Ok MS-I V3.0 msns-e 029 I'm running squirt and spark got it all wires up as per my other posts. I got her to fire up but she's running like a bag of ****. WUP WUP WUP WUP sounds like 1 rotor or a v8 with one lumpy cam. I've checked and I've got leading spark on both rotors, but doesn't look like I've got trailing... I don't have a great feeling about my VR circuit I built in the proto area but at this point it was just nice to have it fire. I've double checked my connections and my CAS connections are correct. My ignition connections look good as well. Does anyone have any ideas ?

 

did you hook up the MAP sensor? Trailing won't work until you're over 800 rpms... so if it's not running that well, that's probably part of the problem...

Also, your timing is probably off... sounds like it's probably way too retarded. How did you stab your CAS and what wheel decoder settings are you using?

 

I think I am way too retarded ... Map sensor is connected I'm running it from the same line the factory boost sensor gets its pressure from. Good to know bout the trailing i was just testing them during cranking and so no spark, but no I remember reading a thread about that by rex4life.

I tried searching last night on the definitive way to restab the CAS. I've got 2 marks on my pulley which I believe is leading and trailing? they are about 3/4 of an inch apart. I've been lining the one on the right while standing infront of the car with the pin on the block and then lining up the 2 tooth wheel with the reluctors. In my decoder wheel settings im using 12 tooth, 2nd trigger, falling active edge, no missing teeth.

Trigger A : 12,2
Trigger B : 6,8

I called it a night last night kuz I couldn't get it idle correctly by moving the CAS, above 2500 it seems to run better. I really seems like my timing is a problem. Can you verify my procedure for the CAS is correct.

thanks.

 

I just reread your FAQ on setting up the decoder wheel in Megatune and noticed I missed your edit

I would still like some guidance on proper restab procedure. Also how to identify tooth #1 on the 24 tooth wheel.

 

tooth #1 is the tooth that is directly to the right of one of the 2 toothed wheel's teeth. The wheel decoder settings you use will depend on how you stabbed the CAS.

For example, to use settings of 1,3 7,9, you'd turn the CAS to the third tooth after one of the teeth on the 2 tooth wheel, and stab the CAS making sure it stays aligned.

To check your timing, set fixed angle to -5 degrees, and make the pin line up with the yellow timing mark. (I believe)...

The settings I posted in the FAQ assume the CAS was stabbed, aligned, and working in the factory configuration.

 

Thanks muythaibxr, I read your decoder how-to and it makes alot more sense.

I am starting to 2nd guess myself, my timing was off but i was moving the CAS 1 tooth at a time last night and was sure I would have got it right one fo the tries, but each try resulted in the same result. I will follow your instructions and let you know the results. If its not the timing was else could cause such an irratic idle, almost as if only 1 rotor was firing?

 

almost anything... the injector on that side might not be firing for example, you might be injecting too much or too little fuel... (which is why I asked if you had your MAP sensor hooked up... if you don't have that hooked up you'll almost surely end up injecting too much fuel).

you should definitely set the timing properly with a timing light... you'll probably not be able to get it dead-on any other way.

Having your VR sensor(s) wired backwards can also cause problems with timing...

Moving your CAS by 1 tooth at a time will change the timing by 30 degrees each time you move it... One tooth is a HUGE change.

 

I know my MAP sensor is working Im getting readings that match my boost controller. I've tripple checked my VR circuit and my sensors are wired correctly. I will set base timing and stab the cas tonight. I will double check my injector wiring as thats about all thats left.

 

you should also adjust the amount of fuel once you get the timing set. Running too rich or too lean on idle will cause all kinds of nastyness keeping you from getting a good idle.

If you have a wideband, on the rotary I've been able to get the best idle between 12:1 and 13:1 AFR, and between 5 atdc and 3 btdc for ignition timing.

 

I don't have a timing light so Im going to have to get one I guess. I've got an LC-1 setup and working correctly. my readings where so rich it wasn't even funny < 9:1. I'm using the ve and ignition maps posted by rex4life that he found as base maps since the setup is identical to mine T2 550 pri 720 secondaries.

 

well no luck last night, I couldn't even get it to fire at all... I looked at my injector wiring and found something strange, the harness I bought from one of the retailers was pinned wrong, it had pin30 and pin33 reversed so I corrected that but then noticed that I had continuety between my injector banks on the factory harness this can't be right ? and now i've got some bad tach noise to sort out.

 

The hot sides of all injector connectors will show continuity to each other (on my S4 the wires are like B/W or B/Y--at work so I can't look it up). It's the ground side that is separate.

