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MegaSquirt For Dummies......

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  • #61
    Well guess so far so good....... Also if you are running XP or Vista, etc....there are USB drivers you need to download....Go to this page, http://www.diyautotune.com/softwarelinks.htm, scroll down to where it says, "Drivers for other DIYAutoTune.com offered hardware", click on the link and it will automatically download the drivers.......I say this because the first time I tried to install the firmware it did not communicate with board and I got an error, I installed the drivers and changed the COM port to COM1(it was on COM3) and everything went smoothly.......Well as you can see in the pic........



    DG you see my earlier post about the knock sensor and resistors for the injectors??

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    • #62
      Nice. I never got my Vista to load the firmware onto megasquirts. My old XP laptop didn't have a problem, and since I upgraded from Vista to 7 on this laptop it works just fine.
      Escaped on a technicality.

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      • #63
        IMO skip the knock sensor, especially for first startup and tuning. To be done properly requires a third party conditioning circuit that makes a fun project later on once the engine's running. Your turbo ford won't be anywhere near knock how you'll have it tuned anyways.

        On the injectors, find out if the parts recommended are already installed in the board or not. I *believe* your stock injectors are high impedance, but double check with an ohm meter - measure both leads of the injector and see how many ohms it shows. Under 4 ohms is "low impedance" and above 10 ohms is "high impedance" - I'm not sure but I believe your microsquirt-based system will support either, but you still want to triple check what's installed BEFORE you hook the box up to them. You can fry an injector driver(s) instantly if you set them for high impedance, but the injectors in the car are low... that's really about the only thing you could screw up at this point, so far sounds like you're trucking right through the usual issues (com port stuff, etc.). Your computer literacy is helpful here.

        Looking good so far!! do you have a plan for installation and pre-start testing? That's where you want us to chime in IMO. It helps to check a few basic things before you try to get it running. Let us know when it's time.

        -Scott
        www.realtuners.com - catch the RealTuners Radio Podcast on Youtube, Facebook, iTunes, and anywhere else podcasts are distributed!

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        • #64
          looking good!

          I'm figuring out where to weld in an O2 sensor bung....
          My fabulous web page

          "If it don't go, chrome it!" --Stroker McGurk

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          • #65
            Here's what I got done so far today, basically just running jumper wires from the main board to the jumper board..... I do have a couple of questions, one in the pic below I circled holes in red, the instructions say to jump IGN1 on the main board to IGN on the jumper board.....Now here's the deal nowhere on the main board does it say IGN1, there is only one hole marked IG1 which is the one I circled, so my question is, is IG1 the same as IGN1?? I figure it is, I'm just looking for clarification.......

            The second question concerns the cooling fans, they are using the ALED output to control an aftermarket fan, but they do give you the pin outs for the factory fans, they say pin 55 is for the low speed and pin 52 is for the high speed.......So if I'm figuring right I can use ALED for the low speed and WLED for the high speed......Now before I go to far in depth about this, I might have a conflict with using ALED and WLED when I decide t convert to coil on plug in the future, according to what I read ALED and WLED are used as spark outputs.......There are other outputs I can use to control the fans, so would it better to use the other outputs now and leave the ALED and WLED output available when I decide to convert to coil on plug?? Also one more question, the two holes marked with the green arrows are marked WLD and ALD and then to the right of the board you see a couple of circuits marked with blue arrows that are marked WLED R2 and ALED R1, if I used the ALED circuit like what they used in their setup would I use the holes with the green arrows or the holes with the blue arrows to connect to the main board??

            Last edited by TC; December 27, 2011, 09:17 PM.

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            • #66
              Ok did some reading about the programmable outputs, I loaded MS2/Extra 3.03 as the firmware and it gives me 6 programmable output circuits, they are IAC, ALED, WLED, PT6, PT7 and PA0,..... but here comes the problem(if you want to call it that)......My car uses the IAC output to run the IAC on the car, so that circuit is taken, next if I want to go to Coil on plug ignition and fire the coils individuality I have to use the ALED and WLED circuits, so those circuits are called for, now if I want to go with sequential injection that will use the PT6 and PT7 circuits, so that leaves only the PA0 circuit to control the fans, which means I would only be able to control the low or high side fan but not both........So I'm thinking that I might just leave out the fan control and use a stand alone fan controller...........What do you think??
              Last edited by TC; December 28, 2011, 02:14 AM.

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              • #67
                channelling ironhead...

                You need all that for a Holley 650 and a Flex Fan?

                leave the fan low running all the time and use the output for fan hi?
                Last edited by Beagle; December 28, 2011, 06:26 AM.
                Flying south, with a flock of bird dogs.

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                • #68
                  Originally posted by TC View Post
                  Ok did some reading about the programmable outputs, I loaded MS2/Extra 3.03 as the firmware and it gives me 6 programmable output circuits, they are IAC, ALED, WLED, PT6, PT7 and PA0,..... but here comes the problem(if you want to call it that)......My car uses the IAC output to run the IAC on the car, so that circuit is taken, next if I want to go to Coil on plug ignition and fire the coils individuality I have to use the ALED and WLED circuits, so those circuits are called for, now if I want to go with sequential injection that will use the PT6 and PT7 circuits, so that leaves only the PA0 circuit to control the fans, which means I would only be able to control the low or high side fan but not both........So I'm thinking that I might just leave out the fan control and use a stand alone fan controller...........What do you think??
                  I'd either run the fan as off or high with no low speed, or use a separate fan controller.

                  Trying to run four fuel and four ignition outputs on the DIYPNP really chews up output channels.

