Dadgum Tach Signal

WOOHOO!!  It works!  It works!

JRilla, YOU DA MAN!!  That is of course if J stands for John or Jack or Jerry and not Jasmine or Jill  ;-)

I ripped out the IPP-ME (why is there a market for these things?) and hooked up a relay with a 1amp diode going into the coil, measured the bypass resistance, adjusted the trimpot for 6.31kohms, and punched the button.  Well the first time, the motor cranked and it sounded like it started, but it kept on cranking and shut off after about 10 seconds.  Uh-oh, Overcrank Protection!

Then I remembered I needed to switch my Tach wire back from the tachometer to the ECM where I had it originally.  Punched the button again and it worked!  I still don't understand why the IPP-ME didn't work, but that's Trilogix's problem now.  I'll be returning it to them this week.

The cold weather this week will be a good test for the accuracy of the trimpot, but I'm confident it will be OK as I bought a 15-turn pot for more accurate tweaking.

Thanks again, JRilla!  Obviously, I couldn't have done it without your help.

And many thanks for the existence of this forum.  It's a great service to bumblers like me who need a helping hand from someone who really knows the answers!

The trick these days is to know when you need to rely on today's technological advances, and when to just do it the old fashioned way.  That's good to hear it went well.  If you are at all concerned with the trimpot, you can always buy a resistor within 5% of 6.31K Ohms, but make sure you put your test leads on the resistor to make sure that your DMM is accurate.  I buy stiff trimpots and secure them inside a box my relays come in.

I'm not really concerned about the trimpot ; It's just that I read where big changes in temperature can affect the resistor value.  If it does, it will be nice to be able to adjust it. 

My installation won't be as pretty as yours, but I think most of the wires will bundle up OK and I'm going to try to superglue the trimpot to the relay.  I soldered the wires to the pins on the trimpot, then slid heatshrink over the joints.

I tried a remote start from way inside the concrete building where I work and everything happened the way it should.  Really pleased with the range.  Sure glad I got it to work in time for this cold snap that just hit us.  Only 10F this morning!  But roasty toasty in my truck.