Megasquirt on 7MGTE?

[DHill]

I keep seeing these "JDM" 7MGTE's on eBay with claimed low mileage - most of them don't come with ECU's. Since the engine would be somewhat modified anyway, I thought a stand-alone like Megasquirt might be an alternative. Has anyone used this?

Thanks,
D

[Tire Shredder]

The only supra that I know of that has it runinig correctly is Cheappower82's6mgte..haven't seen a 7mgte with one yet. There is a 6mge running here locally with one, but has some bugs to work out still.

a great system, unfortunatley not many of us have it installed.

[BuddyJ]

http://msefi.com/viewtopic.php?t=12057&start=21

Yes, it has been done by others but we don't have much information on it on this forum.

I think the easiest way would be to ditch the factory ignition and go EDIS-6 and MSnS-e.

[MightyAl]

A guy in south africa has done three using the stock CPS and direct ignition to the wasted spark coils. If you go on msefi.com you can find his posts if you search for 7m-gte. The ones done on this board have been 5m's using the dizzy. I am working on it and have a clean signal coming from the CPS on the bench but I have not installed it on my car yet. The ignition signal is extrmemly similar across many toyota engines it would seem so once you have done one the others shouldn't be difficult. But if you are looking to control a fairly stock 7m it wouldn't cost more then $150 for a wiring harness and ECU compared to the $500 you would need to spend on a MS.

[Tire Shredder]

The trick is weighing other tuning methods such as SAFC and a wideband Vs. a full stand alone. cost is certainly a consideration and so is the amount of work. It all depends on your final goal for your car or if you want every last bit of performance available out of it. There are many 400+whp and above 7ms running around on the roads using a stock ecu...usually using somekind of piggyback system. (obviously not as nice as a full standalone)

[williamb82]

been done a bunch of times on 7m and jz's.

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13318


http://tamparacing.com/forums/toyota-tech/306273-megasquirted-1jz-inside.html?highlight=megasquirt

http://tamparacing.com/forums/toyota-tech/253519-turbo-7m-truck-project.html?highlight=megasquirt

[4SFED]

I thought a stand-alone like Megasquirt might be an alternative. Has anyone used this?
How about a standalone like SDS? I didn't have a donor car, bought my 7mgte from a fine gentleman named Anders, of the Dave variety, in FLA and he shipped to me in Vegas where I lived at the time. So it was easier for me to go aftermarket ecu like SDS, rather than scavenging junkyards or cannibalizing my perfectly good mark3 I was driving then.
Hardest part was mounting trigger magnets on backside of front pulley.
I didn't put together a tutorial of my install - the Racetech/SDS site is very informative.
Dave H
edit: Actually, I received the engine wiring harness from Dave A. with the engine but I didn't have patience to fashion a harness and plugs etc. for install.

[MightyAl]

How about a standalone like SDS? I didn't have a donor car, bought my 7mgte from a fine gentleman named Anders, of the Dave variety, in FLA and he shipped to me in Vegas where I lived at the time. So it was easier for me to go aftermarket ecu like SDS, rather than scavenging junkyards or cannibalizing my perfectly good mark3 I was driving then.
Hardest part was mounting trigger magnets on backside of front pulley.
I didn't put together a tutorial of my install - the Racetech/SDS site is very informative.
Dave H
edit: Actually, I received the engine wiring harness from Dave A. with the engine but I didn't have patience to fashion a harness and plugs etc. for install.

The lack of crank trigger support is my biggest dislike of the SDS. Other then that it is a great system. I went through the magnets in the pulley and having to fashion a mount that had less then 2mm of deflection. It is a reliable and thoroughly tested stand alone with a lot of good support and the cost is well below most other aftermarket ECUs. Have you had any problems with the SDS??

[4SFED]

none so far - knock on wood.

[DHill]

Thanks for replies so far.

I have been reading here and there about Megasquirt because everything is built from the ground up, so you really know what you're doing wrong if it doesn't work. :D I have seen ECU's on eBay but I think it might be more of a hassle to try and pin out an existing ECU than just building one with MS or something similar.

[Junkie]

The lack of crank trigger support is my biggest dislike of the SDS. Other then that it is a great system. I went through the magnets in the pulley and having to fashion a mount that had less then 2mm of deflection. It is a reliable and thoroughly tested stand alone with a lot of good support and the cost is well below most other aftermarket ECUs. Have you had any problems with the SDS??


