Suzuki Tach doesn't read engine hours

[Sunstate78]

i bow to the Suzuki God who can figure this one out.

I had my tachometer replaced recently because the Rev Limit light stayed on the whole time. The install was done by a local Suzuki dealer. They sold me on an upgraded tach made by Nippon. It's a Suzuki tach. Previously I had a Faria guage.

So when I picked up the boat I turned on the ignition and the tach went through its normal beep and check but it did not needle up indicating the engine hours. When I told the dealership it didn't do this, they looked at it & then tried 3 others (1 a cheaper brand) and still nothing. They said it's impossible to wire incorrectly as it is plug and play & wires are color coded. Everything else on the gauge works fine.

I have an 07 DF225 with about 300 hrs on it. Anybody have an idea? Thanks

[Moonlighter]

Can you post the part number of the tach that they have supplied and installed for you? Might help someone to figure out what is happening.

[Harper]

I think (now, I may be wrong here, but.....) I think the hour indication on the tach prior to start is the hours that the tachometer has been in service. I don't believe it gets any input from the motor concerning hours. So new tach....no hours (just like it would be if you installed a new hour-meter). And on your first 49 hours, you will get no needle deflection.

[Sunstate78]

I think (now, I may be wrong here, but.....) I think the hour indication on the tach prior to start is the hours that the tachometer has been in service. I don't believe it gets any input from the motor concerning hours. So new tach....no hours (just like it would be if you installed a new hour-meter). And on your first 49 hours, you will get no needle deflection.

That's what I thought and told the dealer that perhaps this is what was going on and he said that it reads the hours off the ECM and the new tach should display the hours.

[Sunstate78]

Can you post the part number of the tach that they have supplied and installed for you? Might help someone to figure out what is happening.

Moonlighter:

The part number I'm reading off of the invoice is 34200-93J12-0000.
Thx

[Harper]

I think your dealer is mistaken. My tach (Faria) has a digital hour meter built in and the warning lights are on a separate gauge. While it is hard to tell precisely what the needle deflection on the tach indicates before starting, the hour meter itself is 3-4 hours less than the actual time on the motor. My SMIS Multifunction gauge reads the hours off the ECM via the NMEA 2000 network, as would a diagnostic computer hookup. But I'm pretty sure the tach has its own timer.

[aquamort]

I initially agreed with Harper in that its much like an odometer on a vehicle. But then remember i bought my DF140 with 200 hours on it but fitted it with brand new Suzuki gauges and my tacho still reads the correct hours.

Got to be something in the wiring?

[Sunstate78]

I initially agreed with Harper in that its much like an odometer on a vehicle. But then remember i bought my DF140 with 200 hours on it but fitted it with brand new Suzuki gauges and my tacho still reads the correct hours.

Got to be something in the wiring?

Yeah must be but I have the old guage and everything is plug and play and color coded. Perhaps I'll install the old one again and see if I get the correct reading.
Thx

[VictorGozo]

My tachometer used to display engine hour by making a brief deflection on the 5000 rpm mark ( showing 500 hours ) before startup. Recently it has started to only make a slight defliection ( not even reaching 1000rpm) .Then the motor starts and works fine. Can a ask any of you guys here.. Is this a malfunction, wiring, ecu issue or is the motor giving me some sort of signal??

[Hoosmatroos]

Did one of the lights flash? I think that after the 5000 it starts over again but one of the lights is flashing indicating that you have to add 500 hours. 2 flashes add 1000 and so on.

[catacom225]

Do a continuity test on the Tach wire, I had a similar problem on my 140, turned out to be a damaged wire in the harness