guitaraholic2004

Has anyone used a megasquirt in a 3rd Gen Rx7. I have seen plenty of FB's and FC's with it, but not sure about any FD's.

Tofuball

I can't think of a reason it wouldnt work, the TII engine and the FD engine are not that different.

I would be interested in seeing it in an FD as well

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

The FD engine has a 12+1 trigger wheel and high impedance injectors. The dual VR sensors on the front cover would work great with the recent additions to the code if two VR signal conditioning circuits are employed. I haven't tried it myself, but others have had success with dual VR inputs on various engines including unmodified FC CAS. The FC CAS and the FD trigger wheel are both 12+1.

AdamP

I just got my Megasquirt in the mail a few days ago and i am going to run it on my FD I will let you know how it goes.

guitaraholic2004

Awesome. I would really like to know how your FD does with the Megasquirt. How exactly do you plan on using it? Are you going to use it to regulate just the fuel, or are you going to use it as a standalone system? Are you upgrading it because of mods you have done, that's the big reason here, I need to upgrade the ECU before I do any mods ( I don't feel like blowing up the rotary bomb). Either way I would be really interested in know how it goes. It would be nice to have an inexpensive way of upgrading the ECU. Feel free to PM me

AdamP

My plan is to use it as a standalone. Right now my car boosts a little past 10psi as I have an intake, DP, and a high-flow cat. As well my car doesn't pass emission tests here Vancouver, so I am hoping to fix all these using the Megasquirt. My good friend is using one on his Protégé as a standalone and thus far I am impressed, plus I am not really all that keen to drop big coin on other standalones that are half as fast and no where near as adaptable.

My plan is to run the car non-sequential to start, but I love the low end kick from the sequential so I am playing with the idea of electrically controlling the turbos via an actuator of some kind. That’s still in the mental development stage though.

Tofuball

It should not be a problem at all. I have the megasquirt controlling my VDI and AUX actuators on my S5 'vert, they just go off at 3800 and 5500 RPM respectively. You can set it to be RPM based or whatever you want basically, especially if you write your own code for it :p

The Griffin

How are you going to control the ignition? Or are you piggybacking the stock ecu?

AdamP

Yeah I don’t see it being to much of a problem, I just have to get it all figured out in my head and then try to put it to paper and then try to do it in the car. lol


There is code that will allow you to control the ignition using even the older megasquirts.

The Griffin

I think you are talking about "megasquirt'n'spark"code.But the way I understand it ,there is no leading/trailing ignition solution yet.With that code you have pretty much 3 options.Use a distributer(like the first gen.) ,retrofit a "ford edis" setup(36-1 wheel) and run leading/trailing with no split(i.e. fired together) ,or have use of just your leading ignition with the "wheel decoder code".A few people are working on the wheel decoder code to run leading/trailing with the 2nd. gen "CAS".But it has a few issues still that need to be resolved.Maybe a few of the better informed megasquirt folk can chime in and confirm what I wrote

abeomid

Well the wheel decoder code has come pretty far now. If I recall right Jeff20B even benchtest three coils to run a 20B with it. So it will not have any problems running three coils in the third gen setup. It is just getting the code to implement the two sensors and that will not be hard. That's why I love opensource, it's great.

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

Let me clarify something. My setup has a single VR sensor, single VR signal conditioner with the wheel decoder, and three ignition outputs at 120° intervals. It's a bit different for a 2 rotor FD.

guitaraholic2004

Hey Adam, how has that megasquirt been working for you?

AdamP

I only got it a week ago and havn't even put this one together yet. But abeomid has been running his for a while and it works awsome. And his is an older one.

The Griffin

Very good....let us know when you have it figured out and have tried it on a boosted motor.

abeomid

I will do that, mean while check this out

renns

Griffin,

You've pretty much nailed it on the head. The code version of interest is the "MSnS-Extra" version. It is in a continual state of flux, being developed by a couple of very capable programmers donating their time to greatly expand the MS beyond its humble beginnings.

There are really two issues which needed to be resolved to implement a clean install on the typical FC using stock ignition components:

1.) Decode the CAS signals directly (two vr sensors, 24-tooth and 2-tooth reluctors). This is now done, and appears to be robust. I have tested it extensively on the bench, and "muythaibxr" has had in-vehicle success. The problem, though, is that it's nowhere near plug-n-play, as external signal conditioning circuits are needed to convert the AC VR sensor output to nice square-wave inputs to the controller. Search for "LM1815", and "V3 VR Conditoner" in msefi forum for details of what's involved. Daughterboards to support expanded features are available, but none that I'm aware of support dual VR sensor conditioning.

