figuring out quadspark on my explorer motor

[blown5.0tacco]

5.0 explorer that came with 36-1 trigger wheel and vr sensor. i'm running a new microsquirt box. i was told to keep my coil packs, run the quad spark, all i need is my factory toothed wheel/vr pickup wired to the vr1 cable. it's wasted spark so it should fire on combustion and exhaust strokes. this is where i'm at so far and im at a total loss. any help would be awesome, but i've searched the manual and it doesnt go over this setup. i searched and found a couple mustang guys doing somthing similar but on mega squirt so i cant really use that. i looked up the vr pickup position at TDC and found 50*. there are no timing marks left on this thing. at TDC the missing tooth is just about at 12 o'clock position 90*? it looks to be 5 teeth away from the pickup so thats also 50* i figured that was correct? again, not 100% sure though.

i talked to tech support for diy autotune and they helped me a little but didnt know how exactly to wire it up, so i've been looking on and off between meltdowns lol and found this...

the firing order for this is 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8
coils that are "joined" are 1/6 3/5 7/4 8/2

i connected the heavier gauge wires that go from quad spark to the coil packs as follows:
A white goes to cylinders 1/6
B pink goes to cylinders 3/5
C green goes to cylinders 7/4
D pink goes to cylinders 2/8


obviously i ground the 4 ground wires to the block, but then i have 4 thinner gauge wire: green, blue, orange, yellow and they are the signal in wires. they need to be connected to the (IGN1) and (IGN2)

so i wired them as follows:
yellow and green to IGN1 (idea being yellow [cylinders 1/6] fire first)
orange and blue to IGN2 (idea being orange [cylinders 3/5] fire second)

and thats what im going off of.

as far as tunerstudio goes, i have the ignsetup like the picture. if i change the coil to wasted spark tuner studio freaks out and says its wrong and the tach gauge says like 65,000 rpm lol and i should mention that it doesnt run, although you probably assumed that. it does pickup RPM tho, when i crank it looks like its around 200 rpm

[tryingbe]

A white goes to cylinders 1/6
B pink goes to cylinders 3/5
C green goes to cylinders 7/4
D pink goes to cylinders 2/8

yellow and green to IGN1 (idea being yellow [cylinders 1/6] fire first)
orange and blue to IGN2 (idea being orange [cylinders 3/5] fire second)
[/img]

The two pink color doesn't match up. Do you mean one pink and one violet? Also, the shade of green matters, can you clarify on those isses?
https://www.diyautotune.com/support/tec ... -ignition/

Yellow 20 gauge Spark Input A (to ECU)
White 16 gauge Spark Output A (to coil negative)

Orange 20 gauge Spark Input B (to ECU)
Pink 16 gauge Spark Output B (to coil negative)

Dark green 20 gauge Spark Input C (to ECU)
Light Green 16 gauge Spark Output C (to coil negative)

Blue 20 gauge Spark Input D (to ECU)
Violet 16 gauge Spark Output D (to coil negative)

Also, the setting of "Number of coils" is currently set to single coil, I think it needs to be wastespark.

I also think you need 4 outputs from Microsquirt to do 8 cylinder wastespark.

[blown5.0tacco]

yeah if i switch it to wasted spark which i wanted to do because it seems right... tuner studio freaks out and says the engine is at like 65,000 rpm and wount let me use it.

you are correct with your coloring. the way i had it i split:
IGN1 went to the yellow and dark green
IGN2 went to the orange and blue

the 16 gauge wires go like this:
white i have going to the coils for cylinders 1/6
pink goes to coils for cylinders 3/5
light green goes to coils for 7/4
violet goes to coils for 8/2

im thinking to myself now, the way the firing order is, and how these coils split up, i dont know how to wire the sparkplugs, to the coil packs, or the coil packs to the quadspark so that when the plug "fires" that second coil on the same circuit fires the other spark plug in a cylinder that doesnt mind the spark... like on the exhaust stroke.

i guess what i need to do is figure out where to wire IGN1 and IGN2 to the quad spark (because i need to splice 2 sets of wires on the quad spark and dunno what 2)

then i gotta figure out where to wire the outputs light green, white, pink, and violet to their respective coil packs and what terminal on the pack.


there are 3 imputs to each coil pack. the center is 12v switched power. the terminals on the left and right control the seperat halves of the coil pack. thats why for example, violet is wired to the passanger side coil right side terminal controlling cylinders 8/2

i know people have done this... ive heard of guys running this stuff using factory ford coil packs/quad spark/explorer pickup and wheel.

