Am I being fed a line of BS on Tach?

[Oliver911]

So I thought my signal wire was not giving a signal, but I verified a signal with a multimeter.

To give a little history on my predicament. I replaced the wiring harness in my car. I accidentally dropped my tach and broke the face. Upon reinstallation, the tach did not work.

I bought a tach off of ebay identified as one from an 85 911 with a photo of front and back. I purchased this without verifying the connections on the rear...a 85 tach is an 85 tach right?.

When I receive it, it is dated "5.83" and after pulling my tach, the wiring connections are not even remotely similar.

I politely ask the seller for a refund being that the tach is not from an 85.

If I am wrong, I am willing to admit my mistake.

Here is the seller response...
__________________________________________________ _
John,
I understand your frustration....The issue seems to be that you have a "Euro version" wiring format. The conection that you have was primarily in Euro spec cars only and will be difficult to find. Never the less lets be honest and reafirm that your incompatability with the tach to your Euro version harness was an oversight on YOUR part not checking and understanding what YOU had in your own car and not my fault in the listing
or it's description in any way. The tach you purchased is from a 1985 911.
The tach may have been manufactured in 83, but was used by the factory in all 911s until 88. Not that I have ever needed to but I have confirmed this by looking at 3 other customers tachs....a 86' 911 cab factory widebody (tach made in 84'), a 84' 911 (tach made in 83') and an 87' 930 (911 turbo..tach made in 85') All compatable and like I stated before the tach was listed properly and with fully accurate description. You simply failed
to see what you had first. I could even understand if I had not showed a photo of the back connections, but YOU DIDN'T CHECK YOUR CAR! No disrespect but "do it yourselfers" do it all the time and can never accept the blame or responsibilty for thier own mistakes.

Look,I had 11 watchers on the tach...I would recommend one of three things..relist the tach yourself, you'll sell it in a heart beat...or go to any Porsche dealer and purchase a wiring adapter for the tach to work in your car...around $95.00. If you can find a Euro version tach you'll spend around $350.00 for a used one of those.
Also give "Speedotech" in North Hollywood CA. a call for the adapter or a possible swap and upgrade to the Euro one if they have one sInce thats what you need.
__________________________________________________ _

Thanks for your help,
John

[Early_S_Man]

John,

Yes, the seller is full of BS! Porsche doesn't keep warehouses full of instruments [or any other parts] around and use them randomly to satisfy production needs. It would not be economically feasible to do so and remain profitable!

All 911 parts with date codes seem to track behind the build date by 1 - 3 months, and that applies to various senders, instruments, CDI units, coils, etc.

The seller may be telling the truth in what he stated, but anecdotal evidence from such a small sample is meaningless, and it is very likely the instruments he cited were not the original instruments in those vehicles!

It would be very helpful to post closeup, well-focussed pics of the back of your old tach and the one you got through eBay. It may be possible to utilize the tach by finding the correct terminal to connect your TD signal wire to ...

[87coupe]

Unfortunately for you, the seller is right about one important thing; you are responsible to know what your buying when purchasing something off ebay. Some sellers are nice enough to offer a return, usually they require you to cover the cost of shipping.

Something a lot of people who aren't familiar with ebay from a sellers point of view, is that there are fees involved to sell from both ebay and paypal, that they will have to eat if they give you a refund (These fees are based on the ending price of the item). Then they will have to pay them again to re-post the items. Did I mention there is also a posting fee? Basically, for any item over say $10, you should offer to reimburse the seller his fees if you hope to get a refund.

[randywebb]

I've got a tach for sale that has a bent rim - if it has the connections you need, it might work for you -- you could perhaps transfer the rim from your tach.

[stomachmonkey]

Sorry but he provided pics, you had your tach out. You stated that

the wiring connections are not even remotely similar

.
Not his fault that you did not check.

Yeah, it might have been nice if he took it back but I would not have asked. I would have done as he suggested, list it myself and hope for breakeven.

Good Luck

Scott

[Oliver911]

Thanks for the replies.

Warren:
I felt the same way about the other tach examples he gave. Pure BS, I have restored several musclecars and corvettes, and never did a component date trail the in service date of the car by more than four months. I took a look at the tach today and some wiring diagrams...I was able to get it working.

Others:
I believe both he and I were wrong, however his pictures show one thing, and the text clearly states another. I believe as a lister you are liable for what you state as much as what you show. I don't appreciate someone trying to "pull a fast one." A simple, "I made a mistake but it came from an 85, perhaps there is a way to wire this..." would have been sufficient. Trying to fabricate a story and expressing a distinct arrogance is what annoys me.

I will let this go because I got it working...that was my only goal.

Thanks,
John