Well, "s" word. I may have led you wrong. It appears that they are delaying the spark 1 complete cycle to get the timing where the "box" wants it. So now I'm the one that's ???
Well crap. I talked to them today and they said, make sure you have 12V on the white wire, which if not, would prevent the spark from occurring. I know I had 12v when I was done wiring, but after all the cranking yesterday its possible that I drained the battery.
They also sent me these instructions, which are close to the others, but I am not sure what #6 means. So I emailed them about that. Its is just weird, it shouldn't be this hard.
The Ignition timing control with an MSD 6A type box is set up by the following steps:
1) Connect black “Coil” wire to the “Points” input wire on the MSD harness. The CDI output wires going to the coil need to be the only things going to the coil, and need to be kept very separated from all of the other wires.
2) Used LOCKED OUT distributor (MSD distributors can be locked out by their instructions – removing the drive gear and flipping the top side)
3) Connect the distributor 2-wire to the FiTech unit’s 2-wire distributor input (blue and green wires with white connector)
4) Use handheld in Go-EFI Initial Setup with the key on, change “Tach or 2Wire+Coil” to “VRCoil” (VR means variable reluctor – i.e. magnetic pickup). Click the button / joystick to “Send to ECU” Turn the key off after doing this step, and wait 15 seconds for the system to save that into permanent memory – this is one of the few changes that needs to have the key turned off after performing in order for the software to initialize some things correctly.
5) The “Distr Base Timing” is the spark timing that the engine will be cranking at, and also represents the minimum spark advance the system can allow. 10 degrees might be a good starting point.
6) With a phasable rotor, advance it about ¾ of the width of the brass tip. Use Loctite to keep the screw tight – it will back out if you don’t.
7) Put the engine at about 10 degrees BTDC, and move the distributor with the cap off to see that a tooth on the trigger lines up with the pickup sensor.
8) Start the engine, with timing light connected, distributor clamp loose enough to adjust but not moving by itself.
9) With the handheld in view, to “Go EFI Initial Setup” and then “Ignition Setup.” Set “Lock Spark to Adjust” to LOCK. Hit send to ECU and the EFI will command 30 degrees. With the engine still running check timing at the balancer with a timing light. If the timing is not at 30 degrees turn the distributor until the engine is.
10) Key off the vehicle. Tighten down the distributor clamp and now the engine is synced with the EFI. The system will automatically unlock.
11) Now you can use the handheld to put in other spark advance values in the “SPARK MAP” in Go-EFI Tuning.
12) If the engine needs more or less advance at cranking, you would need to change the “Distr Base Timing” and also repeat the above procedures for moving the distributor.
13) VR Advance 4000 is to compensate for some lag in the magnetic pickup. It’s only useful if the spark advance matches at low RPM, but not high RPM. The default value is close enough in most cases.
14) Idle advance is the median spark advance at idle. There is a stability function in the software that automatically adds or subtracts timing JUST AT IDLE to try to keep the RPM stable at the Target Idle RPM.
15) WOT means full throttle (wide open). 45kPa is a very light cruise load.
MOST IMPORTANTLY – Ignition timing has NO LEARNING. It will do what you tell it to do, and if the engine knocks, the computer DOES NOT KNOW – you need to reduce the timing with the handheld SPARK MAP to make it go away. Most Engines are OK with 3000 45kPa Cruise spark advance in the high 30’s to low 40’s, and WOT timing at 1100 being around 10-15 (but listen for knock at these low RPMs and adjust accordingly), and WOT at 3000 to be around 28-32 degrees, and WOT 6000 at 30-36 degrees. Surging is NOT common – make sure you’re not misfiring – burned wires, etc... and maybe needs a touch richer AFR at 1100 45kPa (don’t go richer than 12.9 in that area, I’d suggest). Backfires on acceleration are not common – this may mean it’s retarded, or that the ACCEL PUMP fueling needs some adjustment. Exhaust pops during deceleration are common – not much can be done.
