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

Hello,

I have Returned to the forum here to find my account was deleted probaly because I did not login for such a long time.. Anyway,

I have Been Successfully Running MS-II on My 79 Plymouth Volare Slant 6 For 4 1/2 Years With Not Too many problems after the Initial Fire up and Rough Tune In back in 2008.

Here's a Little Background on the Components / Issues. I got Stranded at the Bank last wed with my MS equipped car - I use it as a daily driver for everything. Walked home and Got another coil for it - Not The coil - so I got it towed.


As I am beginning to troubleshoot I am finding that the Car has no spark.. Power to the Coil is good.

I can see no Tach Signal in megatune..when cranking .. so I am Tending to think that either the Pertronix ignitor is bad or that The coil Driver in my Megasquirt has gone bad.

Here is the List of equipment:
MSD B'laster 2 Coil
Megasquirt V3.57M Motherboard (Built By DIY Autotune with 12Vpullup on IGN Input and Bosch BIP373 Ign output on Pin 36)
DIY autotune Built Relay Board
Locked out Centrifugal / vacuum Advance Chrysler Slant 6 Points Distributor With Pertronix Ignitor I Replacing the Points.

So a few questions:

1. How to I test the Coil(s) to make sure they are not the problem? - I have a volt meter/ multimeter that can read Ohms.
2. How do I test the Hall Effect / Pertronix Unit to see if it's defective?
3. Do i need to Check any of the Circuitry in the V3.57 Motherboard of Megasquirt? If so Please advise.

Any thoughts / Input would be greatly Appreciated!


Greg

slantsix wrote: 1. How to I test the Coil(s) to make sure they are not the problem? - I have a volt meter/ multimeter that can read Ohms.

While you could ohm out the coil, a quicker test might be to energize the 12 volt connection and briefly tap the negative terminal to ground to see if it sparks.

2. How do I test the Hall Effect / Pertronix Unit to see if it's defective?

See if you get an RPM signal in TunerStudio while cranking.

3. Do i need to Check any of the Circuitry in the V3.57 Motherboard of Megasquirt? If so Please advise.

It wouldn't hurt, if you have a Stimulator board. See if it can trigger the Stim's IGN LED.

Hello Thank you Matt.. When I get Home I will Try those suggestions.

I will dig up My stim and attempt to Verify the Circuitry...

After a little More Testing I am tending to think My Relay Board got zapped by salt and water.. I was able to verify The Pertronix was working and sending a signal.. But I was not able to get the signal to be received by megatune,... I have a very old laptop and it's too slow to run Tunerstudio

I will check the coil tonite.


Thanks so Much ! Greg

Hello,

I got My problem resolved. After doing a bit of research on the hall pertronix / hall effect sensors I was able to verify that it was good and sending a consistent on/ off signal when a magnet passed in front of the sensor. So I then reinstalled it back in the distributor.
I never even verified the coil operation except for swapping out to another known good coil and still no spark with the 2nd coil.

So after I verified the pertronix as good and it was sending signal to megasquirt the only other "weak link" was the relay board.

It was fried.. So I got a new one and i will be building a full weatherproof case top for it.. The Half case that DIYAutoTune sent me was not enough protection from the water and salt in a daily driver situation- but it did last unprotected for 4+ years before succumbing to the harsh North east rainy and salty seasons. If this had been an install on a car in texas or Vegas or SoCal I dont think it would have been a problem.


After the Wires and connections were switched over to the new relay board I had RPM signal in Megatune and My timing light was flashing on the first crank!

Thanks for your help and Happy Squirting!


Greg

On my factory EFI equipped car, the main and pump relays are situated inside the car alongside the ECU. So when I converted to MS, I kept this arrangement. IMHO, it's easier to site relays and electronics where they can't get wet etc than try and protect them afterwards. Even although it seems natural to position a relay board where it's easy to get at in the engine compartment.