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Megasquirt/FIP/other standalones, harnesses


scott87star
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I've been building and running megasquirt systems now for over five years, installing them on my own cars as well as clients cars. I've built this many:

 

 

http://picturehosting.com/images/oblique9881/book.jpg

 

 

Somewhat of an exaggeration as there are technical references here and there in the folder but these are the build sheets/personal notes on the systems I've built or upgraded. I count close to 50 systems here and it doesn't include the harness work I've also started doing.

 

So why does anyone need me when you can build one yourself? Well, the short answer is that while any one can buy a kit or even a finished system from many vendors worldwide, most people can't test or troubleshoot what they get or make. If everything was built correctly per the build requirements and everything is connected correctly per the electrical requirements then someone like me isn't needed. Someone like me is called a systems integrator, I've been doing it for years in the analytical chemistry profession and for me these systems are just another example of a embedded chemical process controller. The internal combustion engine is about the neatest and most exhilarating chemical process I've ever come across and it functions best when all the parameters are mapped correctly into the performance envelope, just like an oil refinery or a semiconductor fab. I do offer tuning services, my systems come with a tune that will get you running and by driving and datalogging we can usually get it running much better than the factory system. Dyno tuning is generally required for best power.

 

 

http://picturehosting.com/images/oblique9881/latest.jpg

 

 

 

An example of an FIP FC-1S being modified for igniton control, table switching, launch control, electronic boost control, 0-5V fuel pressure sensor logging and a few other tricks.

 

 

http://picturehosting.com/images/oblique9881/ms3003.jpg

 

 

 

An FC-1S running a MS3 processor, don't let anyone tell you it can't be done! It won't fit in the stock case however.

 

 

 

I have pretty much built everything possible in the megasquirt world and am happy to build yours. Base prices for an MS1, V3.0 board running the latest firmware with full fuel and ignition control is $550. As I've mentioned there are lots of options such as 4-bar map sensors, electronic boost control, nitrous control, 2-step, most of those are extra but even the fully loaded systems I've done are generally under $1000. Again, they're all built and tested with the daily driver in mind. My first MS project, my 1986 Bronco II, has done 75K miles as daily driver as well as over 5 trips between Houston and Canada averaging 25 MPG at 75 MPH freeway speeds. FIP upgrades start at $65. I also build and rebuild harnesses, taking them from yuck to sleek for around $165-$200 depending upon how much black electrical tape you make me remove.

 

 

http://picturehosting.com/images/oblique9881/finishedharness.jpg

 

 

Finally, I am a distributor for DIYautotune so I can match any pricing you see on their website. If you want to get started on a system send me a PM.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I love the "this many" folder, haha.

 

You'll be hearing from me in the fall. I'm tired of this GM MAF and translator setup. Need something more consistent.

 

Me too! My parents still live in Houston (I spent 20 years there) and I get back to visit once in a while. This may give me an excuse to take another road trip :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Let's mention repair, I can work wonders! This is a typical example of a trace being burnt off the board via too much current. This one actually didn't break, it just got so hot that it lifted.

 

 

http://picturehosting.com/images/oblique9881/burnttrace.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

I've seen many in this condition and I've been able to save them from being scrapped. Many people have purchased a megasquirt from someone else, if you do beware the statement "it came off a running car". There is absolutely no way to prove that and each time someone has sent me one to figure out why it doesn't work and has told me that's how it was sold, well, it clearly did not come off a running car. Diodes in backwards, polarized capacitors in backwards, there are all kinds of reasons why they could never have run a car. Do your homework or have them send the unit to me for inspection, most of the time I can get it working for less than $50.

 

In this case the lifted trace and all the burnt crap left behind is a reliability problem. While the trace is still flowing electricity it's now subject to vehicular NVH and will probably break at the worst possible time leaving you stranded. The burnt crap will also affect operation as it mixes with humidity and old solder flux also left on the board and begins to cause random electrical issues. If you build your own board make sure the last step is cleaning it well with IPA to remove excess flux and giving it a good coat of conformal coating to protect the components and solder joints. Below is the repaired board, the conformal coating is clear so the trace looks exposed but its now fixed to the board and electrically insulated from its surroundings.

 

 

http://picturehosting.com/images/oblique9881/fixedtrace.jpg

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Great stuff Scott! I've seen your boards first hand and the build is top notch!

 

When you build custom harnesses do you run all the MS wires in one loom or separate sensor signals from pulsing signals (ignition, injectors etc). Also which ones do you recommend shielded cable for?

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I have not seen a big problem with noise although I try to do like the factory did and keep the ignition drivers as close to the coil as possible. That means keeping the ignition transistors out of the controller and in the engine bay so only the logic level signals are passing through the harness. Same with any VR signal, I like to get it converted to logic level ASAP, if not then those must be shielded.
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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Here is the main reason you would use someone like me to build you a standalone, testing. Just finished up a plug n' play system for a member, these systems are built entirely in the existing components for a factory look. The pieces are connected and tested to be absolutely certain they work with each other as expected. In this case the factory distributor was locked, the factory VR pickup used which sends its signals through the factory shielded wiring to the ignitor. The ignitor is gutted and fit with a VR conditioning circuit to send the rpm signal on to the ECU and also houses the ignition transistor that operates the factory coil through the factory wiring.

