Megasquirt no advance and not starting !

If you have spark and fuel you can't be far wrong with your wiring. I'd suggest posting your question on the MSExtra forum with a copy of your MSQ attached as I suspect thats where your problem lies...

 

I think I will try that mickey.
I have some questions though..
At the moment I have the earth strap from the coil bolted to the block at the same point as the ecu earths. would this cause a problem ?
Another thing is that I have a digifant dizzy but have retained the mk1 gti dizzy cap. I was told these were compatible ?
There could be hardware issues ie duff dizzy ect so would it better to go down the coil pack route ?

 

Its VERY easy with this setup to have your spark 180 degress out BTW... i.e you're firing at TDC of the exhaust stroke..

 

As my ecu is ms2 v3 extra code I believe I can switch to a trigger wheel set up retaining the dizzy to distribute the spark. I dont mind doing the fabrication but im reading conflicting info for the fitting the trigger wheel. The only reference for a mk1 I found was for the missing tooth to be at tdc with the sensor at 90 counter clockwise to tdc. Does this sound right to you guys ??
I have a spare block and pulleys to do the fab work rather than in situ on the car to get it spot on.
If anyone has any pics on how they have fitted the trigger wheel that would be great !! Thanks.

 

I think I'd focus on getting it running with your current setup first before adding the extra cost and complication of going to toothed wheel and coilpacks..

 

Had another look today.. I couldn't get the led to light up ? I pulled the dizzy out of the block and spun it around by hand and the led would not light up. but I was getting cranking pulses from the injectors. I tried turning the dizzy by hand on both rising and falling edge but neither seemed to be able to trigger the cranking pulse at a sensible angle. Ms2 v3 wont allow a angle greater then 180. Any way, ****ed around abit more and got the car to fire. it sort of ran with my foot lightly on the throttle. I stopped the car so I could grab my timing gun. went to try again and nothing. One thing that is bugging me is the lack of the centre led on the ecu ? Im positive ive had it before. Is the led and the cranking pulse from the injectors linked or would a separate issue be causing this ? Im wondering if the damp and cold has an effect on the hall ? Could it be that im trying to dial in a knackered dizzy ? using a crank trigger is looking more appealing now.

 

Is your setting in the ecu programming correct for the led to be for spark.

 

Hi bettie and thanks for replying ! As far as I know yes. I distinctly remember it working before and I have not changed it myself. That is why im curious as to why it wont now ? Most of the online manuals just mention how to set up a distributor basically and then fine tune once running. What they dont mention, is how to diagnose problems if it wont start first time ! As far as I now I have set the dizzy the same way as many others have and have used the same or similar base settings. Everything else on the car works as it should like the injectors, fuel pump, tps, idle valve, and both the map and coolant sensors...
Thats whats driving me nuts !!
Just wish somebody was close by to take a look !!

 

Hi guys ! Been a while since I have done anything to the old girl but am making progress but still need some help !!
I have ditched the dizzy and gone with a vr sensor and coilpack but ive got a new set of problems...
Firstly, with the coilpack. Its all wired up and ive added a extra driver to the ecu. Its a 3 wire coilpack from a ford st. So one live and 2 earths to the ecu. When I use the I/o out put test I can get both sides to fire. But on the normal output test only coil b fires ? I have changed the settings to toothed wheel ect and to wasted spark on ignition settings. Should it be set to a different coil setting ?
The second problem is no rpm from the vr sensor ? The gap between sensor and wheel appears to be spot on and I have even tried to flip the wires with no joy. In the manual it says to turn the pots fully counter clockwise which I have done I think. Although I didn't hear or feel a click to indicate I had reached the end of travel ? Is there something else I have to do to the board for it to work ? I have run logs ect but its showing nothing from the sensor ??
Any help would be massively appreciated !!

 

On further inspection I have found that the vr circuit had not been installed.
I removed the jumper wire from tachselect to xg1
Removed jumper from tsel to optoout.
Installed jumper from tachselect to vrin.
Installed jumper from tsel to vrout.
With both pots turned fully counter clockwise. Apparently that should sort out the sensor unless anybody knows better ?
Still not sure about the coil situation.

 

Have you rewired the ECU to have 2 ignition outputs? If it was set up for dizzy/coil ignition then it would only have a single ignition output.

Have you raised a thread on the MS extra forum? I haven't seen one, so maybe I missed it.

 

Hi mickey. Ive added another bip373 but im wondering if I need to check the board itself ? Ive read that different code means different mods to the board. Will have another look tonight if the mrs doesn't get me doing anything else haha.

 

I have not put a post up on the ms forums yet as I know a lot of people on here have the knowledge. Maybe I will over the week if I dont make any progress !!

 

Chucked the ecu back in and no rpm, then remembering I had flipped the wires !
Put them back how I started and bingo ! Rpm !

Moved onto the coil issue...
One thing I didn't notice before was the fact that the new output from the second bip373 was the one working and its the original output that is not firing ?
I.e what was the output for the single coil setup ?
I switched the wires on the coil to make sure it was not the coil itself.
Question is, could this be a setting issue or is the original bip373 knackered ? It was working when I had the dizzy and coil as I was getting the timing gun to work ?
Anyway, making progress !! Lol

 

Ive just read on the diyautotune website that I need to change my spark a setting from js10 to d14 ? I assume this will change my coil wiring round and allow both sides of the coil to fire ? If anyone can confirm this that would be great ! Dont wont to go frying anything !!

 

You seem to be making good progress Jake

While there are a few megasquirt users on here there's no where near as many as active users as on the MS Extra forum, plus on there you get the actual guys who write the code!

As for your spark settings, yeah, I have Spark A on D14 and Spark B on D16. Make sure you change Spark A in the setting menu in Tunerstudio too

 

Right.. update... as per the advice and help from members on here and mk1oc and the guy who built the ecu, progress is being made !!
The coils are firing ok now and the engine is trying to fire ! Timing seems to be good ?? But still not running.
I was wondering what spark plugs and ht leads people are using ? Ive made some leads with carbon core cable and still using r rated splitfire plugs. Should I switch to copper core cable and single electrode plugs ?
Im so close... lol

 

Also on a second note.. does anyone know where the ignition advance should be at various rpm's ?
I.e 2000 rpm 3000 rpm ect ??
Should I also re connect the air shroud as its blanked off at the moment ? Would this make any difference to the atomisation of the fuel using modern ish injectors ?