Electronic ignition

[mini_kompressor]

Hey all, im thinking of swapping from points ignition to electronic and was wondering if there is a dizzy out of another 3cyl Suzi that will fit my F5a If not, then what are some of the options that people have used. Cheers

[Brayden]

F6A single cam dissy will drop straight in, but if you can't find one of those then a G10A dissy can be modified to fit.

[mowog]

so how did you do it Brayden? i picked up a gti dissy the other day but its 4 cylinder will try to swap it for a g10.

[mini_kompressor]

Thanks guys

[Brayden]

You'd have to ask "Hatchman" about the exact details, it was some time ago that he told me about how to do the job.

[ToranaGuy]

There is always another way btw! lol. The easiest way is the F6a dizzy as Brayden suggested. Probably the cheapest option as well.

You could modify your original points dizzy with a hall effect pickup & fit a kit from say Jaycar to get electronic ignition.

Or walk the path i'm taking. Modifying my spare original dizzy with a hall effect pickup, Ford/Bosch 6cyl TFI module & running a MegaSquirt ECU for fully programmable ignition. Not cheap, but it will be cool. Eventually i would like to go full EFI. Or just swap in a EFI engine & hookup to my MegaSquirt. I've finished building my MegaSquirt kit now, just need to test it & work out how i'm going to wire it up. My way is much harder than some of the others, but i had a MegaSquirt to play with, so why not?

Cheers

ToranaGuy

[ceej]

Just out of curiosity, what did the MS kit set you back, what version did you get, where did you get it from and how did you find building it?

[Brayden]

For the $1000 it cost me, I was quite happy to go with a Microtech. A simple of job of wiring and it started first kick.

[ToranaGuy]

Just out of curiosity, what did the MS kit set you back, what version did you get, where did you get it from and how did you find building it?

The MS Kits, i bought 2 x MS v3 pcb kits with the MS II cpu's, a relay board kit, a Jim Stim, ecu to relay board cable & a couple of little bits & pieces, was about $850 AUD when the dollar was 90cents.

All of it except 1 x MS kit is for another project. I think 1 x MS II ecu kit was about $300 aud inc shipping.

Don't be fooled, it's lots of assembly work, but i'm enjoying it. Also, once i'm done, i reckon the mighty boy will cost me about $450 to fit the MS & mod the dizzy. Inc things like wiring and a couple of sensors i will require.

Cheers

ToranaGuy

[Ralf the RR]

If you want a programmable ignition system only, then the Megasquirt is a waste of money.
Megasquirt is the full efi and ignition system (and a very good one in my opinion).

There is a smaller version called Megajolt - which is ignition only.
It utilises the Ford Electronic Distributorless Ignition System (EDIS) which is a wasted spark system (fires 2 cylinders at a time).
Not sure how to configure a 3cyl eng, but 4, 6 & 8 are fairly easy.
Probably use a 6 cyl version and fire only 1 cyl at a time.

Some info can be found here:
http://www.autosportlabs.net/Main_Page

I looked at the Jaycar kit a few years ago for the dual map feature for dual fuel.
Turned out to be a bit ordinary.
It only had 3 set points to "map" a curve. Fairly useless!
I'm not sure, but I think it has improved since then.

[ToranaGuy]

Some good points but i want to go full EFI later, so hence why the effort of the megasquirt. For the time being i will be using programmable ignition only.

I have read up about Megajolt - good stuff if you don't want to migrate to full EFI down the track. But on a 3cyl wasted spark would be rather hard to setup. That's why i'm going to run a Ford/Bosch TFI module, much easier to get working on odd cyl arrangement.

My g/f's granddad, who i am building a MS kit for as well, for a mechanical to electronic petrol injection conversion, currently has a Jaycar kit in his modified distributor, and the Triumph pi engine was running great ignition wise with it. Reason for conversion is fuel pump & distribution block parts are getting too hard to get for the PI system.

Cheers

ToranaGuy

[Kartman]

Sorry to say the megasquirts are quite average. Mechanically, you gotta make sure you tie everything down especially when using the MSII board as it will happily just vibrate out of the socket at the worst possible time. The software is average, but apart from that it does work and many people have success with it.

When I get around to it, I want to try the Ford EDIS ignition on my MB. I did fiddle with the Commodore coil pack unit and got it working, but it required too much fiddling for my liking - gotta keep things simple. Whilst reading the megasquirt stuff, I read up on the Ford EDIS. I'm not sure what Fords out here had the EDIS but it wasn't many I expect. Turns out the AU etc use the EDIS system, but it is built into the ECU rather than a separate module. When (and if) I get the time I'll turn up a trigger wheel and try to get it going. The wasted spark isn't an issue - just ground one side of the coils (or squeeze in two spark plugs!). Daughter #2 just arrived, so I have less time!

Silicon Chip did a new igition controller with a 12x12 map. The thing is one a single sided pcb so again, you'll want to spray the thing with goo to hold everything together. Note - being an engineer, I'm aware of what is required in making something suitable for the auto environment and the MS and Jaycar kits fall short of something you'd find in a production vehicle. They do work, however!

[ToranaGuy]

Yes Kartman, the MS is a far cry from a production ECU, but so is it's price in a number of ways. Software for the MS is in continued development & if you have programming skills you can add features to the code, and then wire them up.

It's a great learning ground & an alternative to whatever brand of aftermarket ECU your local tuning guy prefers, not to mention you can tune the thing yourself, you don't have to keep going back to the same tuning joint.

As for the Ford EDIS, I would be looking at the EF falcon that run a coil pack - had some other module instead of a dizzy. Maybe it's Aussie EDIS?

If not, you can buy EDIS kits from ebay sellers over in the states.

Cheers

ToranaGuy