 

The distributor is spun with a drill to simulate operation, this is the signal from the distributor conditioned with the circuitry in the ignitor, the all important rpm signal.

http://picturehosting.com/images/oblique9881/howarddizzythroughvrboard.jpg

 

 

The distributor signal is A/C and the VR conditioning circuit turns that into a 0-5V square wave that the ECU can understand.

 

 

 

Then we have the ignition transistor test, note that this square wave is 0-12V as it would be if it were running the factory coil.

http://picturehosting.com/images/oblique9881/howardigtransistor.jpg

 

 

 

Finally this client also chose to run a 2 wire Ford idle valve, I test the actual valve at 50% duty cycle or half way open.

http://picturehosting.com/images/oblique9881/howardidle50dc.jpg

 

 

 

Putting in a standalone system can be tricky if you run into issues and can't test, obviously I have the tools to not only build systems but properly test them before they go into a car. That saves you time and money.

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PEAK AND HOLD BOARDS $175 fully assembled.

 

http://picturehosting.com/images/oblique9881/peakandholdpopulated.jpg

 

Why would you want a peak and hold board? Well, if you're running low impedence injectors like most are you either need injector resistors (approximately 10 ohm, at least 10 Watt) OR a way to run peak and hold. 90% of the aftermarket ECU's out there don't have a way to run low impedence (less than 3 ohm resistance) injectors, including our factory ECU. It uses injector resistors and they work fine for the application. If you have low impedence injectors and DON'T use injector resistors the injectors will overheat in a very short time causing poor running and ultimately injector failure. Peak and hold is a method where full voltage is applied to an injector to open it, followed by limiting the current so the injector is just held open for the remainder of the pulse width. Megasquirt V3.XX boards come with peak and hold circuits if you choose to build them and if you buy your boards from me you've already got it. You do need to tune it however which is a little tricky and very time consuming. These peak and hold boards take all the tuning out of the equation as its all handled in hardware, they are fully compatible with ANY aftermarket ECU.

 

Why bother? Speed, its all about speed. Low impedence injectors operate substantially faster than high impedence or a low with injector resistor. Not a big deal in a throttle body application but when you're running MPI with size 600 cc and up injectors per cylinder it means alot. I just put this one on my MPI car and already I've taken quite a bit of fuel out of the map and I can see and hear the difference in running and see very small changes in VE make significant changes in AFR. Is it using less fuel, no, but its spending less time opening and closing so for a given pulse width more fuel is being injected under more control.

 

I buy these from a Canadian making various boards for aftermarket ECU's including Megasquirts. The quality is top notch, I've used many of his boards and have never had a problem. Being as they come from Canada and I don't stock them count on a lead time from order to fulfullment of about two weeks.

 

So, in conclusion you need one or the other of these for low impedence injectors:

 

http://picturehosting.com/images/oblique9881/peakandholdvsresistors.jpg

 

The resistor pack is for sale, PM me.

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  • 8 months later...

Here is the latest plug n' play offering, MS2 processor, it doesn't get any tidier than this:

 

 

 

http://picturehosting.com/images/oblique9881/microsquirtinstarquestecu.jpg

 

 

 

The real sweet thing is it can read a flex fuel sensor directly, I can sell you a flex fuel sensor with pigtail for $100, genuine GM parts. With that and proper tuning you get a lot more power by just using a different pump at the gas station. The processor will seamlessly adjust fueling and and timing (more power!) and if you have an adjustable boost controller you can easily dial up more boost (even more power!) with E85. DIYautotune also offers something similar for MS3, moving to that allows you to run a boost map for gasoline, boost map for E85 and blend the curve between the two. In other words you could be running 15 psi boost on gasoline and set it up for 25-30 psi on E85, with the flex fuel sensor you don't have to worry that you only have E68 in the tank (because it wasn't empty when you topped it off with E85 on the way to the track), the ECU automatically adjusts fuel, adds timing and sets your boost to 23 psi (for example) based on your blend curve settings.

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In addition to the flex fuel sensor I also wire in an idle output that can run a 2-wire or 3-wire pwm idle valve and two GPIO's (General Purpose Input/Output) that can be used to run your cooling fan(s), turn on a shift light or even be used as ignition outputs. Of course more can be done if desired but that is what you get at a minimum.
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To add even more functionality you can have two ADC inputs, meaning they will read 0-5 volt sensors. I'm wiring up a fuel pressure sensor on mine right now. This makes them data loggable so it really helps when troubleshooting or making sure things are doing what they are supposed to be doing.
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While I've never dealt with Scott, it's awesome having a SQ enthusiast directly involved with providing ECU's. I've been dealing with DIYAutoTune since 2005 or so when I did my first MS project (the MPI Valencia in my sig). It's run flawless for almost 10 years now (although I'm not in the 75k mile range like Scott...LOL). I've had 3 more since then and helped build multiple more. As long as Uncle Sam allows us to burn gas....I'll have a MS in the glovebox :lol:
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