PROJECT UPDATE PART IV - Megasquirt 944 Turbo Runs

ae1969 · 05-08-2006, 07:09 PM

Project Part 3 - Previous

Well.......

I am happy to report that the Megasquirt 944 Turbo runs.

With the help of JustinL we were able to determine that there are two things that should never be overlooked.

1. The positive and negative to the edis-4 electronic ignition module should never be reversed! At least the part is available at your local NAPA dealer.

2. When wiring the ignition coil pack........ don't reverse the two sides.

I argue that ford should have never used a different color scheme for different modules! I gambled and lost on that .......

We have a lovely video of our first start attempt.......followed with a massive backfire.

........and me going ........... "Holy ****........*#&$*@ backfire"

Thus realizing that I wired the coil pack backwards....... but then we reversed the coil wires.......... and voila.

Vrrrooooommmmm she fired up. It was a beautifull sound. I was elated......... no profanity this time....just a video of me giggling like a school girl.

The wideband was not connected to megasquirt so we relied on the initial maps to get her running.........and that she did.

We will be tuning the car over the next couple of weeks and should have some nice pictures and data to report.

The hope for the future is simple........ a wheel decoder that will allow the stock sensors to be used.

I am a little tired to give all the details but I am quite happy to report that the megasquirt stand alone system can be adapted to run on a 944 turbo.

IanS · 05-08-2006, 07:40 PM

Wow, congratulations. I'm quite sure you're the first to get this working, but hopefully it'll be easier for the next people.

So are you using the stock reference sensors or a custom wheel?

ae1969 · 05-08-2006, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by IanS
Wow, congratulations. I'm quite sure you're the first to get this working, but hopefully it'll be easier for the next people.

So are you using the stock reference sensors or a custom wheel?

Thank you.......... we were hoping to be the first.

I ended up using a 36-1 wheel.......... Welded to a pulley on the crank wheel........and away we went.

The decoder hardware is close....... and that would make this system plug and play.

It would truly be the best single modification any NA could ever make.............. oh and not a bad thing for us turbo guys.

Razorback1980 · Razorback1980's Garage

Great work Alex...nothing feels better than having all that hard work pay off. Looking forward to more details as they are available.

AA_Ezra · 05-08-2006, 09:04 PM

High Five!

JustinL · 05-08-2006, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ae1969

1. The positive and negative to the edis-4 electronic ignition module should never be reversed! At least the part is available at your local NAPA dealer.

I think that was the only part that we let the magic smoke out of.

Now there's just a few things left to do before this beast will hit the road.

Next time someone asks how to turbo their '86 n/a, point them to Alex's project as how to do it the 'right' way.

So when's the next work on the car day Alex? I'm keen to get more into the tuning part.

Eldorado · 05-08-2006, 09:41 PM

awesome news!
i really hope you're making a how-to.. lol

wow, just looked up info on the megasquirt... it uses a microprocessor designed for cellphones as it's main cpu... the 68HC908... I learned a couple of years ago how to program in microassembly on the 68HC11... very interesting application for this chip here...

AeroSS_87 · 05-09-2006, 02:58 AM

Congrats man! Let me guess.. the car probably sits there surging at idle in a +/- 250 rpm increment?

Most of them do, at least when it's cold. Those MS's are like leeches here. Probably 6+ people at least on my race team are running them. One of which is sort of our head MS guy. He's an electronics freak with an E30 BMW custom turbo 6 running 11's..... from only $5,000 including the car!

If you ever need some help with that megasquirt, shoot me a pm or email and I'll help you out best I can.

so what's the dyno #'s??

JustinL · 05-09-2006, 06:33 AM

Surprisingly, it idled beautifully. It was a bit low at around 600 RPM to start and then climbed up to 750 or so. It was a bit rich at 13:1 but for an initial map, it's pretty close. This is just the raw tune with no idle stabilizer either.

Here's the datalog of RPM and TPS. We had to shut it down as the coolant temp was getting too high and needed to be bled further.

Slam · 05-09-2006, 07:54 AM

I think you've risen to the rank of Porsche god.

Congratulations!

ilikemy944 · 05-10-2006, 06:59 PM

BADASS!!!
pics!!

CJFusco · CJFusco's Garage

Yeah I am proud of my 951 engine project, but I am not brave enough to mess with air/fuel computers.

Way ta go, ae1969!

TheCooler · 05-10-2006, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CJFusco
Yeah I am proud of my 951 engine project, but I am not brave enough to mess with air/fuel computers.

Way ta go, ae1969!

i say go MS CJ.

ae1969 · 05-10-2006, 08:21 PM

Well.......... so far things are going good........

Justin has made the idle rock solid. The off throttle response is coming along. We are having some issues with the idle stepper valve (changed from the stock one ...uhmmm maybe I should try that one!)

We are waiting for some body panels to get her off the jack stands. Then the road tuning!

shikzachaser · shikzachaser's Garage

Huge congradulations from St Louis!

Steve

CJFusco · CJFusco's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by TheCooler
i say go MS CJ.

I dunno... bluebullet is talking $hit about the megasquirt system...

Tell me about 951 computers

Zero10 · 05-13-2006, 11:56 AM

^^^^
Stirring the pot a little, eh?

JustinL · 05-13-2006, 10:25 PM

I've got my MS up and running now too. Just controlling fuel though. LINK to writeup

I just went for my first drive trying all ranges of RPM and boost. MS works WELL on the 951 engine. Great throttle response, beautiful control of AFR, auto-tuning function, lots of settings to play with...

It actually is a very nice little system. It works just fine, but it does lack some of the more expensive system's features. The really cool thing is, though that MS is open source and these features will get develloped for the community for free.

It's also fun trying new things

Alex, I'm ready to put fenders back on and road tune your beast now. I've got a big bag of tricks for when we start tuning your car.

ae1969 · 05-14-2006, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by JustinL
I've got my MS up and running now too. Just controlling fuel though. LINK to writeup

I just went for my first drive trying all ranges of RPM and boost. MS works WELL on the 951 engine. Great throttle response, beautiful control of AFR, auto-tuning function, lots of settings to play with...

It actually is a very nice little system. It works just fine, but it does lack some of the more expensive system's features. The really cool thing is, though that MS is open source and these features will get develloped for the community for free.

It's also fun trying new things

Alex, I'm ready to put fenders back on and road tune your beast now. I've got a big bag of tricks for when we start tuning your car.

That is great! you got that working............ lets see.......... a fuel system controller for the 944 that can be changed to a stand alone........... Not bad for the price.

I found that F&*&(*@# oil leak that I could not track down !!! A little flourescent die on a clean engine helps! . It was never the crank seal! and none of the of camshaft or balance shaft seals......... that only leaves one thing. (I am sealing that today)

.......also readjusting my trigger to be exactly at 10 degrees btdc. I will definitely be playing in the garage this afternoon.

P.S I am going to try and set up my knock amplifier before we hit the road........... Whats that you say?.............

An old tip from rage2. I will give you a hint........ whisper 2000

CJFusco · CJFusco's Garage

So, you two won't mind helping me out a little if I decide to go Megasquirt for my 951?