[tryingbe]

tuner studio freaks out and says the engine is at like 65,000 rpm and wount let me use it.

Solve this first.

http://www.msextra.com/forums/viewtopic ... 01&t=31532

[tryingbe]

you are correct with your coloring. the way i had it i split:
IGN1 went to the yellow and dark green
IGN2 went to the orange and blue

the 16 gauge wires go like this:
white i have going to the coils for cylinders 1/6
pink goes to coils for cylinders 3/5
light green goes to coils for 7/4
violet goes to coils for 8/2

im thinking to myself now, the way the firing order is, and how these coils split up, i dont know how to wire the sparkplugs, to the coil packs, or the coil packs to the quadspark so that when the plug "fires" that second coil on the same circuit fires the other spark plug in a cylinder that doesnt mind the spark... like on the exhaust stroke.

i guess what i need to do is figure out where to wire IGN1 and IGN2 to the quad spark (because i need to splice 2 sets of wires on the quad spark and dunno what 2)

then i gotta figure out where to wire the outputs light green, white, pink, and violet to their respective coil packs and what terminal on the pack.


there are 3 imputs to each coil pack. the center is 12v switched power. the terminals on the left and right control the seperat halves of the coil pack. thats why for example, violet is wired to the passanger side coil right side terminal controlling cylinders 8/2

i know people have done this... ive heard of guys running this stuff using factory ford coil packs/quad spark/explorer pickup and wheel.

I really think you need FOUR outputs from Microsquirt to make the 8 cylinder waste spark happen, not just two.

http://www.msextra.com/forums/viewtopic ... rk#p402293

http://www.msextra.com/doc/pdf/html/Mic ... .4-69.html

[blown5.0tacco]

I really think you need FOUR outputs from Microsquirt to make the 8 cylinder waste spark happen, not just two.

http://www.msextra.com/forums/viewtopic ... rk#p402293

http://www.msextra.com/doc/pdf/html/Mic ... .4-58.html

yeah i know that sounds right, but... the rep from diy auto tune, and the tech support guy both told me i could do it this way. not arguing, but maybe they shouldnt have said that if it cant be done. the one dude even did some research and got back to me like 3 days later


*******edit, i also looked at that error code like you said. i changed it to "basic trigger" spark mode 3? the rpm issue went away and now i can select wasted spark also. thats how this is currently setup as of right now

[tryingbe]

I think you need to use WLED and ALED as ignC and ignD. You'll also need two 100R resistors.

http://www.msextra.com/doc/pdf/html/Mic ... .4-69.html

[blown5.0tacco]

I think you need to use WLED and ALED as ignC and ignD. You'll also need two 100R resistors.

http://www.msextra.com/doc/pdf/html/Mic ... .4-69.html

ok, im sold.

so according to the manual, you put the resistors and it goes back to the pin 29 5v ref. then im sure i'll have to setup something in the tuner studio software right?

and for right now, as far as wiring goes... this fires a, b, c, d, a, b, c, d, correct? so with my firing order as 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8 and my coil packs having 2 plugs per pack as follows: 1/6 - 3/5 - 7/4 - 2/8 i would wire them as 1/6 = A, 3/5 = B, 7/4 = C, 2/8 = D and then it repeats itself and gets the other side. so thats that, i guess IGN1 is 1/6 and IGN2 is 3/5, then WLED is 7/4, and ALED is 2/8. ok... i like this, im excited for this to work. or push me over the edge lol. either way its a party!

[hybrid]

Ok two threads is confusing.

You CANNOT select basic trigger, or single coil. It MUST be trigger wheel 36-1 and wasted spark for the output.
If you get an error when you select wasted spark, it's probably because one of the LED outputs (WLED/ALED) is assigned to something else.

So yes, your spark outputs are these:

SparkA - > IGN1
SparkB -> IGN2
SparkC -> WLED
SparkD -> ALED

Here is a diagram from the manual showing the quadspark wiring.
http://www.msextra.com/doc/pdf/html/Mic ... e-3.4.html


I'm not sure about selecting fixed dwell either. You need to find out what the right dwell setting for those coils is.

[rickb794]

Standard dwell.