 

Ya this is at the ecu factory harness where I see continuity.... which isn't good, somethine is amiss I've reconnected the factory ecu and its running bad, my friend said to check the injector resistor pack. Its smoking bad (white/grey) and running like its skipping a firing and stumbling, my guess is something has shorted out and the secondaries are firing with the primaries... just a guess at this point.

 

I am now troubleshooting my injectors and grounds, I suspect a bad ground for the injectors. I've reconnected the factory ecu, replaced the plugs and wires. The car was badly flooded but I was able to get it running but it was running like crap. My manifold air temp guage broke so I have to fix that. I've read that bad temperture sensor grounds can cause issues within the factory ecu... Im goinig to add another ground to the ecu as well, once I get it running with the factory ecu I will reconnect the MS. I am trying to rule out the MS as the problem but it seems that something else has happened to cause the poor running during my ms install.

 

the injectors again aren't grounded, they have a common +12v and the ecu switches ground on and off...

 

sorry, I should have said grounding the ECU since the ecu in effect does the grounding of the injectors. I did some more troubleshooting as it seems that the factory wires for the CAS had failed somehow... I wasn't able to get continuity when testing them, so I used my wires with my harness and stabed the cas correctly and vroom she started up right away and now with replaced CAS wires, new plugs and leads it feels alot stronger in the lower rpms. So with that done with the stock ECU, im now goinig to reconect the MS and all "should" be good. What was making things hard was that the CAS wiring was intermittent but now i've elliminated it as a culprit. I'll post tomorrow how I make out.

 

make sure you get some shielded wire asap for that. You'll end up with a lot of noise on your tach signal otherwise.

 

Yep, using shielded that came with my harness I bought from diyautotune.

 

ok good, I thought you were just running some leftover wire.

 

so I can get it to start but its only running for about 5 seconds and then stalls, if I give it gas it sputters... its almost like its not getting fuel. It's likes its actually running out of fuel, I can rev it once it starts but it just dies. I've got my fuel pump wire going to to the fuel pump relay on the factory harness. Any ideas ?

 

Since i was thinkning i could powerr the fuel pump by turning on the fuel pump relay that is what was causing the problem, after looking at wiring diagrams I noticed that the MAF sensor must be connected for the fuel pump to turn on. I am wondering what the best way to turn on the pump is then? Use a relay and power the pump directly ? Ok, so I can get it to run, but it runs like crap, much better than before mind you. My wideband LC-1 is reading ~8.5 at idle but it feel like my timing is way off I have to give it about 1/4 pedal to stay running at around 1000 rpm, if I let up it stalls. I've been playing with required fuel to see what works but haven't spent much time, just to get it back into my garage I had to almost floor it and hold the rpms around 4k rpm. So all in all I have made some progress.

 

if it's running that rich... lean it out.

 

what about the fuel pump? any suggestions ? also any ideas why my sensors would be spiking ? both my IAT and coolant jump all over the place at times, especially when cranking but even while the engine is running they are sketchy, is this from CAS noise ? I only have 1 (Ne+) sheilded right now (Ne-) is not sheilded but the other 2 wires from the case are in the factory sheilded wire.

also there are 2 coolant sensors from what I can see, 1 on the rad and another on the thermostat housing both are single wire, which one do I use ? or does it matter? I've created my inc files in easytherm but if i use the sensor it seems to just sit at 215 F.

 

you want to use the thermostat coolant sensor. If your sensors are jumping all over the place, your grounds are bad. Fix your grounds before going any further.

Also, if the sensor is showing wrong values, you probably don't have the inc files in all the places they need to be.

 

Both IAT and CT sensors should be _two-wire_ sensors. These sensors use a dedicated ground that is terminated back at the ecu to eliminate the nasty signal spiking issues you see due to grounding issues. That doesn't mean you still don't have other grounding issues, but using the correct sensors is mandatory before troubleshooting the rest of the system.

The stock location for the ecu CT sensor is on backside of the water pump housing. It should be green in colour, and have a connector similar to that used on the fuel injectors. There are other coolant temperature sensors/switches on the car as well, for cold start, dash gauge driving, etc. They each have different electrical characterisics, so it's imperative that you use the correct one.

The stock location for the air temp sensor is on the dynamic chamber of the intake manifold. It's a much smaller sensor, brass hex, with two male blade connectors protruding out the back. Note that the Mazda air temp sensor circuit requires a non-standard bias resistor. That's likely covered in Muy's FAQ.

After a suitable cooldown period, the air temp and coolant temp should be within a couple degrees of one another, and should match ambient conditions. If you don't see those numbers in MegaTune, continue debugging that system until you are confident MS is seeing accurate temps. There's no use attempting to run the car until that's done.

On the software side, take the three .inc files created by EasyTherm, and copy them to your Megasquirt/car1/mtCfg folder, overwriting any others that may be there.

Roger.