screw. I assume clockwise to increase indicated speed if its like the tachometer.

 

I just used John M's post to fix a 91 spider speedo that was displaying about 20mph under actual. The post worked perfectly.

One note: I found that adjusting the screw counter-clockwise increased the speed and clockwise decreased the speed. To make the 20mph adjustment on mine I only had to make a minor movement of about 15 degrees.

 

Thats all there is to it. Finally a tachometer that reads! Post your questions if you have any. Make sure you find the range of the adjustment screws. They can actually go all the way around with out damaging them....or at least my tach did, but I believe its just a sliding scale in about a 300 degree range of turn from least to most aplification.

Almost forgot to say......reverse procedure to reassemble!

Best Regards,
John M

 

'89 Spider Veloce Odometer



Great Info! I just got an '89 Spider Veloce. What can you tell me about the odometer. Mine does not work. What drives the odometer? Does it have its own motor and can it be fixed or can it be replaced?

 

Awesome John. Thanks for the tutorial.

I'm definately going to hang onto this for when I've got a running Spider's tach and speedo to fix (they were pretty **** flakey before.)

Will this probably fix a wobbily speedo as well? Mine always shows a range of speeds when running.

'course, I do always enjoy telling people that she's doin' 10 mph sitting still, and won't even start!

 

Great info! Does this apply to an '86 spider as well? Got one that reads slow (5th gear, 4k rpm shows about 45 MPH)

 

Hey Toaster:

That sounds to me like additional troubles. Could be those prongs if your 86 has the same setup in its monopod. Not much holding the prongs into the circuit board and no support other than the casing. With that said, vibration will ultimately brake the contacts and possibly make it function intermittently. But a hot solder iron will fix that easily and quickly. Other thoughts are sending units. But the more I think about the design, I would check those prongs.

Best Regards,
John M

 

Hey Texas:

I don't know for sure, but my bet its the same. One of you two 86 owners crack that puppy open.

Best Regards,
John M

 

John,
That is a lot of work that you have done for the benefit of others.
Wow. As they say in New Yawk, you some kinda cool m***a.

 

Hey Mr C:

Actually, I was just sick of my tach reading low. Thought I would snap some pics while in there as I hear this question all the time on these speedos and tachs reading low. I am glad Alfa had the foresight to install a tach/speedo with an adjustment. Otherwise we would all be out of $300 or so. Again, my frugleness shines through!

Best Regards,
John M

 

Hi there

I have an 89 quad I have just aquired and I my Speedo and Tach are moving slightly(Hardly at all} when I am driving. Odometer works ok. Any clues ?

Cheers

Barry

 

Hey Barry:

With both not working hardly at all, my first suggestion is to check the connectors to the pod. There are four mulitpin connectors inside the pod. Make sure those are all on tight and retest her. If not, I would give my try a fix. I suspect that due to vibration or corrosion these speedos and tachs come out of adjustment. There is a calibration screw to adjust both. And they were hot glued into position when calibrated. You have to disassemble the pod to get at them and calibrate. Once calibrated....glue the adjustment screws in place. That's all there is to it.

The speedo on a quad has a pulse generator like that on a series 4. You should see a three wire connector near the brake booster and O2 sensor wire connectors. If the color coding is the same...the speedo to pulse gen connector has a pink, grey, and black wire. Make sure you pull that connector and fill with dielectric grease.

If you cannot get them up via the calibration screws....then Palo Alto does rebuild these units. I don't have their contact info...but I bet someone does.

Hope this helps,

John M

 

Palo Alto

If you cannot get them up via the calibration screws....then Palo Alto does rebuild these units. I don't have their contact info...but I bet someone does.

John M

Hi John,

Finially got around to calibrating my tach and speedo and ran into a surprise on the tach.

When I got the Spider back from the rebuild last year my tach didn't work because of the new ignition system so I sent it off to Palo Alto to set it up to work with the tach output of the MSD ignition box. Looks like they put in new guts to run it and it does not have an adjustment screw too it.

The existing tach is 400 rpm slow in third and 500 rpm slow in 4th at the higher rpm's and at idle and up to 3,000 rpm's it's pretty close.

