Guest Posted September 20, 2001 Share Posted September 20, 2001 Well, it's almost time to do the fall tune up on the Centurion. It's been almost twenty years since I've used a dwell meter. Always converted the Chev's over to HEI, but it's pretty tough to find one for the Buick, at a reasonable price anyway. My question is, do the + and - leads of the tach/dwell meter attach to either side of the coil? Thanks in advance!!<p>[ 09-25-2001: Message edited by: Boat Slip ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 21, 2001 Share Posted September 21, 2001 Put the + lead from meter to - of coil, where the wire goes to distributer. Put - of meter to a ground source. If you have A/C, the compressor ground screw on top of the bracket will give you a good ground. I say this because I always have a hard time finding a good ground elsewhere on the motor/frontend.<P>Zach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 21, 2001 Share Posted September 21, 2001 Forgive me if I'm crazy tonight, been staring at my Palm pilot for 4hrs. But doesn't a Tach/Dwell meter have 3 connectors on it? Red, Black and a third aligator clip wire? Red to bat, black to ground, clip to negative coil? The one I have does, a Sears Engine Analyzer, also has wires for HEI and Alternator testing.<P>Peaks my curriousity indeed.<P>-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straycat Posted September 21, 2001 Share Posted September 21, 2001 If you are installing a new point and condenser set, I would highly recommend that you ground out your ignition prior to setting your dwell. It may prevent a rude carb backfire or muffler explosion if the initial out-of-the-box dwell setting is out to lunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 21, 2001 Share Posted September 21, 2001 I have a Sears, Volt/Tach/Dwell analog meter and it just has two wires. It must depend on the meter and its internal design. <P>Zach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straycat Posted September 21, 2001 Share Posted September 21, 2001 <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Straycat: I'll be sure to remove the coil wire when first setting the dwell. Thanks.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Just to make sure we're talking the same talk, make sure after you remove the coil wire that you ground the coil wire to a good ground on the engine. <P>I use a wire with an alligator clip at each end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 22, 2001 Share Posted September 22, 2001 Thank you all for your replies!! <P>Straycat: I'll be sure to remove the coil wire when first setting the dwell. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 25, 2001 Share Posted September 25, 2001 Thanks again for all of the info. Worked like a charm.<P>I noticed that there appears to be a screw to adjust the needle of the dwell/tach meter. Is there an easy way to check the calibration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straycat Posted September 26, 2001 Share Posted September 26, 2001 <B>I noticed that there appears to be a screw to adjust the needle of the dwell/tach meter. Is there an easy way to check the calibration?</B><P>My old Sears engine analyzer just says to rotate the screw until the needle lines up with the zero line. <P>Calibration....what's that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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