2056 microsquirt, Its alive! Now I have to tune it Options

[peteyd]

I had my car on the road for only two summers until I wanted to get a more reliable engine. I was not too familiar with the microsquirt, or megasquirt system, but when Mark started to offer a kit I knew that it would be a great starting point. I also had followed the progress of McMarks, rwilner and Zachs conversions and figured they had done enough trail blazing that it would be a piece of cake.

I started to piece together my own little manuel of pictures and notes from other threads and came up with my own little DIY powerpoint. So hopefully this thread can benefit others and hopefully these guys dont mind that I am reposting some of their photos.

I didnt just decide to buy the system on a whim though. It all started one night when I was driving home on the highway and I heard a pretty large bang. I had just replaced my oil pressure relief valve with the new tangerine product and thought my engine had just exploded! I pulled over and realized after digging around that my #3 spark plug blew out of the threads. I have a head temp sensor under the plug, so Im thinking that it wasnt turned in all the way and the pressure was too great for the threads to hold the plug.

BTW the pressure relief valve is a great product


That winter I pulled the engine and then the head and put a time-sert in #3



After bolting the heads back up, I noticed that my valve train geometry was off. So at that point I decided to measure and cut custom pushrods for the proper geometry.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE-TJxlE7Ck


And since I had the engine out, and Chris had just come out with another great engine product, I figured what the Hell, and bought his SS pushrod tubes and installed them.



At this point I had been thinking about McMarks EFI kit seriously, and decided to pull the trigger.

I ordered the kit from Mark @ Original Customs.

I patiently waited and my kit finally came!

Im using the stock 2L plenums and throttle body.

Here is what came in the kit. (photos from Zach) I got the same stuff.

[peteyd]

I started off by putting on the 36-1 trigger wheel






According to Marks notes:

The trigger wheel should be installed with the dish/relief towards the engine case.  It can be installed either way, but the Offset Angle setting in TunerStudio will be different.

The crank position sensor should be installed as close as possible to the trigger wheel, while still maintaining a safe, non-contact distance.  It will read up to a 1/4" away, so make an effort to make it close, but don't risk damage to the sensor just to eliminate an extra 0.5mm.

Under Base Ignition Settings, the offset angle should be set to 295 to start.  Then use a wasted spark compatible timing light to confirm what you read on the engine, matches what the computer says the timing should be.  It’s helpful to set the entire ignition map to the idle timing (12 degrees usually), otherwise the timing will jump around.  By setting the entire timing map to 12 you ensure the MicroSquirt sticks to 12 degrees and you can fiddle with the offset angle setting to make sync the FI and real readings.

[peteyd]

The next thing was pretty simple and cleaned up the area very nicely!



The next step was to put the fan shroud back on, but be sure to run the wiring for the VR sensor first.

And before you start putting all the engine tin back on, don't forget about the NTC thermistor



After that is done, put all the engine tin back on.

[JmuRiz]

Ever thought of a /6 kit Mark (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[peteyd]

My next step was to start putting the plenums and the throttle body back on.

Naturally, I had to make them look pretty.



After that I started to lay out the wiring on the top of the engine. It was fairly simple to determine the way it went on there because there was only one wire where the NTC thermister could plug into.

More notes from Mark:

Blue band connectors are for odd numbered cylinders (1 & 3).The thicker fuel harness is meant to run along the back of the engine (flywheel side) just like the stock harness. 
The thinner spark harness (ignition) is meant to run along the front of the motor by the oil filler.  This will keep the spark wires away from the fuel wires.The WBO2 connector is meant to exit the engine bay on the pass. side.Fuses should all be 5A. Coil connectors have a ground wire which should connect to one of the coil mounting bolts.  Ensure a good ground using an ohmmeter.Fuel pump wiring is meant to use the stock wiring.  MS will control the fuel pump relay on the relay board.

I then bolted on the coils by replacing the intake runner nuts with the large coupling nuts provided. Mark conveniently labeled the odd coils (1 & 3) with blue collars.


Photo courtesy of rwilner

He did also mention that if the coils fail to spark, I should try swapping Ignition Input Capture from Rising Edge to Falling Edge (or the reverse) in the ignition setup menu, under Base Ignition Settings. (I have yet to cross this bridge though)

[913B]

Nice log, cant wait to see more, subscribed to your thread (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[peteyd]

Mark sent a brand new TPS sensor that needed to be modified.

There were two options, either trim the D-shaft shorter, or carefully drill a hole in the top of the TPS case.

I opted to drilled the TPS





I started by drilling a small hole then working my way up till the D-shaft fit perfect

Notes from Mark...
Once the system is working and hooked up to TunerStudio, calibrate the sensor via the Tools menu.  The TPS can sometimes end up wired ‘backwards’, but MicroSquirt can deal with that.  Just do the calibration as normal and everything will work.