I do have an aftermarket shift light with a seperate box with a LCD read out so I know what my RPM's are and with that I can at least recalibrate the speedo. My speedo was off before the rebuild and is way off now sense I switch out the 4.10 for a 4.56.

 

Tachometer Fix

Hi John

I have just been adjusting a 89 Spyder tach. On the model of tach I have it is powered not from three solder points that the tach plugs into but from three metalic long bolts that hold it in place and attach to the circuit board at the rear. The adjustment screw on the tach however is the same . The speedo is exactly like illustrated.

Thanks John for the great pictures and play by play

Now on to the sending unit!!

Bazza

 

Takes some pictures and post them up of the tach if you get a chance Barry. Could go a long way in helping some others. And thanks.

Best Regards,
John M

 

Speedo Tach Sending Unit

Hi John

My Question is this. Does the sending unit that sends a signal to the Monopod control the tach and speedo. I have ruled out the Monopod and now will focus on the cable and sending unit.

Barry

 

Hey Barry:

The pulse generator does the speedo only. Not sure where the 89 tach picks up its tach signal. It might be off one of the flywheel sensors or off the coil. Did tinkering with the calibration help at all? Did you inspect the solder joints between the prongs and ribbon on the back side of the cluster housing? And how did the fuses check out? How about looking for common grounds beneath the dash and make sure they are good with an ohm meter? With both out....it really make me suspect obviously a common link like ground or fuse or loose harness.

You can check the harness if you have a digital multimeter w/ tach readout. The speedo and tach share the same connector to the back side of the monopod cluster. Connector B has them.....:

pin 1 tach signal
pin 2 fuel level
pin 3 parking warning light
pin 4 safety belt warning light
pin 5 speedo signal
pin 6 direction indicator warning lights

No idea which of the four is "B". But you rule the other three out by testing with your emergency brake 'on' and 'off'. Then check pin 1 for a signal with the multimeter set for tach and see what you got with the car running. That way you could eliminate the harness.

The wiring on the 89 is different from my 92.....for sure. I really don't have a good wiring diagram that is specific for that car. The one I do have is on cardisc and is the one for automatic seat belts...maybe 87 or 88....so different.

Best Regards,
John M

 

Speedo Tach Out

Hi John

All looks well with the monopod. I have received however contradictory information from a fellow in Toronto who said that the sending unit is the common link and needs to be replaced. He is sending me one for 100.00 bucks. What fuses and fusible links exist? Where can I find connectors other than behind the Monopod that might be causing this. What is common between the two systems that could be causing this? Any. Pictures would be appreciated

Cheers

Barry

 

Hey Barry:

I don't have one of these puppies to take pictures of. I have a 92 and a 78. Both different. On the speedo and tach having the same sending unit.....no. Maybe he has something else in mind that I cannot find from the limited diagrams I have. From what I can tell, they get their signals seperately. The wiring diagram I have shows the tach receiving its signal off the coil. The speedo has a sending unit (pulse generator). Without seeing one of these....I am really at a loss. The wiring for the speedo pulse generator has a connector under the hood. It has three wires. Should be coming up the driver's side firewall near the brake booster. That would be worth a check.

The way the speedo works....... there is a physical cable that spins that comes from the transmission side and runs to the pulse generator. The pulse generator is mounted underneath the car near the transmission. There should be just a few sets of wiring running underneath the car through there that I can think of.

1. The reverse light wiring going to the tranny.
2. The two sets of wires going to the O2 sensor on the exhaust manifold.
3. The speedo pulse generator wires.

The pulse generator then in turn generates the signal for the speedo. The pulse gen wiring will be three wires. One 12 V, one ground, one signal. Likewise the speedo needs three feeds. One 12 V, one ground, one signal. The tach needs the same. Hence the three prongs. From the wiring diagram I have it shows the tach gets its signal from the coil.

Now these head units could share a common 12 V feed. And this would come from the fuse box beneath the dash. Check all those fuses.

The ground wires from the diagram appear to be shared with the gas and temp gauge as well as tach and speedo. So if they were not working, I would think ground. But since you have not mentioned that I assume they are ok and rule out a grounding problem based on them working.

Keep it coming. It'll be interesting to know what is causing this.

Best Regards,
John M