Hopefully one big thread for my Carrera 3.2, MegaSquirt II, and EDIS questions

[Tippy]

After an extensive battle with the Motronic system and losing (About to run my '87 Carrera off a cliff - still surging and backfiring), I have thrown in the towel.

So, I'm going MS II v3.57 and Ford EDIS-6 on my turbocharged 3.4, 7.5:1 CR.



1. Can I retain my factory ignition for simplicity on my Carrera 3.2 until further down the road? If so, I am going to make a bracket to accept both the factory dizzy and the VR sensor bracket.
2. If not, and I go EDIS right away. Does someone have plug wires that have the Ford ends and the 911 ends already made? Haven't found anywhere
3. If not, Boost Engineering has the conversion EDIS ends for stock wires but that would put the coil pack right near the VR sensor. Is that a huge NO for noise?
4. Using the factory DME/fuel pump relay not too bad to hook up to the MS?

TIA!

[Tippy]

No 'Squirters today?

[quaz]

1.Yes you can retain the factory dizzy and it will work fine. Just leave all the wiring in for the ignition components on the 3.2. That means the throttle switches, knock sensors and original ECU stay put. However the problems you are having may be caused by incorrect timing and this won't help you get your engine running correctly. (Actually a bigger PITA then removing it and replacing with EDIS)

2.For one trip to the junkyard with a pair of wire cutters and a lap around the Ford area you can have enough EDIS ends to do 10 sets of wires. Last set I made I cut off about 20 ends in a junk yard (cost $5). Then I practiced on several of the ends before I had the science of taking them apart and making the new Porsche end down to an art.

3.Mount the EDIS coil pack up as high as you can and then run the VR wires under it along the engine. So far no problems for me. Just make sure you shield the wire very well on the VR connector. I used all factory Ford wiring the entire way.

4. Leave as much of the factory wiring in tact as possible. All you will need for Megasquirt and EDIS is key on 12V for the ECU/EDIS controllers. The 3.2 already is injected so use all the factory wiring for the injector power, fuel pump relay and ignition power. This will make later wiring trouble shooting easier for you or a later owner.

Now here is another idea. I am not sure if someone has done this yet, but the 3.2 already has a hall based crank position sensor. I would bet you could run the distributor off a Bosch 139 coil driver (found on Volvos, BMWs and VWs in the 80s). MS1/Extra Ignition Hardware Manual . You could control advance and retard just like EDIS with the stock coil and dizzy. I have done it on a few VW 16Vs and it works great.

Let me do a little research on the 139 coil driver option. That may be the ticket for a 3.2 for simplicity and maintaining a factory appearance.

[Tippy]

I was thinking of just connecting the negative side of the coil for ignition. I want to rip ALL of the Motronic parts out as they are very old.

I can't leave the WOT switch on anyways as the TPS needs to go there.

Not sure if you're talking about using a reluctor to trigger MS? If so, I'd imagine the SC dizzy would work???

[quaz]

OK I just read through this thread DIY Wasted Spark for 84-89 Carrera and have come to the conclusion you just need to use EDIS. Seriously, it will be the easiest and most reliable ignition system to install. Goingsuperfast.com has a 36-1 crank wheel, dizzy plug and make your own sensor mount from a piece of aluminum angle stock.

You will not regret it and there is so much documentation on EDIS. My advice is to find a nice Ford Ranger/Explorer/Van that has the entire EDIS 6 system still in it. Then cut out as much of the orignal harness wiring as possible. If you get a kit from ebay or another source all the leads will be cut short and the wiring colors may not match from the coil to the module and VR sensor to module. If it all comes from the same place you will know the wiring is correct. Also you will get all the factory shielding for the entire length of the VR and tach signal runs.

If you have any questions let me know. I have managed to get 4 cars running on Megasquirt and EDIS so I am getting pretty good at troubleshooting first start.

[Tippy]

Good idea.

Still rather not cut up my Clewitt plug wires for the EDIS coils. I wish someone made inexpensive conversion wires.

[sjf911]

The MSII EDIS combination is a very easy way to go. The EDIS parts are plentiful and cheap and it takes the headache out of getting your crank sensor to work with the MSII. OTOH, getting spark plug wires was not simple. I ended up with custom wires from Clewett which was quite pricey for a twin plug application. I have seen custom installs with the coil pack in the dizzy location so I assume with good shielding and wire routing you should be able to work a single plug application there in conjunction with the crank pulley VR sensor location.

[Tippy]

It's good to know the coil can be somewhat near the VR sensor, wasn't sure.

I can't believe figuring out plug wires is going to be the hardest part. That's the way it goes on these frankenstein projects though......

[quaz]

If you are going to buy a new set of wires stay away from the shielded ones. I know they look cool, but wow are they a PITA to modify. Just did a set last summer and I was cose to throwing them away and starting over. Get a less expensive set that has crimp construction. They are the easiest to modify.

[Tippy]

Think I am going to just modify my Clewitts.........this should be ok I assume?

[quaz]

Should be fine, just take your time and use some lube to get the old connectors off and new ones on.

[Tippy]

I read that others have used the Mopar pack. Would that interface with the EDIS?

Or are people running running the entire Mopar ignition system?

The Mopar packs have a more traditional tower to them.

[sjf911]

The EDIS module should run any "dumb" coil pack but I don't know if the dwell settings will be correct for the different packs. You may also be able to just use your dizzy with the MS as it is already electronically controlled by the Bosch ECU and should already be locked and correctly phased to the engine.

[Tippy]

One of those days I wished had an EE degree!

Didn't even think about dwell.

[Tippy]

Kevin and Steve, thanks for helping so far BTW!

[quaz]

Not sure about the length, but you could get rid of the coil pack and plug wires all together and go with COPs. IGNITION COIL ON PLUG COP FORD LINCOLN NAVIGATOR | eBay Those are supposed to work by wiring 2 COPs in series for each wasted spark lead to get the correct dwell. I guess the depth would have to be checked to see in you can get them in and out of the engine. My goal is to do this on my car at some point, but it is in the back seat to about 50 other projects. ;-)

Also I used this ACCEL 140036 - ACCEL Super Coils - Overview - SummitRacing.com coil pack on the last project. Worked great, however still used the Ford EDIS connectors.

[Tippy]

At this point, I'm trying to do this on the cheap. COP would be awesome but not until the future.

My experience though has been COP has been the most unreliable having coils fail short of 100k miles.

I think the wasted spark should be good for big power. A coil firing 1/3 the times of a single coil has to be very advantageous.

[mppickett]

Originally Posted by Tippy

One of those days I wished had an EE degree!

Didn't even think about dwell.

If you do EDIS and use a couple of the EDIS coil packs, it will be simple, fast and you don't have to set dwell (handled inside of the EDIS computer & megasquirt).

Check out: Megasquirt setup for 930 and dual plug EDIS

[Tippy]

Yep.

What years and models used the EDIS-6?

I want to buy a new module and coil.

[drmatera]

By far the EDIS is the most simple and straight forward when using MS II, as for wires, I simply bought a set of Motorcraft wires for a 4.6 crown Vic. They were $45, snap right onto the coil pack and actually fit decently onto the spark plugs.