megasquirt and sensor question

[m90daytona]

so i figured out what to do w/ my ignition setup. i went w/ the msd 6btm. this product is boost sensitive and will retard timing accordingly. now i am still stuck on fuel injection control so i was looking at ms as a solution. our cars dont have a cam sensor. we have a crank sensor and a distributor sensor, right? also, what kind of dist. sensor is it? a variable reluctor, halls effect or optical?

my plan is to eliminate my fuel cutoff while retaining the factory tachometer. can the ms tap into the dist. sensor and control my injectors through its own injector drivers therefore eliminating the stock ecu injector control?

if not, can i install a cam sensor on the car and wire it to the ms unit? just some ideas. let me know if you have any suggestions because i am at a dead end right now.

[87turbodance]

We have an optical sensor in the distributor I believe. Why want a cam sensor?

If you want to run MS piggy back you need to install some resistors in place of the injectors on the factory ECU. You can get a tach signal for MS off the negative side of the coil. If it were me I'd junk the whole factory computer and run it completely off MS.

Fuel cut is commanded by the factory computer. Eliminate it and the cut off will go away. Doing this will make your cruise no longer function and if you have a 604 you will need to get creative to keep it working. If you have a 5 speed and either have aftermarket cruise or don't care about cruise then full MS if ideal. MS should be able to run is Distributor mode using the stock signal from the sensor is the distributor.

MS1 with high res code is what I would use. This code cant run an idle stepper motor though so you would need to install an external ford idle valve. These are basically a controlled vacuum leak - easy to install and wire up.

My 2 cents

[m90daytona]

i dont care about the cruise. what do you mean about installing a resistor for the injectors? so you mean install a resistor for the factory injector drivers? then how does my ms get a signal? from the dist. sensor? can the ms use my dist. sensor to run a standalone fuel set up? thanks for the help so far.

i am still thinking about running ms standalone for both fuel and ignition but i have a btm. is there an advantage of the ms over the msd btm?

[mwinkle353]

definately. The BTM is only boost dependant and, unfortunately, linear. The MS+S is fully programable.

[87turbodance]

sorry. What I mean is just tap into all the existing sensor signal lines for MS if you're going piggy back. Megasquirt can get it's tach signal either from the signal wire to your factory tach or off the negative side of your coil. Full control is better, though.

You can run full control with MS using the factory dist and sensors but On my 2.2 turbo I found that standard GM sensors would fit perfectly in place of the chrysler ones. This makes the initial setup much easier. I'm hoping the 3.0 is the same way. Read at www.megasquirt.info.

Megasquirt has full control of timing. You can set the timing to be whatever you want at whatever boost point you want. Far better than the MSD. You can even control boost using MS and a standard TD boost solenoid (if using a turbo of course).

[Shadow24V]

i second the GM sensors. MS is calibrated for GM sensor resistances for the IAT and CLT sensors. and yes, the GM CLT sensor threads right into the 3.0 block (both 24v and 12v)

[m90daytona]

okay so i am def. going to go megasquirt the whole way now. what is the clt sensor? what "version" of megasquirt should i use? our cars dont have an iat sensor so do i have to get one? should the iat go in the boost side or the filter side of my setup?

also, i read that our iac will not work w/ the megasquirt. is there an iac that is a direct bolt on or do i have to adapt one into my intake manifold?

[87turbodance]

You should have an IAT. MS uses this for major fuel calcs. It should be boost side, A nice GM open element one from say a... turbo Sunbird should be good. I believe they just use standard 3/8" NPT threads.

For idle control either wait for MS2 extra so you can have all the features of extra plus MS 2 can control our stepper motor. Or if you need to get going sooner you can use MS1 extra and adapt and external ford 2 wire idle valve (came on escorts and Full size trucks late 80s- early 90 I believe. I'm sure it came on more vehicles). Even better would be to use MS1 extra high res (but you have to use high z injectors such as the ones from the newer 3.0's)

You can read at www.msextra.com or www.msefi.com

[m90daytona]

i think i saw an ms2 extra on ebay...you say its not out yet?

[87turbodance]

Well MS2 is out. But it has limited features at the moment. There is a code variant available for Megasquirt called extra code. This code adds many useful features such as boost control, NOS control, water injection control, various trigger inpts, ect. You are probably best, now that I think about it, to go with MS2. This can run out 3.0's, it can take up to 21psi of boost. It's just that extra code hasn't been released for MS2 yet. I imagine it will be released this spring. Read more at the two websites I mentioned above. MS1 is quite a bit cheaper than MS2 right now. If you're building the board yourself from a kit expect to pay $100 less for MS1 V3.0 as opposed to MS2 V3.0. You can always upgrade later to MS2 V3.0 if you get MS1 V3.0. www.glensgarage.com is a very good place to buy MS stuff from. Read the faq at www.megasquirt.info

[Shadow24V]

DIYautotune.com has the GM sensors (IAT and CLT{coolant}) with pigtails and 3/8 bungs availible for a VERY reasonable price. they also have stamped and colored wires for creating a wiring harness.

[m90daytona]

so if i use the gm coolant sensor does that mean i will loose my factory temp gauge since it plugs into the same bung?

[Shadow24V]

on the 3.0 there are 2 temp nensors, the large 3/8 NPT one is for the ECU, the small pencil sized one is the temp gauge sensor.

[87turbodance]

That's right. All your gauges should work like normal. You can configure MS extra to output a tach signal for your factory tach. If you have a traveler if might be difficult to get it to work properly. I plan to replace mine with a factory boost gauge

[m90daytona]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 87turbodance That's right. All your gauges should work like normal. You can configure MS extra to output a tach signal for your factory tach. If you have a traveler if might be difficult to get it to work properly. I plan to replace mine with a factory boost gauge

whats a traveler?