90 civic si tach problem! any help would be appreciated

Hi, everyone! I just picked up this civic for free t-belt was installed incorrectly and cam timing was off about 6 teeth. The person I got it from obviously wasn't to knowledgable about mechanics so it was a win for me!. Long story short I've put a new timing belt, waterpump and tensioner and pensioner spring in it. It runs great now. But I'm having one problem with the tach. The problem is when the car is off. The tach sits at zero(fine and dandy) but when I turn the ignition to 1 it goes up to about 6-700 rpm and just stays there until I start it then it goes to 1000rpm (this is a cold start by the way) but it should be higher then 1000rpm in the first place. I rev it up it doesn't move but a millimeter and won't register anything other then the 1000 it says it's revolving. I figured it might be grounding out? I've checked the wiring at the distributor it all looks good no cuts or frays in the sheathing. I've also unplugged the two pin connector and the two wires from the igniter and stillget the same issue when I turn the key on. I'm kind of at a loss and was wondering if anyone has seen or heard of this happening. And maybeknows a solution. Any help would bd greatly appreciated! Next thing when I have time will be to pullthe cluster and check the wiring there. Also one more quickquestion. Is there a way to test the guage itself?

Thank you in advance! Sorry for spelling did this on my phone

I had something similar … ('91 CRX) … though different … solution could well be the same

the tach needle would fly across the face of the tach as you accelerated (rising MUCH faster than you were accelerating) … at idle it would sit on the peg, and at steady speeds it would read anywhere from 1000 to 1500 rpm too high … at the red line it would bounce around like Curly Neal from the Globetrotters LOL

many with advice told me it was the distributor … multiple distributors later, plus a change to OBD1 (which required a completely different distributor) and the problem was still there …. and keep in mind that this problem would go away (at least partially) at times …

the guy that built the car keep telling me that it was something in the tach itself … and while I believed him, it was like a easteregg hunt to find a Si tach … every tach I found came out of a HF or an earlier Si and wouldn't work ….

finally found a '91 Si tach and the installed .. problem solved

the Civic Si should be lots easier to find for … good luck

that's a funny story especially the comparison to curly neal lol yea I'm leaning towards it being the tach. I think I will try to hunt one down and just install it in to the cluster. I think that may be an easier option! then buying a distributor... thanks for your advice....I still got some wiring to trace and see what happens, but I'll let you know the outcome

Thanks! again!

distributor made zero difference … like I said, including a switch to OBD1 with the corresponding replacement distributor, and then the return to OBD0 and a new distributor to go with it

one thing to keep in mind, the tach will probably be different if it's from a DX or EX or … etc .. make sure it's from the correct gen. Si