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                  • #69
                    Alex, instead of coil-per-plug I'd suggest a wasted spark system which only takes up two spark outputs - if you plan that for the future. Or you can get a set of coils like the IGN-1A and, even though you have four (one per cylinder) you can still trigger them wasted spark style (1&4 paired together, 2&3 paired together) and still not need 4 individual spark outputs.

                    I prefer to run the fan with the MS though, I think you'll be fine with just using the High/Off position. But it sounds like you have plenty of options here. Ah the glory of DIY EFI !!
                    www.realtuners.com - catch the RealTuners Radio Podcast on Youtube, Facebook, iTunes, and anywhere else podcasts are distributed!

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                    • #70
                      maybe you'd be better off wiring it up as "ms for dummies", leave the individual cylinder mixture and spark control out of the picture
                      My fabulous web page

                      "If it don't go, chrome it!" --Stroker McGurk

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                      • #71
                        Matt, Scott thanks for the replies!!!...... And just to clarify the coil on plug will happen down the road after I get the car running and tuned with the stock setup......I just basically don't want to have to de-solder a bunch of stuff when I decide to go to the coil on plug setup......And Scott I know I can run wasted spark....but for me it's more about the learning curve of running them individually.....

                        I also have to see if I want to bother running the A/C in this car, which brings up a few more variables since the ECM controls the A/C clutch.......

                        So I guess I'm at a point where some planning is needed, I'll solder in the IG1 to IGN jumper and that should concluded the jumper part of the assembly......

                        Also Scott to help you fallow along on what I'm doing, here's the page at DIYPNP that has the setup for my car....

                        If you scroll down a little you'll see a table with the stuff that I have to do........

                        Test Vehicle Details: The vehicle used for drawing up these application docs was a 1936 Fiat Topolino powered by a USDM 1988 Ford Thunderbird 2.3L turbo manual transmission drivetrain.  All factory Thunderbird electronics/ignition system components are in place, minus the factory boost controller, and the extended wiring harness is in perfect condition. Other notes: MAF…
                        Last edited by TC; December 28, 2011, 11:14 AM.

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                        • #72
                          Originally posted by squirrel View Post
                          maybe you'd be better off wiring it up as "ms for dummies", leave the individual cylinder mixture and spark control out of the picture
                          To begin with I plan on doing it that way, just run it like the factory designed it to......But then in the interest of furthering my knowledge of EFI I would like to convert to a coil on plug setup and then to sequential injection, it's just about learning how to do it, if you know what I mean...........

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                          • #73
                            Originally posted by TC View Post
                            To begin with I plan on doing it that way, just run it like the factory designed it to......But then in the interest of furthering my knowledge of EFI I would like to convert to a coil on plug setup and then to sequential injection, it's just about learning how to do it, if you know what I mean...........
                            In that case it might be a good idea on planning to build an actual megasquirt instead of a "Plug-n-play" module based on the microsquirt. Microsquirt is kinda limited on it's available inputs and outputs IMO. But I totally agree with your plan, as that's what I have done on most of my later implementations: personally, I love the LS-coil-per-plug, one O2 sensor per cylinder setups using the Ford EDIS triggering system (and whatever cam sensor we can come up with). I do those with a full on Megasquirt-3, and use the jbperf.com "IOExtender" to gather even more data.
                            www.realtuners.com - catch the RealTuners Radio Podcast on Youtube, Facebook, iTunes, and anywhere else podcasts are distributed!

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                            • #74
                              For reference of the steps I took.

                              Megasquirt 1 on the Thunderbird with TBI (had HORRIBLE electrical noise I eventually nailed down to a broken solder joint in the Alternator, runs good now).

                              MegaSquirt 2 on the Skylark with B&G code. Multiport fuel only, alternating firing (to this day), and 4-pin IAC idle control (also to this day).
                              Fuel and spark with a 7-pin HEI
                              Fuel and spark with the MS plugged right into the HEI pickup coil and MS2 controlling an MSD 6AL box
                              Fuel and crank trigger (off an escort) and MS2 controlling an MSD 6AL box
                              Same as above but have ugraded to MS2/extra code.

                              Future plans are limited to adding LS coil packs, wasted spark style, eliminating the MSD box and distributor. And get the damn knock sensor working. I think I have the wrong size resistor on my pull up circuit. ([hi-jack] I get variable voltage from the knock module, but I need to get some readings from actual driving, then size the resistor accordingly [/hi-jack])
                              Escaped on a technicality.

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                              • #75
                                Originally posted by TheSilverBuick View Post
                                For reference of the steps I took.

                                Megasquirt 1 on the Thunderbird with TBI (had HORRIBLE electrical noise I eventually nailed down to a broken solder joint in the Alternator, runs good now).

                                MegaSquirt 2 on the Skylark with B&G code. Multiport fuel only, alternating firing (to this day), and 4-pin IAC idle control (also to this day).
                                Fuel and spark with a 7-pin HEI
                                Fuel and spark with the MS plugged right into the HEI pickup coil and MS2 controlling an MSD 6AL box
                                Fuel and crank trigger (off an escort) and MS2 controlling an MSD 6AL box
                                Same as above but have ugraded to MS2/extra code.

                                Future plans are limited to adding LS coil packs, wasted spark style, eliminating the MSD box and distributor. And get the damn knock sensor working. I think I have the wrong size resistor on my pull up circuit. ([hi-jack] I get variable voltage from the knock module, but I need to get some readings from actual driving, then size the resistor accordingly [/hi-jack])
                                My board has the knock sensor circuit built into it and has an adjustable resistor to tune the knock circuit.........

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