Anyone else using MegaSquirt on a LA motor?

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What does the trigger/tooth capture in tunerstudio look like?

I for one had one hell of a time with a mopar variable reluctor trying to pick up cam rpm, I believe it was due it’s low starting speed. I played with the gaps, made sure the poles were correct, a heavier shielded signal wire; I could not get it to start and run as described in the post from me above.

The 36-1 trigger wheel really saved me but was difficult to fabricate the pickup mount and to properly space and mount the trigger wheel to the crank. I got it all right and I still had issues. Finally installed a 1k ohm resistor in-line on the signal wire and it starts/run great now.

I would first recheck all the ms2 pcb connections and tunerstudio settings. Then try and crank and watch the tooth logger. Adjust hysteresis per megamanual/diyautotune. Get it to pick up the rpm. If you have noise, You may be able to get a better software version for ms2 that will help with the noise. Then I’d simplify it by ditching msd and use the Bosch bip373 Coil driver and a diyautotune coil. It’s cheap, cost is <$10 for the driver and the coil is <70.

If all else fails, go with a 36-1 trigger wheel. Don’t use a step drill to bore the hole like the guides say. Take it to a machinist who can bore it out with concentricity.
 
The self learning kits are for a lot more then just driving to the local cruise that's for sure. The FAST kit I have some experience with tells you what's going on under the hood via little screen that plugs in. Can tell violent temp, a/f ratio and adjust the same. Talks ya where the position of the iac and s few other things I know I'm forgetting.

Like I said I've heard good things about MS set ups. The site is very confusing for me. They say it's easy to set up but personally I don't know. Never seen one in person. I do know a few guys running fast set ups that love them and have seen huge improvements everywhere with it
^^^^^^^^^^agree ^^^^^^^^^
 
I haven't accessed them lately, there were some "example" builds somewhere on the MS site. Seems to me there was a 318. (Cough gag) SB Chev would be similar. I think the MS sensors are pretty much GM based, temp, TP, etc.
 
I haven't accessed them lately, there were some "example" builds somewhere on the MS site. Seems to me there was a 318. (Cough gag) SB Chev would be similar. I think the MS sensors are pretty much GM based, temp, TP, etc.

They are GM based sensors.

It is a difficult system to build, that’s for sure. The main problem is that MS is so universal that there is no designated manual for every possible engine combination. But it is well <$1000. You can pay a lot and learn very little, or pay very little and learn a lot.

The capabilities of MS are most likely more broad than the others - although I’ve never compared. With MS you can run all different kinds of outputs and take in multiple inputs from anything you can dream of. Flex fuel, run cooling fans at designated temps, run boost control, propane, knock, o2, the options are endless.
 
Unlike mentioned earlier by someone, the Lean Burn distributor is a good match for digital ignition, because it was designed for it by the factory.
Rotor phasing is not an issue.
You only need to set the baseline trigger/timing once, so the balancer/crank and Megasquirt timing are synched and actually match.

Also don't just lump all ground wires together, or don't take short cuts and think it's fine.
Read and follow the manual. It's a tough cookie to digest when most of what you read is new information for you.
Grounding is very important to be done properly and prevent stray currents.

You can test-run your engine with just the HEI-7 or 8 module only, just to see if that part of the ignition system works properly.
The module will run in non-bypass-mode and take care of (fixed) timing and dwell.
Once hooked up to the MS, the HEI senses this and hands over the ignition control to the MS-ECU after 5 seconds of engine runtime.

For some additional info, I had some occassional noise spikes and turned on noise filtering in TunerStudio.
Not sure how much filtering-options a MS2 has, but the filtering seemed to have removed the noise all together.
 
I've been running MS2 on my turbo magnum small block. built the whole system. I control ignition and fuel with it. I love it, there's just so much tuneabilty and options to run anything. You can change ignition and fuel curve on-the-fly, engine running. With MS, you spend little but learn a lot. Other kits you spend a lot and learn very little. I used a super cheap ($8) Bosch bip373 Ignition driver to control the coil. Hides right inside the Ms box.