See section 3.3 of the manual you will see that the coils should be powered off the fuel pump relay.
This will prevent any stray sparks from happening at startup and keep you from cooking a coil as power will be removed if/when the motor stops.

[ScottRS]

Tunerstudio ignition.JPG

This may not be perfect, but it's close-enough to make a 5.0 with an Explorer pickup and timing cover and a waste-spark coilpack ignition run. You'll need to tweak dwell as mine is running Bosch/VW logic coils, not quadspark/EDIS.
Also, as noted, make sure your ALED and WLED aren't assigned to something else, or you'll have issues there.

[blown5.0tacco]

Very awesome thank you all for your patience with me. I'll hopefully be able to get back Monday and test this.

One more question tho, i see (100r) and I've seen people say 1k... thats two completely different things. Just to make sure i get 100 ohm resistors, and this should be very low current on this side so like a 1/4 watt should be fine right? I may actually have a couple of them left from another project. Going to order on amazon or possibly pickup from an electronics store tomorrow.

[tryingbe]

Very awesome thank you all for your patience with me. I'll hopefully be able to get back Monday and test this.

One more question tho, i see (100r) and I've seen people say 1k... thats two completely different things. Just to make sure i get 100 ohm resistors, and this should be very low current on this side so like a 1/4 watt should be fine right? I may actually have a couple of them left from another project. Going to order on amazon or possibly pickup from an electronics store tomorrow.

Microsquirt_Hardware-3.4 page 69

Note! To correctly operate the Quadspark, the two pullup resistors for Spk C, Spk D need to be 100 Ohms

http://www.msextra.com/doc/pdf/html/Mic ... .4-69.html

[blown5.0tacco]

Tunerstudio ignition.JPG

This may not be perfect, but it's close-enough to make a 5.0 with an Explorer pickup and timing cover and a waste-spark coilpack ignition run. You'll need to tweak dwell as mine is running Bosch/VW logic coils, not quadspark/EDIS.
Also, as noted, make sure your ALED and WLED <aren't assigned to something else, or you'll have issues there.

Thankyou!

I thought i had addressed the rpm issue i was having but i was wrong. I found the output settings where i can change tach/fidle/aled/wled

I nee to set these up also... i looked up and down the list (in aled/wled) for somthing that says ignC/ignD or somthing but didn't see anything obvious. Tried looking onlike real quick but i had to leave just now to go back to work again... anyway, what are the settings?

I think im using a different version of TS because my ouputs are in boost/advanced

[rickb794]

When you select an 8 cylinder motor and wasted spark the ignition outputs are automatically assigned.

If you have anything enabled in the port assignment dialog for those ports you will get the 65000 rpm error.

[blown5.0tacco]

i had hoped that was the case, i looked and tried with the tach enabled and disabled and it didnt make a difference... i HAVE to be missing something and i wouldnt be at all surprised since i have no idea how this software works and none of it seems logical to me. like, i dont know where to look for anything, or what so i watch videos and try and learn. so far im getting a feel for it but its very slow going... im going to try and add my tune file. if anybody here can help it would be awesome, im sure if you see this your going to think i have brain damage or something. i wish i could take a Tunerstudio class and learn the in's and out's

[Laminar]

In your Programmable On/Off Output section (Boost/ Advanced menu) ALED and WLED have assignments. If I'm not mistaken you'll want to disable those:

If you get an error when you select wasted spark, it's probably because one of the LED outputs (WLED/ALED) is assigned to something else.

[blown5.0tacco]

In your Programmable On/Off Output section (Boost/ Advanced menu) ALED and WLED have assignments. If I'm not mistaken you'll want to disable those:

If you get an error when you select wasted spark, it's probably because one of the LED outputs (WLED/ALED) is assigned to something else.

Ok? I thought i had to go there and turn Aled/Wled on and assign them both to some kinda ignition output.

[hybrid]

No - if your engine is configured for more than 4 cylinders and you select wasted spark in the ignition settings, WLED and ALED will be automatically assigned as the extra ignition outputs.
6 cylinder will use one of them, 8 cylinder will use both.

So in your output settings, unassign whatever you have WLED and ALED set to. Then you should be able to select wasted spark in the ignition settings.

[Laminar]

I'm not a Microsquirt expert, but it looks to me like if you select Wasted Spark, the uS is hardwired to use WLED and ALED, and you just have to be sure that those outputs aren't double booked.