I have a friend that is megasquirting a 2.3L Ford Ranger motor, 2003, I think, in a Merc replicar. I'm trying to help. I have the laptop talking to the MS with Tuner Studio and I think I have it configured close enough to fire. But we have no spark. Actually, he's using a Microsquirt and the relay/fuse box thingie with the MS coil driver module thingie. All sourced from DIYAutotune.
The coil is a combined waste spark coil setup that came on the motor. It is really 2 waste spark coils fused in one housing, 3 wires in, 1 for +12v and 1 each for the 2 waste spark coils. These are wired to the spark control unit thingie (forget the name) which has 4 wires coming out of it for the coils. The ones for plugs 1 and 4 are joined together and go to one coil pack lead and the ones for 2 and 3 are joined together and go to the other.
When we crank, the fuel pump comes on and +12v is present on the + side of the coil(s). No spark. The tach on the tuner studio gauge shows like 275 RPM. Crank trigger is set to 36-1.
The DC resistance on the coil legs is pretty low, like <1 ohm. He bought another coil and put that on with a ballast resistor in series with the central (+ feed) line. No difference.
For S&G's, we dug out an old conventional coil and jumper clipped it in the circuit in place of one of the coil pack legs. It made spark.
Are these a Mazda motor? I looked for a MSQ or anyone that has done one of these, but I couldn't find anything. Ideas?
First thing - have you checked to see if the coils will fire if you put the MicroSquirt in output test mode? That will isolate the problem to just the spark output side of things.
No, what's "output test mode"? I haven't run across that one.
It's in the newer versions of MS2/Extra and MS3. It's under the CAN bus / test modes menu, and lets you check the I/O directly:
http://www.msextra.com/doc/pdf/html/Megasquirt2_Setting_Up-3.4.pdf/Megasquirt2_Setting_Up-3.4-37.html
STM317
SuperDork
3/15/18 7:47 a.m.
Dr. Hess said:
I have a friend that is megasquirting a 2.3L Ford Ranger motor, 2003...
Are these a Mazda motor?
01 and newer 2.3L are an all aluminum, DOHC Mazda design. Mazda branded them MZR (and DISI for the turbocharged/direct injected version) and Ford branded them Duratec (and EcoBoost for the turbocharged/direct injected version).
It sounds like your friend is already down the Megasquirt path, but the factory Ford PCM is easily tunable via a $400 handheld too. If it's still available, it might be an acceptable back up plan. I'm sure Matt can help get the MS squared away though.
STM317 said:
Dr. Hess said:
I have a friend that is megasquirting a 2.3L Ford Ranger motor, 2003...
Are these a Mazda motor?
01 and newer 2.3L are an all aluminum, DOHC Mazda design. Mazda branded them MZR (and DISI for the turbocharged/direct injected version) and Ford branded them Duratec (and EcoBoost for the turbocharged/direct injected version).
It sounds like your friend is already down the Megasquirt path, but the factory Ford PCM is easily tunable via a $400 handheld too. If it's still available, it might be an acceptable back up plan. I'm sure Matt can help get the MS squared away though.
Not that it seems to matter much, but Ford did a lot of development on that engine, too. But it seems that most enthusiests would rather Mazda do the work....
And that engine line still exists in the Ford family.
Yeah, all aluminum, no boost. The reason he went MS on it is that the ECU that came with the motor didn't have the alarm/security key and he couldn't get it to work. Ford told him he was screwed so he put the Microsquirt on it instead. Too late to go back now. I would have bought another ECU with the alarm fob. Anyway, it's all wired up right, just no spark. It did have spark when we put a conventional single coil on it and cranked. I'm guessing then that the problem is more related to the Ford coils and the MS coil driver thingie. Also, I found that the valve cover that the coil tower is bolted to is not actually grounded. Thinking about the circuit, I don't think that's necessary, but it's another variable.
In reply to Dr. Hess :
Have you also been able to eliminate any spark plug wire issue?
As for the coil- they are both common and cheap- if it appears that it's getting the right signal at the right time and not working, and all the driver info that MSM is making sure is set up, get a new coil and wires and try that. I've not been closely following MS for a long time, but it's been a LONG time that it's supported the Ford coil pack system.
He bought another coil and put that in. No difference. I dunno about the wires, but neither pair fire, that is, 1,4 or 2,3, and I doubt that multiple wires would be bad and not shock the crap out of you when you were messing with them while cranking.
Driven5
SuperDork
3/15/18 10:55 a.m.
alfadriver said:
Not that it seems to matter much...
You're right...It doesn't.
Dr. Hess said:
He bought another coil and put that in. No difference. I dunno about the wires, but neither pair fire, that is, 1,4 or 2,3, and I doubt that multiple wires would be bad and not shock the crap out of you when you were messing with them while cranking.
That makes it sound more like a configuration issue over a hardware one.
Driven5 said:
alfadriver said:
Not that it seems to matter much...
You're right...It doesn't.
Just trying to be more factual. And it does matter for one of us, as it was a few years of salary based on the work.... 
I'm not sure about your no spark condition, but this is relevant and timely for me. Did you source your ignition map from somewhere or develop it?
On this one, right now we are just trying to get spark. We'll worry about an ignition map later.
I have done 2 ignition maps. I think there was a tool to get started, then I tooned it. On the 4ag 20 valve, I forget, but I think I put it in the mid to high 30's or maybe low 40's advanced on top. On the 22R, it had less, and I backed it off on top for towing as it was pinging under heavy loads. On the Sportster, I used the factory ignition module.
alfadriver said:
Dr. Hess said:
He bought another coil and put that in. No difference. I dunno about the wires, but neither pair fire, that is, 1,4 or 2,3, and I doubt that multiple wires would be bad and not shock the crap out of you when you were messing with them while cranking.
That makes it sound more like a configuration issue over a hardware one.
That's what I thought at first, but we did get spark when we substituted a conventional coil.
Exactly what sort of coil did get spark and what sort didn't? Is the coil that is not sparking a four tower coil pack with three wires, or something else?
The coil that did not get spark is the 4 tower coil pack with 3 wires that came with the motor. The coil that did get spark was just a generic coil laying around the shop, like one used on, say, any GM V8 from the 1970's.
In reply to Dr. Hess :
A conventional coil is not a coil pack. You need to have both plugs grounded for the circuit to complete.
Yes, I know that. When testing, one plug wire of the pair is still on the plug, essentially grounding it, the other plug wire we hold with a screwdriver to the head or some other engine part with a small gap and look for a spark. Or put on a spark plug laying on the motor. Nothing.
Ok. Since I was curious, I did find this page- http://www.microsquirt.info/dcoil.htm
It's something I'm considering for my Alfa, so I will keep an eye on how you solve this.
Wait are you running the EDIS module or are you firing the coils directly from the micro squirt?
I know that everyone will say to not use the EDIS module but I use it and all you then have to deal with is the PIP and SAW wires. Keeps it really simple. Down the road you can try eliminating the EDIS but this may get it running sooner.
In reply to dean1484 :
Since this is just a module swap, 01 Rangers didn't have EDIS- it was all on board. So it would be just a coil driver.
Could find one to use, but the truck didn't have one.
Can you draw up a diagram of how it's wired up?
It's wired up exactly like that, except that switched 12V+ goes to the center pin on the coil tower set, White and Violet (if I recall) are wired together and go to one of the side pins pin of the coil and light green and pink are wired together and go to the remaining pin of the coil.
Matt,
I'll also add that the Quad Spark he has is the new replacement module, post recall.
