Issues getting signal on Timing Light, MSII, Lexus IS330 Coil Packs

[Suprasaurus]

Hey guys,

I'm extremely new to Megasquirt, I got my car running last Sunday Two cranks and the car started, I was amazed.

I went to try and time it and couldn't get a signal from the #1 spark plug wire

I'm currently using Lexus IS300 coil packs with NGK wires. My Megasquirt is set up off John Burton's instructions (thanks John!).
http://www.celicasupra.com/forums/sh...2-V3-for-7MGTE

Things I've tried so far:
I tried different power and grounds for the timing light
I tried moving the connector that gets signal from the spark plug wire up and down the wire to see if it would pick up signal somewhere else.
Two Timing Lights.
For cylinder 1 and 6 I tried a stock coil and stock wires.
I tried running a power lead just by itself to the coil that runs cylinder 1 and 6. (It was a 16 ga wire).
Changing the dwell from 2.6 to 2.1 per John's instructions.

Here are the first and second start up videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Htg_0n3GQw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2pJtJw3SVM

I'm a bit confused because I'm getting enough spark on each cylinder that the car idles fine.

Any thoughts? I'm open to a list of things to try!
Thanks!
Tony

[CarFreek]

When I ran my COP/7mgte/stock electronic setup, I had to use the low level(12v) power feed to the #1 coil for the timing light. I cant remember which coil on the IS 300 setup, #1 or #6, gets the 12v feed on IS300 setup, however...Hope that helps some.

[Suprasaurus]

When I ran my COP/7mgte/stock electronic setup, I had to use the low level(12v) power feed to the #1 coil for the timing light. I cant remember which coil on the IS 300 setup, #1 or #6, gets the 12v feed on IS300 setup, however...Hope that helps some.

I remember seeing your thread about that a long time ago. I think you may have just answered it, but how do you get a signal (in your case) from the coils since there are no plug wires? I imagine there are only two wires going into the coils and one is 12v, I'm not sure what the second one is, but I would assume it completes the circuit to fire the coil (I don't know electronics that well, so I'm just guessing). Can you use the second wire to tell when that coil is firing to determine timing (I'm referring to the wire that's not 12v)?

Also, on the IS300 coil packs and stock coil packs, the pin closest to the clip is 12v.

[CarFreek]

I put the timing lights inductive clamp around the small signal wire-I had to spread the two wires going to the coil to get the jaws thru. Putting the timing light around both wires didnt work.

[CarlH]

I put the timing lights inductive clamp around the small signal wire-I had to spread the two wires going to the coil to get the jaws thru. Putting the timing light around both wires didnt work.

Once on a bike i had trouble with getting a signal via a plug wire . I had to use a different plug wire a stranded wire 440 type . It seemed like the first wire would not let the signal thru.. You could try a different wire from another vehicle.

In the old days the timing lights used a spring wire adapter that went between the wire and the spark plug ,, that you used , as the lights only had a alligator type clip and not the clothes pin type clip of today..

[Suprasaurus]

I put the timing lights inductive clamp around the small signal wire-I had to spread the two wires going to the coil to get the jaws thru. Putting the timing light around both wires didnt work.

This seems to have solved my problem. I'm getting signal to the timing light and for whatever reason I'm like 30 degrees advanced.....

I'm going to pull off my timing cover, turn the crank to top dead center, and check that my cams are aligned properly. If they are, I'm guessing I'll need readjust my modified CPS differently. I'm a bit confused because I set everything up based on John's instructions. Although, it's possible that my cams and crank are not aligned properly.

[SuperSubs]

Don't forget about your trigger offset setting. You can easily be quite a bit off on your physical CPS/crank relationship, and make up for it by just adjusting this parameter.

-Mike

[Suprasaurus]

Don't forget about your trigger offset setting. You can easily be quite a bit off on your physical CPS/crank relationship, and make up for it by just adjusting this parameter.

Thanks Mike, I'll look into it. I'm running John's current tune to start my car up. Wouldn't that mean whatever it's set at would be correct? I need to start doing reading on how to adjust everything; school and work has been keeping me busy :/.

[SuperSubs]

Tony,

Your trigger offset is directly related to how your setup has your CPS/Crank related. If your sensor is rotated 8 degrees differently than say John has his, your trigger offset would need to change by eight degrees to correct it, or you would need to physically rotate your cam sensor 8 degrees. The trigger offset is basically an offset value that is added or subtracted to your timing value (at each RPM/MAP) to correct to the actual "ideal" timing value. You can hook up your timing light, enter into the trigger offset wizard, and change your trigger offset until your timing light and indicated timing output in Megasquirt match.

Here is a vid for a Link G4 ECU that describes calibrating this value (similar for any standalone). Your offset wont be anywhere near their values, and you can do this while the engine is idling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY6txWPS9T8

-Mike

[SuperSubs]

Iv'e been reading a bit into TunerStudio, as I have only been using MegaTune myself. It seems like a much more fluid and well layed-out interface, and I am going to switch to it once I have read all its documentation. Here is a random link to an install guide for a DIYPNP on some other random car, but pages 11 and 12 do a great job explaining the trigger offset calibration using TunerStudio:

http://www.boostedmiata.com/MS/msq/i...uctions_TS.pdf

-Mike