MSefi.com read only forum (Jan.15,2018)

Ok I am new at this and over anylizing things i beleive. The tunning portion of things i know but the setup is confusing for me.

I have a v3 ms2

i have the white wire off the msd hooked to the brown wire pin 36 and the signal wire from hall sensor to the shielded wire pin 24.

I have the jumpers hooked up on the board correctly.

My question is what do i use for settings under IGNITION OPTIONS?

Thanks for the help

The vehicle is a twin turbo 554ci 67 camaro.

heathb,
If you are using the MSD dist.. you should have the MS setup for VR input. Go to the mega manual index and look for the MSD6a. It explains alot of the setup and adjustments. I have been having problems with mine since I built my second MSII. I am using an MSD crank trigger, but have used the MSD dist before.
Let me know if I can be of help.

Dick

Dick,

Thank you very much but i think im confused. My msd distributor has 3 wires 1 power 1 gnd and 1 signal. Isnt that a hall sensor? I thought vr was 2 wire.

Do u recomend the crank sensor instead of using distibutor for pickup?

heathb,

I am wondering which MSD dist you have?? I thought they all had the VR sensor.. for the BBC. If you have three wires from the MSD, then I am all wrong about it. Be interested to know the model of that dist.

I switched to the crank trigger, when I could see variations in my tach signal. Being in a boat, I can run at a constant rpm and monitor the data log to see what is happening to the tach signal.
With the MSD dist, with VR sensor, I would see the signal jump back and forth as much as 120-250rpm. That was between sample rates at 50ms. I would take the data log and leave it in a Xcell spread sheet and add a colum and put a formula in the cells in that colum that would show the variation. Above the 4krpm mark it would get real wild. At an idle I could see the timing jumping about 3-4*.
When I went to the crank trigger the idle would be rock solid and I could add one degree on the map and watch the mark move on the crank dampener. I attributed this to cam flex, timing chain and just normal slop in the dist.

I set up a bench test with the dist connected to a dc motor and it wasnt fastened down to solid. The tach signal would jump around, just like on the motor. When tightened up the mounts on the dist, it got better.. I had a rubber hose with two clamps, one on each end that the screws were aligned and there was still a slight vibration to the test setup.. After I rotated on clamp 180* the vibs calmed down and so did the variation in tach signal.

Before the inj pluse width was being affected by the variation in tach signal. Now I would only see about 8-15 rpm variation. On the boat, the problem went away also and I was able to lean the motor up and get it to run better, with better control of the inj pulse width.

No one else seemed have the problem, but I am not sure how many people are running the MS on a boat. On a car when the rpm isnt steady, at higher rpms, it isnt so noticeable..

The MSD 6a likes the output of the MSII to come off ground and it will fire. So what ever settings accomplish this, would keep the box happy, I would think.

Tell me more about the dist.. maybe I can help figure out what you have to do with the settings..

Dick

Dick,

the msd Part# is 8360 .

Hope this helps thanks in advance

heathb,
looks like you are correct. The 8360 has an ignition module in it and must put out a square wave.. The MSD diagram I have shows the red to 12v switched and the black to ground and orange to the white wire on the 6A.. That orange wire would go to pin 24 on the DB37 and output of the MSII from pin 36 on DB37.
It looks like the settings will be as indicated in the Mega Manual http://www.megamanual.com/ms2/msd6a.htm
Are you using Q16 the coil driver transistor? There are two different transistors that have been used.. the old one VB921 and the newer one BIP373 (which needs an insulator between it and the heat sink). With either one the output signal will be inverted. It is also recommended to had a pull up resistor on the output (collector) of the driver. Look for IGBT Pull-up Circuit in the assembly manual.

I am not sure if you built your MSII or purchased it.. you can check with the supplier if need be. If Q16 is mounted on the heat sink, then it probably is in use.
Ignition Input Capture is refering to the pulse that is being applied to the processor. With my VR sensor, I have the trigger set on the steep transition on the neg to positive going portion of the waveform. This relates to a falling edge on the input to the processor. So Ignition Input Capture would be set to Falling edge. On my setup, I added a transistor to the output of the VR circuit to increase my pulse voltage to the processor. That inverted the signal and I had to change mine to Rising Edge.

In your case, it seems there would be a square pulse applied to the Optoin and I am guessing an inverted signal to the processor. I read through the Hall setup and I dont see an explaination for how it is suppose to be. I suspect the MSD6A will fire either way, but one would be offset. My guess again would be to try it one way and see if the timing makes sense. Then switch it and see how much it changes. If I had to guess, I would think it would be Falling Edge.
Do a search for others that have used the Hall setup and see what side they trigger on.

What I am told is that if Q16 is used, then the Coil Charge would be Standard Coil Charge, and Spark Output would be set to Going High.
The Going High on Spark output should show a smaller Trigger offset. When you set the trigger offset, it should be 10 or 20 degrees, depending on your intial setting. If you see 45 degrees or a huge number then Going High would be incorrect.

Hopefully others will chime in on this.. I have spent a lot of hours trying to get my head around it. And it changes for each setup. The main idea is to make sure it seems right before you put boost to the motor. Look at the timing and see that it makes sense, and ask questions.
One thing I learne was that with the MSD6 box.. you need a simple timing light. Do a search for timing lights.
I am having timing issues and I have used 5 different lights on my motor to see if that is the problem. They tell me you can compare them and see a difference at higher rpm. The old Sears lights without advance are the recommend ones.. I found them on ebay for cheap.. I now have two the are pretty much brand new and when I get my timing issues settled, I will compare the three lights I have left to see what is what.

I hope this helps. And I hope I didnt make it more confusing than it is.. Please feel free to fire questions. And if anyone else has done this setup. Please chime in..

Dick

Dick,

That info does help a great deal that is how i have it wired i will try those settings and go from there.

What verson of megatune do you recomend? I am having issues getting it to boot load correctly it keeps coming back after about 36% and saying timed out and telling me it has program"a"

I have not had a problem with downloads.. I think I am 2.88 right now and used 2.36 in my previous MSII.. Sounds like it could be a setting in the communications setup. Are you using a USB to serial adapter? Sometimes they can be a bit flakey.. I bought a newer one, Cables Unlimited usb 2.0 to RS232 and it works fine..
Let me know how you have the com setup.. I would first try and download the files again, if you havent already. Then check settings..

Let me know how it goes..

I was able to run my motor for about 2min last night without the timing jumping 90*.. A step in the right direction after 13 weeks of fighting it..

Dick