While checking out my newly purchased 70 Series II E type, I found several wires taped off by the distributor, including the one that powers the tach from the coil. After connecting it, I discovered the tach quit working so I went back to the way the car was wired. The tach remains inop. Any suggestions? BTW, this car does not have the rev counter at the rear of the head.
Jim

 

Series two run off the coil.
If you went to a hot coil and petronix or electric ignition, sometimes the surge will blow out or make the tach very erratic.
Some claim a surpressor fixes it but.........
I had a series 3 xj6 distributor set up in my series two, it worked fine.
Do you have a hot/hot rod set up?
good luck
GTJOEY1314

 

GTJoey,
I am trying to determine the make of the electronic ignition today. The car was running a little rough so I looked for loose connections and other obvious signs. I was looking at the wiring, and found the wire from the coil to the tach was not connected, but taped off to the side. I connected it and that's when the tach quit working. I fear I fried it.

 

By 1970 you had a ballast resistor, a vaccum retard distributor and so much more.
Check under the front carb if you kept the twin strombergs,
Is the vaccum line disconnected.
Usually a sign of a leak and rough running.
Do you have points?
My 70 I drove for close to 30 years but, You had to understand the series.
I went with the series 3 xj6 set up because no one else had an electronic set up.
Benefit of that old set up was it went into as park box with diodes, keeping the spark under control. My tach still got a little jumpy but never crapped out, good luck GTJOEY1314
Rough could mean so much from clogged filters and tank to plugs and butterflies not closing....double good luck.

 

I think your wiring is the same as my 68. The 12 volt lead to the coil + terminal looped through a magnetic pickup on the back of the tach. The tach worked by sensing the current change when the points switched. The loop is obvious if you look at the back of the tach. If it is not there, it has been modified, not unusual when adding an electronic ignition.

It is not obvious what happened when you made the connection. If you connected it to the coil - terminal where there are much higher voltages, damage is likely. Originally that wire carried 12 volts but now, who knows what the wire is connected to. If it is floating it would not have damage anything. You might see if you can find the other end somewhere near the tach. I think it is white.

 

My car has the triple weber set up so things are a little different on the car. I have narrowed the electronic ignition to a PerTrpnix ignitor 2 so I'll use y'alls suggestions and see where I go...at least this keeps me out of the bars.
Jim

 

Jim, I incorrectly assumed you had a Pertronix distributor. The Ignitor ii requires no wiring changes and so the hanging wire is a mystery. Perhaps it is the remnant of an old kill switch for theft protection. For reasons unknown to me, Pertronix says the Ignitor ii requires resistance spark plug leads and I assume you have them. I do not understand why the resistors built into the plug caps are not sufficient.

In any event, what does the other end of the mystery wire attach to? And verify that you connected it to the + coil terminal.

You originally stated there was some rough running. Later you mentioned triple Webers. I suspect a connection. Finally, you mentioned this would keep you from the bars, I sometimes find the opposite.

 

Just ring out the line
Take a test light and start poking...
Good luck

 

Hi there i am new to this forum and have a question on my e type series 2 . The tachnometer is connected to the coil and works well but for some reason there is a rev counter generator connected to the head of the engine. From what i can understand only series 1 models had this rev counter generator connected to teh head. I would like to remove it as its not connected to anything. What did the series 2 models have instaed of this rev counter generator? Was it just a blank plate?