megasquirt help needed (NEW VIDEO ADDED!)

[waynos 0]

right i unistalled everything and put the version of megatune on from the site you mentioned above. when i went to load it up it said it couldnt find the settings.ini file , it then terminated.

 

so for now ive used the installer from diy autotune website which has the ms2 extra also. this loads up fine but like before i dont have the option to set the led up.( think this was the version i was using before i tried the one form the site you gave me)

 

for now im going to try n get the car running on the standard code as im impatient lol

[CrazyDave 0]

Welcome to Megasquirt......

 

Unfortunately this was one of the things that irritated me about MS. It's a bit flakey at times.

 

I had a couple of unexplained happenings with mine.

 

My rev counter stopped working (driven by an MS output), I checked all the wiring, I re-flashed the config, firmware, reloaded megatune etc etc but nothing. Then about 3-4 hours later it started working again all by itself, and never played up again.

 

Megatune stopped comunicating with the ECU, on and off. For no reason I could find out.

 

It's excellent value for money, but not 100% reliable IMHO.

 

Don't panic though, it does work most of the time. And as far as the ECU and running the engine is concerned when it's setup, it works fine.

[waynos 0]

yea i know what you mean, i had some issues burning my settings to the ecu - it was saying couldnt connect to controller. wudnt work on my pc either. next day i tried it all as good lol. im just really itching to get it runnin n start tunning it.ive learnt loads in the last few months

[CrazyDave 0]

Your absolutely right. The learning curve is huge if it's the first time you've done this kind of thing.

 

Keep going, it'll run, and most likely run better than ever before. Most things about MS are impressive considering it's open source origin.

[waynos 0]

just a little update, have been having a few issues! i went around and checked everything to find my fuel pump wasnt working. i could hear something droning. turned out i had only had the lift pump connected - i forgot to put the connector back on the pump under the car .... doh! so now thats sorted. i then powered up the fuel pump so i could see what pressure it was getting on the fse pressure regulator before starting it. It went up to about 8 psi or bar i canny remember (supposed to be 3!) As i was gazing at the gauge i could hear petrol pissing out somewhere. it was the threaded ends that go into the fuel rail to supply and return the fuel. I thought they where meant to just be screwed tight to the rail. My mate pointed out that there wasnt any rubber seal hence the leak. just hope i can get something to seal the two pieces properly. The guy i got the rail off should have given me some or at least told me i would need some!

 

so i stil havent got it started but hopefully 2moz i will get somewhere

[CrazyDave 0]

Some of my fuel rail was made up with a special sealant that Cosworth Racing use (I happened to be at Cosworth with work and one of the lads offered to seal it up for me).

 

But I also did some mods to the rail setup and used a Loctite Medium liquid thread sealant (its rated for petrol). Gave it a few hours to dry and haven't had any trouble with it since. I'd avoid using PTFE tape on fuel lines as it can contaminate the fuel components with bits of tape if your not really carefull. I'll dig the number out for you if you want?

[datajon 0]

How did you get on with megasquirt install, is it running & mapped yet, never had any problems like you experinced, running both ms1 & hoping to make 500 hp on ms2 soon, have installed MS on a few engines now, good value for money, certainly works.. very adaptable :wink:

[waynos 0]

yea that would be reat crazy dave. i got some new fittings from pirtek but these still leaked.for now ive used o rings off a couple of old kjet injectors i had lying around, ive put them between the fuel rail and the bits that screw in and seems to have held up.

 

datajon, what car have you got? your expecting 500 hp jeeeez that must be something!

 

all my little problems seem to be sorted and im going to give her a try tommorow - im well nervous

[CrazyDave 0]

Loctite 542 thread sealant, seems to do the job nicely.

[waynos 0]

i managed to sort the fuel rail. had a few issues with my ignition wire to the measquirt.had it wired so it wasnt powering on during cranking doh!

 

i turned it over today but it didnt start, i had fuel (flooded it a few times also) but i wasnt getting a spark. im using the vb921 coil driver and its wired direct to coil.any ideas on why it wouldnt be starting? i did notice that during cranking the battery voltage dropped to 9volts, could this have any effect on starting? im charging up another battery as we speak

[CrazyDave 0]

Are you getting engine speed in Megatune?

 

What settings have you got in the ignition trigger wheel etc?

 

Should be OK at 9v, providing the MS isn't reseting (ie should see a low but non dropping out crank speed in datalogging).

 

If you post your MSQ I'll have a look into it.

[waynos 0]

i saw an rpm in megatune about 170 whilst cranking how do i upload my msq? ive also got a log file too

[waynos 0]

it wouldnt let me upload the msq file . here is the log i have

[CrazyDave 0]

Looks like your battery is flat Wayne. It's dropping to 6v and the crank speed dies half way through, could be a reset of the ECU happening.