2.) Provide for programmable split timing, firing the stock FC coil packs. The first cut at this is done, and I have bench-tested it. The leading side is fine, but the trailing has some issues at this point. Hopefully a new version will be available for test in the next couple weeks.

For those interested in this sort of thing, detailed test results here:

http://www.msefi.com/viewtopic.php?t=7544

Also, I should clarify that the EDIS setup can be configured to run zero-split, or fixed split (say 5 or 10 degrees). One EDIS option that is being pursued is the replacement of the stock CAS reluctors with a 72-tooth unit with two opposite teeth removed driving the two stock VR sensors. This eliminates the need for 36-1 wheel mounting and allows the EDIS module to do the decoding, signal conditioning, and coil driving. Since I'm already running the EDIS setup in my SA, this is likely the method I'll employ for my next revision.

Hopefully this helps a bit.

Roger.

guitaraholic2004

Would it be easier to get an old FD ECU, rip out the guts and replace it with a Megasquirt II? Also, does anyone here know where I can find out where to solder what to what, as it, is it possible to use the stock connections of the FD ECU, and solder the connections of the MS to it? I know it may be a dumb question, but I am still a NooB big time when it comes to the MS systems

muythaibxr

Well, the ms2 doesn't have support for the FC/FD ignition, leading or trailing at this point... it only supports EDIS, or HEI (and I think other types of distributor-based ignition).

To find what to solder where... look at http://www.megasquirt.info and http://www.iluvmyrx7.com

You'd probably be better off getting a regular MS than MS2 at this point (in fact, you CAN'T get MS2 at this point, I believe they're sold out till aug). With the regular MS and the MSnS-extra firmware, pretty soon you'll be able to do leading and trailing (at least on a 2nd gen) as well as many other things.

I'm sure you can take the MS board and run wires from the db37 to the stock connectors after gutting the stock ECU... I plan on doing just that for a 2nd gen friend... so we don't have to hack apart his wiring harness.

13Beast REW

Just to make it known, I'm also going to be running megasquirt on my FD on a J-Spec motor. Its looking like it'll be 2 more weeks before I can get the motor in my hands but if I can find another source for the motor at the same or atleast close price then I'll be able to get on the project sooner. Looking forward to getting an afforable alternative to the mainstream ecus up and running on the FD. I'd like to see what effect (if any) this will have on the community too.

muythaibxr

Just in case this hasn't gone anywhere else... FD leading will work just like leading in an FC... right now however, the code being developed in megasquirt for trailing is for the FC style trailing (IGt and coil select instead of an IGt per coil like in the FD).

I'm going to wait until issues with trailing are taken care of on the FC, then I'll try to add support for FD trailing; or at least help the code author add the option.

88IntegraLS

Dumb question: is there any way to run fixed split and programmable total advance on the stock FC ignition with the MS1?

muythaibxr

You may want to re-read the rest of this thread... I believe your question is answered earlier.

However... Right now it is possible to run programmable advance for leading only with no trailing... This is with the stock CAS and stock ignitor/coil. The MS1 hardware is used, but hardware mods and extra circuits are required (I'm using a dual lm1815 circuit for VR sensor conditioning, and a 4.7Kohm resistor as a +5v pullup for output to the leading ignitor, and I got rid of most of the standard megasquirt tach circuit.

The advance is programmable via a 12x12 MAP vs RPM table. Initial support for trailing is in, but there are some problems with it right now which I'm probably going to start working on fixing (since the author of msns-extra is a bit busy with his own car at the moment )

Keep in mind that the trailing stuff I'm initially going to be working on is for 2nd gen's only, 3rd gen will come later after I get 2nd gen working.

Once the trailing stuff is working, you'll have the option of running fixed split or programmable split (6x6 split table).

88IntegraLS

Thanks for the summary of the rest of the thread. Most of this elecrical engineering stuff is over my head.

muythaibxr

Just keep at it... I'm no electrical engineer... (software engineer by trade, but I have a degree in chinese language)... I've picked up all I know about circuits and such as I go (and I still don't know that much).