The wiring for the tach signal should already be in place. According to the
Bentley, the general wiring diagram for '86 Vanagons is separated by VIN
number but both have the tach wire run all ready in place between the coil
to the instrument panel connector (T14/9).  I am adding an aftermarket tach
to my tach-less '87 camper and just finished making all of the tach
connections on the instrument panel without running any new wiring.

I would plug in the new instrument panel and see if it works.

Good luck

Tim Hannink
Winter Park, Florida
Goldibox - 1987 Vanagon Camper, Wolfsburg Edition
http://home.earthlink.net/~tjhannink/

-----Original Message-----
From:   Tom LaLanne [SMTP:lalanne@IX.NETCOM.COM]
Sent:   Saturday, March 02, 2002 11:16 PM
To:     vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject:        tachometers

    My '86 2wd A/T Westy has a clock rather than a tach in the
instrument cluster.  Somehow, the time seems less important to me than
engine speed, even though I have little control over the engine with the
auto trans.  Several weeks ago I bought an instrument cluster with tach
from a local junkyard.  What do I need to do to hook the tach up?  Do I
need to install a sensor in the transmission? and wire it to the tach?
or are all of the vanagons already wired and ready to go?  Any help
would be greatly appreciated.  As you might have concluded already, I'm
not terribly skilled in mechanical matters.
Tom LaLanne
'86 Westy Weekender