ZX Dizzy + MSII Questions - Think theyre easy ones.

[Gavin]

Ok I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out what the hell I'm doing here. I've set up fuel on three different cars but find the ignition stuff impossible to follow. Just looking for some straight answers, pointing in the right direction, and to be held and told it'll all be OK.

 

Currently using an MSII daughtercard in a 2.2 board running fuel on my 78 280z.

 

I have a 83 zx turbo dizzy which I'm planning on using. I see there on the MS install guide how to wire it up, but what about the software side? How do you configure MS to recognise whats going on? Shouldnt these be standard settings for the zxt dizzy that I could get from someone? I guess this info is supposedly on this page, in the 'Setting Ignition Options' section, but I can barely read it-

http://www.megamanual.com/ms2/configure.htm

Is most of that even to do with optical wheel setups?

 

The other thing is that I want to add a VB921 to my MSII/2.2 to run a single coil but am having trouble finding a wiring diagram. Could someone post one up?

 

Thanks.

[z-ya]

You nasically need to find someone who has used an optical distributor with MSII. I'm not sure how many people are using MSII with the 83' 280ZX distributor. The only MSII "Z" user I've seen used EDIS:

 

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=114518

 

The only two settings I know are required are on the 'Ignition Settings' menu (output). Make sure to set 'Spark Output' to 'Going High (Inverted)'. Also, set 'Coil Charging Scheme' to 'Standard Coil Charge'. I'm not sure about the input side.

 

Hear is a basic wiring diagram for the input an output circuit.

 

[Matt Cramer]

Most of the documentation on that page is about setting up the fuel. There's a little bit of mention about optical pickups, but there actually isn't that much in the settings you need to deal with. You will need to set a trigger angle that lets you turn the distributor to a position that can give you full advance, just like in Moby's write-up. And I'd try setting the ignition input capture to Falling Edge.

 

The VB921 output circuit looks like this:

 

http://www.msextra.com/manuals/MS_Extra_Ignition_Hardware_Manual.htm#singlecoil22

 

Only you wire its input to pin 5 on the JP1 header instead of the LED's resistor, and omit the resistor.

[badjuju]

Man the final method I tried of triggering was the simplest, yet needed a little fabrication. I went Halleffect, drilled holes in my crank pulley, epoxied some magnets in at 120*, and fabbed up a bracket to hold the sensor in place. no daughtercard, no relay board, just 2.2 and an HEI module.

[Gavin]

Oh OK sounds much simpler than I had thaught. I'll start this week. I'm sure I'll have more questions.

 

Thanks!

[Gavin]

Alright heres where I'm up to. Got the dizzy wired into MS but not on the engine yet. I can turn it by hand and get MS to read 50-60 RPM. Also wired a VB921 into my 2.2 board as Matt had described, to pin 5 of JP1 without the 330 ohm resistor, and with two wires coming out of the case to ground the VB921 and to the - on the coil. Set the software for falling edge input capture, trigger rise for crank trigger, standard coil charge, and inverted spark output.

 

Havent modified anything else since I had it running fuel only.

 

At this point, shouldnt rotating my ZX dizzy cause the coil to spark? I tried it with a drill and a big flathead bit and it gets up to maybe 4-500 rpm but still no sparks.

 

I'm guessing there is something else that needs modifying on my board, or that theres something else in the software that needs setting up.

 

It was dark by the time I got to this point, so I've given up for tonight.

What could I be missing?

 

Thanks

[Matt Cramer]

Gavin,

 

When you tested rotating the distributor with the drill, did you have MegaTune hooked up? If so, what sort of RPM did you see? Also, what was MegaTune showing for ignition advance and dwell?

[Gavin]

Today I used my impact on it, which can get it up to about 10k RPM (on the gauge in MT, so I guess half that really). Dwell was between about 3 and 6 and ignition advance between about 16 and 35 deg.

[Gavin]

Got it sparking!

Ground to the VB921 came off when I closed it up in the case. Fixed it and remounted it on the outside. Looks cooler this way anyways.

 

Should have it running tomorrow.

[Gavin]

It runs!

Much easier than I had thaught.

I'll post my settings when I get things squared away.

[z-ya]

Gavin,

 

Make sure you have your spark output inverted if you are using the VB921, or it will get very hot, and eventually fail. It also may cause resets. If you have it running good, it looks like you already figured that out. Great job!

[Gavin]

Thanks!

Going to be needing that dyno time real soon. Doing some body work on it right now so theres no rush. Front end got backed into at AutoZone the other day by some BWM driving douchebag. OK though since the cash covered a carbon fiber hood and a new set of wheels, I'm thinking ADVANs or something equally JDM .

 

Anyways..

For all those looking to do this, be encouraged because its real easy!

Also, note that to convert to the ZX dizzy from the earlier units you also need the shaft that goes between it and the oil pump. I swapped over a turbo pump as well.

 

Here are my ignition settings.

I'm not trying to say any of this is optimal, just functional. Car runs great though! Please point out anything thats out of whack.

 

Setting the dwell was a little wierd. It didnt seem to be consistant. At one point I got it down to 1.8 before it started complaining, and another time it didnt want to be lower than ~2.2 . So I stuck with 2.6 and the VB is barely warm. I dont know what to do with these other options so feel free to give me some guidance.

 

For the table, I used Metro's for the Turbo motor that Moby had posted and modified it for NA usage.

 

Metro's table:

 

 

My table:

 

 

Whoa the RPM Bins have changed! Dont know how that heppened! Just noticed. They were the same.. Oh well, the table is pretty flat, so it doesnt change things that much... Wish I had an explanation though...

EDIT - Corrected the bins and it runs even better.

 

Anyhow! Although the curve of the table I ended up with didnt seem very logical to me, in my experience, I didnt want to modify it untill I get my car on a dyno. The car actualy has comprable power to before. I drove it fairly hard, did a couple of uphill pulls through the revs and didnt hear any detonation (regular gas). Should have some good power to unlock

 

If anybody has an NA L28 spark map they could contribute, Ill give it a go, but I hope to get it on the dyno soon.

 

My only complaint is that it takes a lot of cranking to start it. Its better when its cold actually. What should I be tweeking to get it starting better?

 

Thanks for the help so far everyone!

[wreckedj30]

dude, you stole my name....man and i thought i was the only one...oh and sick car.

[Gavin]

Haha. Ya not too many arround here. A lot in New Zealand, and the UK I guess also. Its a good one!

 

- Another question. Is there an easy way of getting my stock tachometer working? From what Im reading theres no output for this in MSII... Is the stock tachometer driven off of the Neg. or is it more complicated?