Supplied also is a cold start block off.

I installed this piece, but not before I made my own gasket to replace the old brittle one. I used some metal hole punches and an exacto knife. Pretty simple.

[peteyd]

Plugging in some of the remaining wires was pretty simple.

Marks system repurposes the Intake air temp sensor (IAT)



There was another wire in the bundle with the TPS and the IAT connectors and it connects to the Black/purple wire in the harness which goes to the tach.



There is also a bundle of 3 wires near the WB02 connector that end up near the rear of the engine. These are connected to the ground tabs on the block under the plenum.



finally there is a bundle of 4 wires, a white connector and a bundle of 2 wires that end up near the relay board. The white connector goes onto the relay board and everything else in the branch of wiring goes to +12v switched power on my new fuse panel.



I have the option of getting the power from the white relay board connector or I can access the coil power wire in the 12 pin connector

[peteyd]

Thats all for tonight, and pretty much brings you up to the point that Im at.

I still need to run some fuel lines in the engine bay, and then I can put the engine and tranny back in! I wont be able to work on it till next week though, Im headed to the cottage for the weekend!

[altitude411]

Fantastic write-up Pete. Very clean & nice work. I hope you achieve all expectations. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumb3d.gif)

[McMark]

Glad to see you're getting started Pete. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumb3d.gif)

Ever thought of a /6 kit Mark (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

The biggest issue is that the six doesn't have as much efi components. Everything up to 3.2 would need a whole intake track , throttle body, etc. and if you have a 3.2, you're better off using the stock DMe.

I haven't written it off, and am working on something, but nothing in the near future.

[Spoke]

Mark,

I looked on your website for this kit but didn't see it. Would you please provide a link? I'm beginning the process of tearing down a 2L to build to 2056 and would like to use Microsquirt.

[JmuRiz]

I understand Mark...3.2 intakes are CRAZY money these days, I should have picked one up with a DME when they were cheaper.

[mepstein]

I understand Mark...3.2 intakes are CRAZY money these days, I should have picked one up with a DME when they were cheaper.

I see them on pelican for around $500. Doesn't seem too steep.

[peteyd]

I got back to work on my car and was able to get quite a bit accomplished.
I installed a high pressure fuel pump under the fuel tank. I attached it to the steering rack.



I also drilled and re tapped the holes for the oil temp sender cover as mine were stripped.

[peteyd]

After getting all the wiring and fuel lines hooked up, I added fuel to make sure there were no leaks. When that checked out I set out to get all my sensors calibrated.

I hooked up my laptop and detected the MS



This is what my gauge cluster looked like before I started getting things calibrated.



I then calibrated my TPS



After this, things went wrong! I attempted to calibrate the CHT sensor. I put in the correct numbers given to me by Mark, and then clicked "write to controller" I dont know if this was the correct step, but somehow the firmware disappeared from the MS unit. I attempted to reload the firmware but it hung up every time. I tried a dozen times but nothing worked.



I moved on to other things and I think I was able to get the MAP sensor calibrated.



After the firmware was lost it wouldnt connect to the MS unit anymore, so my night was kinda pooched. I am going to have to reload that firmware before anything else happens.

[ConeDodger]

Just heard my old 2432 Raby Kit motor that Mark and I built running on MegaSquirt this evening. It is so much better than SDS! I couldn't believe how smooth and powerful! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

This should be a fun driver when you're done Pete!

[falcor75]

Just a thought, whats the pressure rating on that plastic fuel filter?
(or is it on the suction side of the pump)

[peteyd]

Just heard my old 2432 Raby Kit motor that Mark and I built running on MegaSquirt this evening. It is so much better than SDS! I couldn't believe how smooth and powerful! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

This should be a fun driver when you're done Pete!

Rob,

thats encouraging! Im sure it will be a huge difference from my last setup, 36 dells.

Just a thought, whats the pressure rating on that plastic fuel filter?
(or is it on the suction side of the pump)

Mats,

That is something I should probably look into. It was the same one that I used for my carb setup. I should change it just to be safe.

thanks

[VaccaRabite]

Ahhh, you are about where I was last month now.

For the connection, make sure that the ECU is getting good voltage. You may need to put a charge on your battery.

On your laptop get the port check utility and run it. It should detect the ECU and ping back which firmware its running.

MAKE SURE THE BOOTLOADER WIRE IS NOT GROUNDING SOMEWHERE! If its grounding somehow the ECU will act as if it has no firmware.

Wish you were closer - we could support each other. lol!

Zach