portiable tachometer for a johnson 3 cyl outboard motor

[Trains1938]

Hi, looking for a portable tachometer for a 3 cyl. out board motor. I have looked of ebay and other places but only find them for 2 4 and 6 cyl. Anybody know where I can find one cheap.

 

[GA_Boater]

Something like this?

 

[emdsapmgr]

The number of cyls has no bearing on a marine tach. Marine tachs count the pulses from the charging side of the stator. (not pulses from the spark plugs.) Those pulses are not unique to a 3 cyl engine. So, any Marine tach will work. Hook it up to the signal wire at the control box and you are ready to go. The instructions will tell you how to adjust the tach to the correct pulse setting for your engine. I am not sure that anyone makes portable tachs for marine engines..... As long as it says Marine, you should be ok.

 

[scout-j-m]

The Hardline one is good. I have two and one stays on an old boat/motor that I leave outside uncovered and it has held up well to the elements. Just wrap it around and zip tie it to a spark plug wire and then you can fasten the unit somewhere on the boat or motor by screwing it down or zip tying it or using the adhesive strip that is included. Like mentioned above, the number of cylinders is meaningless. It just needs to be set on 1 rpm per fire for a 2-stroke.

 

[Trains1938]

Hi GA_Boater, Looked at your Hardline Tach. Tried to ask a question but it says I need to sign in using my IBoats account. When I do that I get a replay that tells me my email address does not extist, why?

 

[Trains1938]

Emdsapamgr, If that is the case, maybe the one that I got will work but it does not say marine on it. What do you think?

 

[GA_Boater]

Hi GA_Boater, Looked at your Hardline Tach. Tried to ask a question but it says I need to sign in using my IBoats account. When I do that I get a replay that tells me my email address does not extist, why?

Do you have an account for the store? The store and forum are separate entities, Trains.

 

[guy48065]

I used one meant for a dirt bike. Doesn't need to be "marine" as long as it's weatherproof.

 

[Trains1938]

Hi GA_Boater, I guess not, thought they were the same thing. Thanks for the come back.

 

[gm280]

You could always get a "Tiny Tach" and see what your engine is turning. It attached to one spark plug wire for the pickup. JMHO!

 

[phillnjack2]

just get a cheap one off ebay, they are identical to tiny tach and will do on your engine ok.
you just wrap one wire around a plug lead and they work, if you only warp one lead it works fine,
as the engine will only spark once on that lead for each revolution. very cheap and pretty accurate.