If fabbing a trigger support is the biggest issue you have,all is golden,IMHO. Have the SDS setup on a friends MKIII,and love the system.Probably the most user friendly of all I have played with so far.Have the AEM,and an Electromotive Tech II on sight right now,entertaining to say the least.Also have two S-afc cars set-up.

[4SFED]

If fabbing a trigger support is the biggest issue you have,all is golden,IMHO...
That was the biggest issue - fabbing a solid support for the crank sensor, oh and drilling out and mounting on the pulley the trigger magnets.
When I get back home from Vegas in a couple weeks I can post some pics on how and where I mounted mine.

[williamb82]

why not just drill out he flywheel instead for the magnets and mount the sensor to the plate on the back of the engine? its very solid. guy on supramania did it and its totally hidden. and since the flywheel is a larger diameter, its more accurate.

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13318&page=5

pics are toward the bottom.

[4SFED]

If I had it to do all over again...
I'd do it all over you - as the old song goes

Wow - good pics of the front facing intake build up too!

[MightyAl]

If fabbing a trigger support is the biggest issue you have,all is golden,IMHO. Have the SDS setup on a friends MKIII,and love the system.Probably the most user friendly of all I have played with so far.Have the AEM,and an Electromotive Tech II on sight right now,entertaining to say the least.Also have two S-afc cars set-up.

The whole reason I don't like the SDS is the lack of flexibility. Why fab a trigger when there is a perfectly good one on the car. Using the SDS coils is another thing that i don't like. Like the MS I have now is set up for the 7m but could easily be converted to run a V8 without missing a beat. The SDS can't do that. It is 80% personal preference on most of the systems out there.

[4SFED]

Actually, I am using the stock 7mgte coil packs with SDS.

[MightyAl]

Actually, I am using the stock 7mgte coil packs with SDS.

Really? I thought the SDS coil packs had a built in ignitor. That is cool if you can use the stockers though. Those SDS coil packs look like crap.

[Donn29]

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13318
That was awesome. Looks like I learned how to do DIS on the MS.

[MightyAl]

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13318
That was awesome. Looks like I learned how to do DIS on the MS.

That only applies to EDIS. Still can't control coils directly with MSII.

[Donn29]

argh, I can't seem to figure out Spark. I think to get it running I'm going to find an 82 Dizzy. Or maybe I should just sit down, tear the car apart and figure it freaking out...
What would I need to run a normal 7M-GTE setup for spark?

[MightyAl]

argh, I can't seem to figure out Spark. I think to get it running I'm going to find an 82 Dizzy. Or maybe I should just sit down, tear the car apart and figure it freaking out...
What would I need to run a normal 7M-GTE setup for spark?

You need to use the wheel decoder in MSnS extra with three VB921's hooked to the LEDs. You need to hook up some pull up resistors to the LEDs and then run them to the three VB921's. Then run the VB921 to each of the wasted spark coil packs and you will direct spark control. Go on msefi.com and look up 7m-gte and there is an excellent write up by a guy out of south africa I believe that has gotten 3 7m's up and running this way. He has all the setting for megatune in his post and has had zero problems so far with the set up. The MSnS extra website has all the diagrams for setting up spark control this way. I will see if I can post up some links tonight.

[Donn29]

You need to use the wheel decoder in MSnS extra with three VB921's hooked to the LEDs. You need to hook up some pull up resistors to the LEDs and then run them to the three VB921's. Then run the VB921 to each of the wasted spark coil packs and you will direct spark control. Go on msefi.com and look up 7m-gte and there is an excellent write up by a guy out of south africa I believe that has gotten 3 7m's up and running this way. He has all the setting for megatune in his post and has had zero problems so far with the set up. The MSnS extra website has all the diagrams for setting up spark control this way. I will see if I can post up some links tonight.
Thanks a Million. So I can use 86 Dizzy I have for the pickup?

[MightyAl]

Thanks a Million. So I can use 86 Dizzy I have for the pickup?

Yeah from what I understand it is identical to the 7m CPS as far as the pick ups go. It should have one sensor for the 24 tooth wheel and 2 sensors for the single tooth wheel. You will need to condition the signal for the MS. Then just make a new cap for your dizzy and you will be good to go or leave it on there if a cap with no wires won't annoy you too much.