 

You don't have any TP either? Are you cranking the throttle open slightly when cranking?

 

Are you getting any sparks at the HT lead, cos it looks like the trigger is working (ie you get engine speed).

 

Rename the MSQ to .txt for something that the forum will allow you to upload.

[waynos 0]

ahh ok, when i was cranking, it randomly stopped and then carried on cranking - dunno what that was about though. is tp throttle position? i dindnt touch this once whilst cranking. dont think i got any sparks at the ht leads. i put a timing light on it and got nothing. heres the file

[waynos 0]

more progress! last night i was having a look on the msefi forums. theres a guy who had the same problem as me, he found out that his coild driver wasnt pulsing but just giving a constant earth. He then traced it back to the driver it self and how it was mounted. Although in the assembly instructions it doesnt state to insulate the transistor from the heat sink he insulated it and he had a spark. i did the exact same thing to mine and i am now getting a spark too! well chuffed with that.

 

Went to start it...nothing just flooded it.tried various different distributor positions also.I turned it all the way towards the front of the car and now when i turn the key it sounds like it wants to start but just doesnt catch. Been fiddling with cranking pulse widths and required fuel settings and i got a log file

 

 

there are gaps because thats where the engine was cranked , stopped and then a different setting applied , then started again and so forth. If i remmber correctly after each time we tried to start it we lowered the required fuel and cranking pulsewidths to see if there was any difference.

[CrazyDave 0]

Good work Wayne!

 

Getting close now. Starting up for the first time is very much trial and error. You still have a TP of 0 in the datalog? Have you calibrated the throttle position?

 

If you have calibrated TP, then try giving it a slight amount of throttle, this usually helps to get it started when the idle setup isn't quite right. If your running and ISV that'll take a while to get sorted. Wind the throttle screw in a bit for now just to get it running.

 

Get the timing light on and make sure the spark is hit the right spot. Especially as your using a dizzy etc.

 

Stick to the manual for crank pulse settings, afterstart enrichment etc. it takes a bit of reading but mine started very well when I followed the tips in the manual step by step. Once you get it started it be much easier to keep running when the engine has warmed up a bit.

 

Good luck, don't give up now, it's almost there.

[waynos 0]

yea i was well happy to see it attempting to start! should i be seeing a tp?i thought as its closed it would be zero? i will try opening the throttle a bit more when i try again. i have no isv but i do have a bosch auxillary air valve that i need to put on.im pretty excited now!

[CrazyDave 0]

Pretty much nearly always have to crack the throttle open when initially starting, just until yu get the cold start, warmup, idle fueling etc settings just right.

 

Get that timing checked while your cranking though. Cos that'll be the other thing that could be wrong.

[waynos 0]

ill give that a go tommorow. i still cannot get my head around the timing part.

 

in megatune the trigger offset is set to 60 cant rememeber why i set it to that (may have got it from someone else) my distributor is turned forward as far as it can go. does the 60 figure mean that the the contact/point in the dizzy needs to be 60 degrees from tdc to give a spark as thats where the ecu is expecting it to be?? if thats the case i can lower the number and have the dizzy turned back a bit as i think its out of range now if you know what i mean?

[waynos 0]

i have done some more searching on vortex forums and apparently ms2 wont work with a figure of 60 in the trigger offset although ms1 can. A figure between 6 and 10 was used on all the succesful ms2s

[CrazyDave 0]

That sounds correct. The trigger in the dizzy needs to happen early ie before TDC as this is how much much the ignition can be advanced, but you shouldn't need any more that 40 degrees of advance so you can bring it back about 20.

[waynos 0]

still cant get it going, tried different offsets and distributor positions...nothing

 

upped the required fuel and changed spark duration from 2ms to 4ms and just for the hell of it changed ignition settings to falling edge and trigger return (just for the hell of it) and it made a slight difference but no start. getting desperate now

[dirtytorque 0]

are you using a pull up resistor between the + 5 volt reference (I think pin 27) and the tach input signal (pin 24).

 

On a g60 type dizzy the hall sensor works by sinking say 5mA if you used a 1k ohm resistor.This pulls the voltage at pin 24 low to create a square wave.

MS just passively reads this signal to determine engine rpm.

 

Hope this makes sense.

Best of luck to yah.

[waynos 0]

yea ive got the pullup resistor. had another look on vortex. Even though i had my input ignition capture set to rising edge apparently ms2 inverts the signal when using a hall sender so it must be set at falling edge to work correctly. That could explain why it sounded more keen to start when i had it set on there.

 

The plan is on the weekend to set the dizzy at 6 degrees btdc. i will unplug the injectors so i dont flood the engine and use the timing light whilst cranking to make sure i get it spot on. Ill then set the trigger offset to 6 degrees in megatune and take things from there