triggers for ecu

[bmw2101]

I'm going to put my A+ mini engine on injection. Itll use speeduino. It will use hopefully a standard coil, dizzy, rotor arm etc. My plan could be to take the dizzy apart, put in some toothed wheel, put a cossie crank sensor in the side of it, and  will need to wire in some ignition amp. 

Doing it this way over using a sensor on the crank, is there many disadvantages? I want it to look as factory as possible, the injector will be hidden some how, just thinking about the ignition now first.

its a 998 engine, its not tuned, its just got to be reliable. At some point there is 1/2 a chance it may have to work on a 1293 engine i have but unlikely.

thanks

[mk2cossie]

You will need to study the trigger pattern carefully, as the distributor rotates half engine speed.

May be worth watching The Skid Factory on YouTube, as Turbo Yoda is updating a Nissan V8 with fuel injection and using a distributor exactly as you plan to

[mk2cossie]

Although having just re-read what you plan to do, Skid Factory is going coil pack as there isn't enough room for for the sensor in the distributor AND the rotor arm to work

[bmw2101]

oh right ok, i was looking at the vids then!


its basically this set up but on a mini I'm looking at

YOUTUBE vid

he has used a bike sprocket and took one tooth from it.

[bmw2101]

oh just noticed this in the speeduino documents

• Primary trigger speed - The speed at which the primary input spins. It is closely related to the
Primary Base teeth setting and indicates whether that number of teeth passes the sensor once
every crank revolution or every cam revolution.



so i can set it to see the dizzy speed.

[mk2cossie]

In the video link he has a coil pack instead of using the distributor cap for ignition duties tho

[bmw2101]

yes its not much different really, instead of the trigger going to the coil packs, it goes to an amp, then that just triggers the coil. The rotor arm just passes and says which plug to fire. the dizzy has to be roughly timed to put the spark in the right "window" for each plug.

its quite clever really!



just wondering how accurate it is.

[retroscort]

May 29, 2021 20:21:09 GMT bmw2101 said:

I'm going to put my A+ mini engine on injection. Itll use speeduino. It will use hopefully a standard coil, dizzy, rotor arm etc. My plan could be to take the dizzy apart, put in some toothed wheel, put a cossie crank sensor in the side of it, and  will need to wire in some ignition amp. 

Doing it this way over using a sensor on the crank, is there many disadvantages? I want it to look as factory as possible, the injector will be hidden some how, just thinking about the ignition now first.

its a 998 engine, its not tuned, its just got to be reliable. At some point there is 1/2 a chance it may have to work on a 1293 engine i have but unlikely.

thanks

I run speeduino on my Escort, they are great ECUs, good value and versatile.

I don't really see any benefits, other than keeping the engine bay period looking, in keeping the dizzy. Yes you could modify the dizzy to house a engine speed sensor, but it's not particularly easy to do and why would you then keep the rotor arm and standard coil pack?

The number one priority when fitting a DIY ECU setup is a simple, robust and reliable crank trigger. Anything you do to complicate that could lead to problems later if the signal isn't spot on.

Personally I'd go the normal route by fitting a universal crank trigger wheel and sensor, hiding the sensor low and to the rear of the engine so it isn't easily spotted. Use a VW Coil pack (which are very cheap and work great with speeduino) again hidden low in the engine bay, maybe disguised with a cover of some kind.

It would be much simpler to setup, as well as being cheaper and easier to trouble shoot once you are up and running. When you do decide to fit injection, you could then take full advantage of a well proven engine speed trigger as well as a modern coil pack.

[bmw2101]

well true. doing it the way i was thinking does have a lot of parts that don't need to be there. I could put the standard coil on, and a king lead going toward the dizzy area. My mini would have had a big cover over the front of the engine, so i could mount a VW type coil pack there, and no one would see it. The original coil just for looks.


Probably also run better in the rain.

Which coil pack do you use please? do you have a part number or ebay link?

[retroscort]

The VW part number is 032906106B, dead cheap off eBay or from your local motorfactors.
I used mrretroleads.co.uk for some custom leads, again good value and service.

[bmw2101]

thanks so that has the module built into it? so i don't need the amp module?

If so i may get one for my bmw too, its got a volvo engine in it, and i use the ford coil pack on that, and an amp. Makes it simpler and also if both cars have teh same parts, its easier to trouble shoot!

[retroscort]

Something like this:
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203289613627

[retroscort]

May 30, 2021 10:04:02 GMT bmw2101 said:

thanks so that has the module built into it? so i don't need the amp module?

If so i may get one for my bmw too, its got a volvo engine in it, and i use the ford coil pack on that, and an amp. Makes it simpler and also if both cars have teh same parts, its easier to trouble shoot!

Yes, the amplifier is built in. They are a nice compact design too.

[bmw2101]

right yes, ive bought 2 of them. i need to rewire the bmw anyway, and this will make it a lot easier. thanks

[retroscort]

May 30, 2021 10:37:02 GMT bmw2101 said:

right yes, ive bought 2 of them. i need to rewire the bmw anyway, and this will make it a lot easier. thanks

If you have a look on eBay you'll also find the correct 4pin connector kits for the plug.

[bmw2101]

yes, i bought some of those too! thanks!

[bmw2101]

May 30, 2021 10:55:58 GMT retroscort said:

May 30, 2021 10:37:02 GMT bmw2101 said:

right yes, ive bought 2 of them. i need to rewire the bmw anyway, and this will make it a lot easier. thanks

If you have a look on eBay you'll also find the correct 4pin connector kits for the plug.

would you happen to know if the plug leads from teh VW coil and the mondeo style one is the same?

thanks

[droopsnoot]

May 29, 2021 22:05:46 GMT retroscort said:

I run speeduino on my Escort, they are great ECUs, good value and versatile.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but do you get any trouble with it?

I'm thinking of adding this to one of my Vauxhalls, initially to get a mappable ignition system but then later maybe I'll add FI to it if I can face the costs and all the bits I can't do myself. I joined the Speeduino FB group, and there is a worrying number of reports of people blowing surface-mount components which others then suggest are down to what I'd think of reasonable things to fail - coils, that kind of stuff. I sort-of get the impression that if an external component fails (one which will almost certainly fail, sooner or later) the board can't take it and something tricky-to-repair burns up.

Is that just because I'm conditioned to look for bad news as an excuse to not bother with it, or is there anything in it?

[bmw2101]

thats more i think to do with people not wiring them right, or doing things wrong in general. I have gone for the speeduino all prebuilt the seafox. Just make sure you follow the instructions PDF on the internet.

My megasquirt on the bmw has been running for a few years now, and i love it.


Get your speeduino from this guy

[droopsnoot]

Thanks. I've a lot to learn, I started reading through the Wiki and it was clear I wasn't really concentrating enough. I did think of Megasquirt as well, though I think that's a bit more expensive and I was drawn to the Speeduino because I've been playing with an Arduino for other things non-car related.

Interesting you recommend a US-based supplier over the UK one.