60-2 trigger wheel / multi-coil setup (no spark)

[2eighTZ4me]

I've read through just about every sticky, and any related posts I could find, but can't seem to find what I need to get this going. I swapped from an Electromotive HPV-1 setup to the TEC-3 coil pack setup. The HPV-1 has its' own "smarts" built in, the TEC-3 is basically a 3x coil pack that requires something else to drive it.

 

Running MSII with the latest code.

 

I have the BIP373 coil drivers installed, and I've got power to each of them on the relay board. The trigger wheel on the crank and the VR sensor are still on the car - they worked fine with the HPV-1 - and should do the trick with driving the TEC-3 coil packs. (???)

 

I've been working with the guys at DIY AutoTune, but I just don't have the tools or smarts that they do, and I think I'm getting on their nerves. They're saying that I should see tach activity in TunerStudio when cranking the car over. I am not seeing any at all. They said that's the primary indicator that the system is hooked up properly.

 

I worked with the DIY guys to upgrade to the MSII board running on the 3.0 version of the PCB. We got it talking to the JimStim, and it shows RPM using the stim board. I'm almost leaning toward a wiring issue, or a bad VR sensor. I have dropped the sensitivity of the VR sensor on the main PCB by turning the pots all the way counterclockwise, and still no spark/tach. The DIY guys also confirmed my settings are correct for the trigger wheel I'm using.

 

I know this may be a bit of an odd setup, which is why I posted - on the outside chance someone has done this similar swap.

 

I don't really know what information to provide at this point. I can post screenshots etc. if need be.

 

Here's how the wiring is done.

 

VR sensor = 3 prong. Red wire goes to Tach post on Relay Board. Black wire goes to CLT Ret. post, bare wire goes to IAT Ret. post. (Note - the tach wire ALSO has a wire spliced inline to feed the physical tach inside the car - not sure if this is an issue or not - perhaps negating the VR sensor's input??)

 

Coil packs = 4 wires. Hot lead is hooked to a switched 12V source. Each of the remaining 3 leads is hooked to posts S3, S4, and S5 on the relay board - as they should be. The TEC3 coil packs have a ground strap on the base of the unit. That is grounded to the same post the battery is grounded to.

 

By all means - I should be getting spark - even if it isn't timed correctly - I should still get spark. I do not.

 

Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[JSM]

Did you remove the VR sensor lately? I know the TEC's are very strict on their tolerances with the VR and the 62-1 wheel. Maybe the tolerances are differnet with MS vs Electromotive?

 

I have not installed my TEC3 yet only read the book a few times, though from an ease point, I'm leaning towards Haltech now.

 

Curious to why you went MS and did not stay with the HPV-1? Surely it does the same or more? Sorry don't mean to threadjack.

[2eighTZ4me]

Hey Jeff - no threadjack problems at all. The HPV-1 only has the capability of setting initial timing, timing at 3000rpm, and either +/- 8 degrees from 3000-8000 rpms. I just didn't have enough flexibility with being a boosted application. If it were an NA car - it would be perfect, but I need to be able to control timing a lot more strictly under boost - and the MS was the only way (cheaply) to do it, as I'm already running MS for fuel.

 

I have not removed the VR sensor at all during the conversion. I followed the DIY guys' advice by gapping the sensor to wheel with a business card. It's maybe .010" or .012" at best - which is about where I had it whilst running the HPV-1.

 

My intent is to hook the HPV-1 back up and see if I can get fire. If so - I know my VR sensor is good and sending output. If not - I've got 4 spares I can work with!

[mobythevan]

It is true that you should see RPM during cranking in tuner studio. Until that happens it really doesn't matter if the spark output side works. This boils the problem down to the VR sensor and megasquirt VR input circuit (v3.0 board). Hey , it never hurts to ask basic questions right, so do you have TachSelect jumpered to VRin and VRout(or VRoutinv) jumpered to Tsel? Without those jumpers you don't really get the VR signal passed all the way to the processor on a v3.0 board. If those are in I would look at the singals with an oscilliscope going to VRin and coming out of VRout.

[2eighTZ4me]

Thanks for the reply Moby. I think I made a major boo-boo. In speaking with the guys at DIY - I mentioned that I had the "+" VR sensor wire spliced in to my tach (the tach in the dash) wire - that is a no-no. So, I'm going to cut it, run the + from the VR sensor to the "Tach" post on the relay board, and leave the tach in the dash disconnected until I get it running. Then I'll attempt setting up the tach driver on the board by jumpering those that you mentioned. It is extremely fortunate that I pass by DIY every day on the way to work, so I may just bring them my dash tach and the ECU and have them wire it up and get it working.

 

I gotta admit - I'm in WAAAY over my head. Looking back on getting the fuel only portion working - it didn't seem that hard, but it sure did at the time I was trying to get it to work. Now that I'm going with spark too, it's a lot more involved than I thought it would be. I've been without spark for some 2 months now. But I guess I'll look back on it when it's all said and done and say " well - that wasn't too bad" - but in the interim I'm still poking at things in the dark with a blunt stick. There's also so many other features I'd like to explore/unlock, but reading the manual gives me a headache and occasional heartburn - it's not really written for the lay-man.

[2eighTZ4me]

Screw it. Took it to the pros. We'll see what they found out. I ran out of hair to pull out.....