BFGRX7

iTrader: (2)

Build complete update!

Just wanted to let everyone know that my 88 Turbo II is up and running-albeit without trailing spark.

Just so we're clear, I want to let everyone know who's thinking of purchasing the DIYPnP to, respectfully, consider other options!

It appears there just wasn't enough time to develop this system for the Turbo II and it's apparent. The tuner I work with, T2GTUS, is very well versed on all things MegaSquirt. He could not get 2ndary spark consistency regardless of resistor used. The minds at DIYAutotune did help in trying to diagnose the problem but to no avail. It was then realized that the issue was, in fact, motherboard-related.

It was suggested to me to proceed with using the PnP as is, and I am going to-for now. As of right now, it is light-years ahead of what I was using, with a plethora of features that truly make life so much easier. That being said, I am disappointed that I have to "settle" with the 5 percent power loss/non operative tach and a bit disappointed that DIYAutotune is fine with me settling.

OTOH, this is an open source venture and I'm sure there are others in my situation that are going through the same issues. I've never been a part of such a community, so possibly, this is just part of the process. If it is, i'll look at it as a lesson learned!

If time is something you're steeped in, I'd suggest going w/one of MegaSquirt's more developed boards as they're great learning tools for the tuner getting into electronics. For me, time is a luxury. With that being the case, Haltech's RE would be the better suited PNP. Good luck!

~M

ben@diyautotune

BFGRX7,
This is Ben with DIYAutoTune tech support. Google alerts pointed me towards your thread here, so I signed up to the forum (sorry about the lame posts I had to make to get my count up to 5 to be able to reply).

I'm sorry but I don't know of any fault with the DIYPNP main board that would not permit S4 trailing spark. As far as the EMS hardware is concerned, the S4 ignition is actually pretty straight forward, and no different than a wasted spark 6 cylinder set up (software wise of course it's pretty different); all that's required is (3) logic level 5V outputs. I'm confident that the DIYPNP can run your trailing coils because it's been done before, both here at our shop and also by other customers.

I've worked with several customers with DIYPNP equipped RX7s over the past few months, though one of our other techs must have been working with you as I don't recall working with anyone with this issue before. Were you guys emailing each other? If so, can you contact me with the email address you used so I can research your conversation? I'd like to see what has or has not been done. I'm unaware of any "workarounds" that would need to be done for trailing spark.

I really don't think that there's an issue with the main board design. I did note that earlier in your thread you stated you used a 1k ohm pullup resistor for coil select signal, which might not give enough pullup. I have always used and recommended a 100 ohm resistor. The other options that would prevent trailing spark from working properly (assuming that the coils and vehicle wiring harness are 100%) are incorrect jumpering inside the DIYPNP or incorrect settings in software.

Anyway, we'll be glad to help you get the issue resolved, but first if you can let me know your email address so I can see what's already been done and get caught up, we'll take it from there.

My direct contact is websales@diyautotune.com

BFGRX7

iTrader: (2)

Ben,

Hi there, Ben. I'm not sure if I'd talked to you directly-I'm thinking I did. In any case, I've emailed you the chain that was going on.

With regards to the 1k pullup, it was suggested to us (as well as the 100ohm). The concern then became that the coils may have been damaged from the alterations. That turned out not to be the case.

Like I've said before, I am by no means the electronics guy, so all of my work was verified by a MegaSquirt expert here in SoCal, T2GTUS, DIYAutotune knows him as the white turboII tuner you met while visiting SoCal a few years ago. His work/tuning abilities you held in high regard.

If you look within this thread a bit further, you'll notice others that may have had an issue with the unit. Perhaps we can resolve them within this tread?

I'm sure that there must be quite a few techs within your organization and that I, in fact, didn't get the final word on the build, so I appreciate DIYAutotune reopening this issue.

~Mike

BFGRX7

iTrader: (2)

Sorry for the delay. Both Ben and Matt of DIYAutotune are working out a fix for this spark issue. In the mean time, I recall a few folks with the DIYPnP actually shelving the unit due to inconsistencies with the unit. If you would, please write up a brief description of the issue/issues you've been dealing with. Thank you.

...OH, and N1XRR, I meant to tell you that we'd had an issue with the Air Temp readouts. The culprit was, in fact, the Air Temp Sensor itself. Worked fine until we hooked up the PnP, then nothing. I pulled Air Temp Sensors from the Mazda MPV (V6 models) and everything's been fine ever since.

