Matt Cramer

Yes, you can rotate the map using the M and N keys, or toggle between a 2D and 3D map by pressing Z.

The problem isn't the VR sensor as much as the advance mechanism, which alters the VR sensor's timing. Accessing the sensor signal itself looks like it's just a matter of cutting the green and red wires inside the distributor. It looks like I'll be able to take a look at what would be required to lock out the advance mechanism sometime this week if all goes well.

Are you looking to run fuel only, or control both fuel and spark? It looks like this distributor ought to be easy to set up for fuel only control, but I'll have to really dig into it to find how to control the spark.

Yes. The EEC-IV adapter board has four generic relay output circuits (each with a blinking LED) that can be used to control a fan relay. You can set up the Megasquirt with one output for low speed and one for high speed.

It's possible, although I think the SMT soldering is more likely to be an issue than the chip itself. Check to be sure there's no stray blobs of solder. Also try putting an ommeter between JS9 and ground; let me know what you find. You can run on/off or PWM idle control without this.

Q4, Q20, and the other on/off or PWM idle control components don't connect to 12 volts, and should not have much to do with trouble with the stepper. A stepper motor chip with a short to ground wouldn't necessarily damage the processor. The processor wouldn't be able to run as long as they are connected, but it would simply cut off the voltage to the processor unless the short caused the 12 volts to get fed to the processor pins.

Just one other thing you might check to completely rule out the wiring - try logging your AFR with LogWorks, hooked directly to the LC-1. This bypasses a lot of the circuitry and logs the digital output from the LC-1 controller directly, so if you still see the rich "blips," you'll know for sure they are coming from the LC-1.

There are a few things you sometimes need to set up differently in the Megasquirt, and it has a few circuits located on the EEC-IV adapter board that come in handy for relay controls and such. But it's mostly invisible when it comes to setting up the Megasquirt. I have a write-up on them here: http://www.diyautotune.com/tech_articles/megasquirting_your_ford_with_the_MegaEFI_EEC-IV_adapter.htm

I've installed it on two cars so far. It does omit a few of the stock ECU's functions, mostly emissions related (although if you really wanted, I suspect you could put those back). The only time you're likely to run into problems is if you are using one of the later Ford automatics - that's something of a can of worms.

Normally, I wouldn't expect it to be an issue - although why the MS2/Extra manual recommended the left side of D9 instead of the S12C hole, I have no idea.

The error message indicates that the MegaTune is set to communicate with a different firmware setup. Some of the communication (gauges, etc) still work, but trying to save any settings will get you in serious trouble. Fixing this mismatch should get everything else working, if you haven't corrupted the firmware. When MegaTune warns you're likely to get a serious problem, it's not kidding.

No, don't ignore this. Your Megasquirt is loaded with MSnS-E firmware, version 029v. The copy of MegaTune is currently set up to work with standard Megasquirt-I firmware. You need to configure it for MSnS-E and your code version before the two will talk. Trying to load settings will probably give you corrupted firmware.

Normally, you should take the 12 volts for the stepper IAC from pin S12© rather than D9. If you remove the jumper wire, everything except the stepper motor driver should still work.

Take a look at the map sharing thread - you'll see a lot of base settings there. One for an engine with the same injectors as yours ought to make a good jumping-off point.

Having the MS-II drive the EDIS coils through a 36-1 cam wheel ought to be pretty straightforward; you'll just need to add the input and output mods and specify a few trigger angles. You could also use a 12-1, 18-1, or other missing tooth cam wheel where the base teeth are a multiple of six and there are at least 12 teeth. MS2/Extra has only four spark outputs at the moment.

To make Megasquirt-II fire multiple coils directly, you'd need the MS2/Extra code. You'd need to run wasted spark as it has only four coil outputs. I've heard of one guy who was running a 72-1-1 distributor mounted wheel to control an EDIS module. He said he was using some sort of Mazda VR sensor.

That's the new version, and it doesn't need a resistor. The older ones came in a white and green box.

Ah, I see what's going on. You will need to turn off the calculated AFR option, as that's for Megasquirt-I data logs that calculate AFR from a voltage reading. That should get it to display correctly.

The Megasquirt can use a one wire sensor as long as the sensor grounds through the engine block. It doesn't require a two wire sensor.

Could you post the data log file here?

The Megasquirt has a power transistor built into it.

It's pretty straightforward to reflash it in the field. You'll just need a screwdriver to open up the case, and to equip your laptop with the appropriate programs. Then you can pop the top off the case, install the boot jumper by hand, and use the laptop to load the code. You'll find full instructions here: http://www.megamanual.com/ms2/code.htm Note that your Megasquirt has V2.687 code (I reloaded it with the same code it originally had to keep compatibility with your tune files) and the download files on that page have newer code which will not work with your MSQs. You can get a copy of the V2.687 code for reloading here, or update to the newer code and bring over your MSQ by hand.

While it looked like it was not powering up, I ran a voltage check and established the voltages were normal, no sign of a short. However, because of firmware problems it was neither communicating nor blinking any LEDs. So it was actually powering up, but not showing any indication from the outside of being powered up. There are a lot of LEDs on the Megasquirt and the Stim, but there's no LED that just indicates the unit has power. Every last one of the LEDs only blinks in response to a processor output.

The IAC shown in the diagram is a GM-style stepper IAC and not present on Z-cars (except, of course, for the ones that have GM powertrains swapped in!). The generic diagram does not show specific connections for each car - it's patterned after the wiring seen on many 1970s era cars with a VR type distributor trigger. Which is why the distributor doesn't match the Z's. This article explains the distributor wire colors; the one marked "not used" is for a second distributor trigger with a ring of 360 slots that Megasquirt has no need for.

I took a look at it when it arrived and it seemed dead. However, it started working again once I reloaded the firmware. So far this appears to be a code corruption issue.