Microsquirt no spark issue

[jkran89]

Hello, I'm having a no-spark issue with my project and I can't figure out why so I was hoping you guys might be able to help. I'm running a microsquirt on my turbo Vortec 5.3 and I followed the entire sloppy mechanics guide step by step, it's found here: https://ls1tech.com/forums/forced-induc ... -13-a.html At first I didn't add the 1K ohm resistor to my ECU because the motor is a 2003 with a 24X crank and I didn't have spark at that time so I went back and added it. I tried replacing my crank position sensor and nothing changed. I've gone back through and checked all of my wiring and reread the guide and now everything seems exact so I'm not sure what's going on. I also read through the microsquirt guide and it calls for no extra resistor and says to wire the crank position sensor differently. The coils are getting power and the ECU was sending them a signal with and without the resistor in place. All the coils are grounded to the heads. I attached a picture of my current high speed logger display. My plugs are NGK TR6, moroso spark plug wires, stock coils (engine is out of 2003 Tahoe), and uncapped stock injectors. Please let me know if you have any ideas on how to fix this or if you need more details from me or I can send you my tune file. UPDATE: It is getting spark in test mode. I tried switching to falling edge and nothing changed and im not sure if the spark mode should be set to LS1 or toothed wheel.


Thanks, jkran89

[jsmcortina]

Are you wired up exactly as the Microsquirt Hardware manual says? and with the same settings (input capture etc.)?

Please attach tune (File -> Save Tune As) and composite log files (capture to file).

James

[jkran89]

Thanks for the reply, I just added my tune file. Hopefully it has the datalog inside of it but it didn't seem to save it as a separate file. I am getting spark in test mode so my coils must be wired correctly. The current wiring of my crank position sensor has the VR1+ output going to the trigger wire on the sensor. The microsquirt guide calls for the VR1- wire to be connected and I originally tried it this way and received no signal, but i replaced the sensor since then so I could try again with the new sensor. The sloppymechanics guide calls for the VR1+ wire to go to the trigger wire on the sensor and this is the way I currently have it configured. I also added a 1K ohm pullup resistor to the back of my ecu adding 12V power to the crank sensor pick up because the sloppy mechanics manual also called for this but the microsquirt manual said that it wasn't needed with 24X cranks, so the two seems to contradict each other. I have heard of people running the LS1 and toothed wheel spark mode options so im not sure what to go with there as well, and there's also separate options for wasted spark or wasted spark COP. Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

[rickb794]

Input capture and spark out are two separate areas.

You have to have sync, a steady RPM (input capture) in order to have spark.

If you have sync with spark disabled, and you loose sync with spark enabled, the spark is interfering with the input capture.

Two things you said are of note,
You said the coils are grounded to the heads. The head or the valve cover? Many valve covers are not grounded, insulated by rubber gaskets.
The other was the Moroso wires, I believe these wires are low resistance "spiral wound".
High voltage does not need a low resistance path, this is marketing at it's best. I believe these wires are inherently noisy.
http://www.magnecor.com/magnecor1/truth.htm

GM uses two different sensor designs between the 24x and 52x system, one needs a pull up the other doesn't.
Sensor color may give clues, Im not sure if aftermarket honors the color clue.

[jkran89]

The coils are grounded to the actual heads and I don't believe the wires are low resistance, I looked up my invoice to check them. Wouldn't it have to be an issue with either my settings in tunerstudio or the wiring of my crank sensor? I guess that's the information that I'm really looking for because the two sources of information contradict each other. Should I follow the crank sensor wiring that's in the microsquirt guide and run VR- to the signal wire?

[rickb794]

Your only source of info (unless otherwise specifically directed) is the extra manual.
http://www.msextra.com/doc/pdf/Microsqu ... re-3.4.pdf

Section 5.2.6 for 24x

[rickb794]

Unless the Moroso wires are the EconoTune type they are probably spiral wound.

Disconnect the coils and get your input capture set right, then work on spark out.
You said this works in test mode.

So disable the coils and do your input capture without the coil output to cause interference.
You will see sync on the indicators at the bottom of your TS gauge window.
You will also see a steady rpm indication while cranking.
If you loose sync after enabling the coils you will know you have an interference issue.

Make sure you have a fully charged battery for testing, jump to a running car if you have to rather than use a battery charger as they can cause problems.
Best to leave it on a float charger overnight before tuning sessions. Variations in battery voltage will screw with tuning fuel.

[jkran89]

I just switched my signal wire to VR- like the microsquirt manual says and now I'm not getting any signal on my high speed logger but I had been getting two waves prior to this. I'm also wondering if my engine is a 58X because all the wires in the pigtail match the colors of the 58X crank sensor pigtail in the microsquirt manual with the wires being blue/white, yellow, and green, but my motor is supposed to be a 2003. It also had drive by wire so is that a signal of a 58X? I was giving the power wire 12V in the old configuration with VR+ as the signal and I had waves in my logger but maybe I was supposed to provide 5V power?

[rickb794]

https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/que ... ls-engines
https://www.google.com/webhp#q=how+to+ID+24x+from+58x