~Mike

BFGRX7

iTrader: (2)

I know its been a minute since my last posting. And as many of you know, its been raining 7 days and nights here in Southern California. Fortunately, we've gotten out from under with minimal damage.

Now that the sun's out, i'll be heading to the garage to impliment some of the changes to the DIY board suggested to me by the Autotune guys.

Just to point out, while there is a "jumper" wire that must be added to the board, the wire that was added was placed on the wrong spot on the DIY board (it was placed on WLED and not WLD). While hopefully there won't be any additional issues due to the incorrect placement of the wire, Autotune has stated they would help out with any issue. Good guys

I'm hoping to have the changes completed (with pics) tomorrow.

~Mike

BFGRX7

iTrader: (2)

OK, so, just as I stated earlier, the 11pin from the MicroSquirt board needed to be jumpered to WLD, to to be confused with WLED!!!!

I'll be adding pictures you'll be able to click on to get a more detailed shot.

I'm going to start her up tomorrow. Wish me luck....

~Mike

BFGRX7

iTrader: (2)

The first pic is underneath the DIY board-the second is from the top...

Matt Cramer

Normally the jumper should not need to be added. Based on some of the checks you did with a multimeter, I had gotten the impression that there was something broken on the main board.

BFGRX7

iTrader: (2)

Right. We'd made a few checks with the multimeter due to secondary (trailing) spark inconsistencies, but prior to adding any "jumpers", the spark inconsistency reared its ugly head.

BFGRX7

iTrader: (2)

EUREKA! My trailing WORKS! FINALLY! The only thing left to do is change up the map sensor tubing to one of the manifolds' vacuum ports to sure up inconsistent readings.

More to come...

~Mike

ben@diyautotune

Glad you got it fixed Mike.

BFGRX7

iTrader: (2)

Thanks, Ben. Since there is a lack of info with regards to the DIYPnP board out there, I've been "coerced" into creating an instruction manual for this particular board so as to make this option as attractive as possible. This manual will be backed by the guys that know all this stuff, so you won't have to worry about if this manual can, in fact, be trusted, lol.

All in all, this has been one, long and interesting ride. Next, I'll share my power outputs from my weekend tune....

~Mike

Matt Cramer

It's highly unlikely anyone else will need that mod - if the diagnosis you made was accurate, it appears something had damaged one of the traces on the main board. Yours is the only time I've seen this jumper needed.

BFGRX7

iTrader: (2)

OK, damaged when? Are you saying that the board itself may have been damaged, say during shipping? Like I said, the diagnosis made on the board was done by someone versed in building many MegaSquirt products. There was no visual damage witnessed. Utilizing the instructions provided on the DIYAutotune website still highlighted an issue which was no tach signal (on cars dash). I know for sure that I wasn't the only person with this particular issue. If you need others, I'll try to locate...

https://www.rx7club.com/megasquirt-forum-153/who-builds-ms-898100/ post #4

Matt Cramer

I have no way of telling when it may have been damaged, or even if it was (some subsequent tests look like somebody had misread a multimeter, so the damage may never have been real).

I have no idea what "3 minor assembly issues" referenced in the other thread were - he may have talked to another tech, not contacted us at all, or I just may not be able to put his screen name to the email he used to contact us.

Jobro

iTrader: (2)

Hi Matt,

Thanks for your on-going support. Would you like an avi version of my 331.5rwhp 12A turbo megasquirt 2 extra dyno run to put on your website?


Cheers,


Joshua

BFGRX7

iTrader: (2)

UPDATE. As everyone knows, I've had a few difficulties with this PnP. The most recent was a serious "miss" that was occurring right around 6100rpm. We replaced wires, redid the ground strap from the battery, even reset the CAS tolerances to no avail.

We went into TunerStudio to try and diagnose. LOL, found the issue-had to turn OFF the "noise filtering"!!! REALLY? I mean really. This system has been a cluster!

muythaibxr

If a feature is set up incorrectly, it can hurt rather than help. Sounds like that's what happened.

Ken

ben@diyautotune

If the noise filter settings are set too aggressively, then it can "block" legitimate tach events. As Ken said, misuse of the software noise filtering can't really be blamed on the hardware.
We just set up and tuned out a S4 with a DIYPNP at the shop. No software noise filtering was needed.

Realistically, if you were seeing an ignition problem, why would you not open up the laptop *first*? The MegaSquirt has all sorts of datalogging functions available to you to help diagnose and troubleshoot problems. A sync loss event is a completely different scenario than an actual misfire.