Looking at your ignition advance table, you have spark advance really high up there. I'm assuming it's because the distributor is phased too far retarded, so you have to manually advance the timing in the tuner studio graph to make it right. There's an option for "ignition offset" in the studio where you can add advance instead of adding advance in the graph. So if your graph says 18* at 900 rpm, but your timing light says anything but 18, adjust the ignition offset to get 18. Then your MS is in sync with your whole distributor system. But, it's only to adjust little inaccuracies. I set my distributor rotor to match up perfectly in line with the cap so the spark will jump the smallest gap throught the entire advance curve. Basically the rotor points directly at #1 terminal at 25* btdc. That way, at idle the spark gap lags #1 cap terminal and leads the terminal at max advance. Lock the dist down. Start it up and adjust ignition offset to get the exact timing your graph demands.

I really needto talk to you when I do the magnum this winter for the 91 Dodge. I am building my megasquirt now
 
Matt Kramer is a member here? Whats his name here? Get a shielded 2 conductor wire from the VR sensor off the 36-1 wheel and tie only one side to ground at the MS side as noted. Why youd want to time off the distributor is a mystery as it runs through your timing chain, distributor gear, advance plate (if any)... yikes. Yes its been dont like that for years but we are dealing with minutes of degrees now for timing.
 
I really needto talk to you when I do the magnum this winter for the 91 Dodge. I am building my megasquirt now

I’ll see what I can do, I run MS2 v3.57, bip373 coil driver, 36-1 trigger wheel, multi port injectors. Send me a PM with questions. I won’t be much help if you’re trying to use the oem magnum crank sensor/flexplate setup.

Cramer helped me a lot in trying to get the VR to work from a mopar distributor, in the end I completely gutted it all together and purely use it to distribute the spark. You really only need to remove the VR so it doesn’t create noise as the teeth pass. Crank trigger is the way to go, IMO.
 
I completely gutted it all together and purely use it to distribute the spark. .

Also if you use multiport some guys grind all but one reluctor tooth off and use the old distro trigger for the cam sensor. I guess you can also use the newer magnum distro which already "is" the cam sensor
 
Care to elaborate on the newer magnum distributor? Wiring changes, settings, etc?
Or an off the shelf trigger wheel setup like youre talking about? Or at least a good writeup to use a commercial wheel and sensor, building my own brackets?

Ive become convinced that the lean burn is the root of my troubles. Everything points to it as it is the originator of the rpm signal. All the noise shows up in tach signal and ignition breakup, and every wiring test we have thrown at it has passed with flying colors. The leads are sheilded, every grounding and sheilding scheme has shown the same results. Playing with the gap in the distributor has changed the issues, but not eliminated. So it HAS to be the distributor, right?
I was about to pull the trigger on the msd stuff, but honestly cant stomach the prices on a hunch.
 
Oh yeah it’s a lean burn distributor...

What are you doing with the secondary variable reluctor inside? If it’s left as an open circuit or something, maybe it is inducing current into your signal feed, conviently at the end where there is limited amount of shielding and the splice. It should be removed.


If you have any other leftover wiring at the end of the VR that can’t be shielded, make sure you twist together making at least 3 twists per inch. There is inherently already enough noise going on under the cap with the spark gaps. You may get lucky and get it to run properly, tho.
 
Single pickup lean burn. Ill try twisted pair tomorrow, but im not feeling lucky.

So youre saying that you're pretty sure its the lean burn distributor causing issues?
 
No not at all. Unless there is excessive shaft play. I think the root cause of the problem is really the low rotor speed and the number of internal coil windings of the VR. Try what you can, also inspect the teeth for anything ther than sharp, clean edges. No chips or heavy scratches. I’d think for you to get it to work you’d need a different, more powerful vr pickup and a matching toothed wheel setup.

Try configuring tunerstudio per diyautotune.com using a vr pickup. Also try the pull-up resistor. And of course, adjusting the resistor pots on the board.
 
No not at all. Unless there is excessive shaft play. I think the root cause of the problem is really the low rotor speed and the number of internal coil windings of the VR. Try what you can, also inspect the teeth for anything ther than sharp, clean edges. No chips or heavy scratches. I’d think for you to get it to work you’d need a different, more powerful vr pickup and a matching toothed wheel setup.

Try configuring tunerstudio per diyautotune.com using a vr pickup. Also try the pull-up resistor. And of course, adjusting the resistor pots on the board.

I could NOT get the mopar distributor to work no matter what. I finally have the car up and running on the megasquirt as fuel only with a msd ignition box and distributor.
 
Though not running yet I ditched the modified distributor that mad dart did and went with a jeep cam sensor and an adaptor from sdconcept.com here's a picture of both, and I have a 36:1 tooth crank trigger wheel.
Just something to look into.
20630538_spc_fd39_pri_larg.jpg


20180514_200420.jpg
 
Care to elaborate on the newer magnum distributor? Wiring changes, settings, etc?
Or an off the shelf trigger wheel setup like youre talking about? Or at least a good writeup to use a commercial wheel and sensor, building my own brackets?

Ive become convinced that the lean burn is the root of my troubles. Everything points to it as it is the originator of the rpm signal. All the noise shows up in tach signal and ignition breakup, and every wiring test we have thrown at it has passed with flying colors. The leads are sheilded, every grounding and sheilding scheme has shown the same results. Playing with the gap in the distributor has changed the issues, but not eliminated. So it HAS to be the distributor, right?
I was about to pull the trigger on the msd stuff, but honestly cant stomach the prices on a hunch.

I missed your post. The new magnum cannot be used for ignition trigger only for the cam. It has a "1/2 wheel" deal in there for the cam. You should be able to dig up wiring at most any Magnum diagram. I don't even recall if it's magnetic or hall effect, I'd guess the latter
 
MS3X, full sequential fuel and spark using the Jeep cam sensor, LS coils with custom brackets on the back side of the intake. Once the air cleaner is installed, only a keen eye will notice no distributor.

I've been very happy with the system so far. I made the entire engine harness. The most time consuming part of getting the MS3 setup so far was the IAC. I'm using a 4 wire stepper motor style. It took me a while to figure out that while it will move in and out on using the test function, that doesn't necessarily mean its wired correctly. It would initially raise engine RPM as the engine warmed up instead of lower it. There is a function in the software to tell it the direction it needs to move, but that didn't solve my problem. I believe it can be wired one of 4 ways. I figured it out after connecting it the 3rd potential way.



engine 1.jpg
 
Ive gotten mine running consistently finally. Fuel only batch fire ms2 with msd distributor and box. Once i have the fuel tables dielaled in and some faith in the car again, im going to get Megasquirt controlling the ignition again.
 
Ive gotten mine running consistently finally. Fuel only batch fire ms2 with msd distributor and box. Once i have the fuel tables dielaled in and some faith in the car again, im going to get Megasquirt controlling the ignition again.

Is it difficult to dial in the AFR with batch fire? It's relatively easy with the sequential. I did, however, find it interesting that a slight adjustment of the timing at idle made a quick change to the AFR vs. adding/removing fuel. For initial setup, I made my timing table look like a standard mechanical advance distributor.
 
subscribing. I have a mag motor I want to put MS on but I have no idea how it all works. I just know I’m sick of my stupid carb! Lol
 
subscribing. I have a mag motor I want to put MS on but I have no idea how it all works. I just know I’m sick of my stupid carb! Lol

If you have a basic understanding of how engine electronics work, you can easily learn how MS works with simply reading their manuals. I believe they also have a book out there with lots of basic information.
If you don't know anything about efi and don't want to learn, I suggest getting a Fi-Tech or the holley equivalent. I've heard good things about them, and should give you the same cool features of the port efi MS can offer.

It is pretty cool to sit in my car on a 50 degree day and hit the key without touching the accelerator pedal and it starts right up.
 
For those interested in the MS stuff. Matt at DIY auto tune told me the microsquirt/MS2 has the provision for factory crank and cam wheels. This may be an option for some.
 
For those interested in the MS stuff. Matt at DIY auto tune told me the microsquirt/MS2 has the provision for factory crank and cam wheels. This may be an option for some.

NICE
 
Newbie question, if I wanted to add EFI to my current engine (5.9 Mag with LA top end) using a MegaSquirt system would it be possible to build something that would also be able to control a later Gen 3 Hemi with variable cam timing? I'm guessing most of the 'controls' expense with the G3 Hemi swap would be the physical connectors, wiring harness and sensors?
 
Newbie question, if I wanted to add EFI to my current engine (5.9 Mag with LA top end) using a MegaSquirt system would it be possible to build something that would also be able to control a later Gen 3 Hemi with variable cam timing? I'm guessing most of the 'controls' expense with the G3 Hemi swap would be the physical connectors, wiring harness and sensors?
EFI source sells a plug and play gold box for the hemi. Even has a start up tune.
 
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