need some moral support installing MS...

[liam012]

I amshamed to admit it
"my name is liam and i have had megasquirt ready to install and in a box for four months now"
there i said it
I just cant pull the finger out. I am not sure what even is stopping me, I think mostly its the loom, i just cant face sticking my paws into that and trying to figure out the wiring.
how embarrassing - i even have good call to install it as i think the fuel and spark is a smalll bit of on the motronic-
and do Iinstall it ? , no i just accelerate real smooth and easy so i dont put it under mad load that often and it doesnt pink at all then.
i wouldnt mind but neither computers nor cars at this stage intimidate me - i build pcs for friends i teach IT and i spend the rest of my free time under the bonnet.

[e30_Turbo]

So Liam, do you want a "how to" then?

Is this of any use:

[liam012]

Thanks fozzy
would you beleive i even have that drawing - Ant supplied the lot!
Its just cutting up the loom i think - i keep putting it off...
is it a case of testing for continuity on the pin end of the loom and the wire out in the bay?

[JonnyBravo]

Your not alone man, I 2 had MS for sometime now but haven't got the finger out and my car has been off the road for the passed 4 months lol

It's the tuning part I'm not sure on

but go for it!!! get it installed then you can give me a few pointers lol

[e30_Turbo]

Thanks fozzy
would you beleive i even have that drawing - Ant supplied the lot!
Its just cutting up the loom i think - i keep putting it off...
is it a case of testing for continuity on the pin end of the loom and the wire out in the bay?

Two ways as I see it, re-use motronic loom, I know Ants a fan of this as it cuts down on wires etc OR rewire the whole engine using the MS loom etc.

I've only used the stock loom for the VR sensor and the rest is rewired to the MS loom. As the wires are all colour coded and I spent a while labelling them up also as I know what I'm like!

IIRC you can pull the main plug of the motronic ecu and testing the wires till you find the ones you want!

There isn't that many anyway so stop worrying, bite the bullit, it's worth it!

HTH, Mark

[FlappySocks]

How about getting an old motronic ecu and butchering it for the socket? Then there is no need to cut the wires.

Want to do mine when the weather gets better. It's the tuning part that bothers me too.

S.

[jaistanley]

Ha Ha!

'Hi, my name is Jai Stanley and I too have an installation problem.. There I said it. I have an S50 engine in my garden and have done for nearly a year..'

Phew.

My advice: Go find yourself a Nissan Micra (great little cars, been driving the missus' recently) for a few hundred quid that you can use whilst the wiring is getting done so you can enjoy it stress free...

Jai

[liam012]

thats what i thouht flappy but then you have the nightmare of getting the signals you do need into the ecu that you do need dont you - i bought an old ecu just for this purpose but it will render my display - rev/mph/temp useless?

[FlappySocks]

Do you need to keep the old ECU connected then?

[e30_Turbo]

thats what i thouht flappy but then you have the nightmare of getting the signals you do need into the ecu that you do need dont you - i bought an old ecu just for this purpose but it will render my display - rev/mph/temp useless?

If you remove the moronic ECU you will loose the dash, revs, temp etc. Not sure on speedo but I would imagine it'll need some power to run. The DME will lose power too.

All you need to do is locate the wires you need in the moronic loom and cut and splice into them, nothing more to it.

IMO a new loom would be best idea as you aren't relying on 15/20yr old wires and connections for your brand new ECU plus it's easier to locate them if needed.

Having wired and rewired mine a few times now I'm glad I used the MS loom and labelling was a damn good idea too!

[Gunni]

The gauge cluster is powered from inside the car, the only ECU signal is RPM´s and mileage gauge,
it is a single signal that the SI board calculates from depending on the CHIP moduel installed,
the tacho is a 12v signal that the MS should be able to provide,
if you have it running but aren´t getting any revs, you should check for variable continuity on the wire and it that is there it will need a 12v pickup to "charge" the square wave.


With a simple car like the E30 I vote rewiring as the original loom has all kinds of ground locations, along with sharing of 5v´s, 12v´s and so on, and you save alot of wires as you don´t leave any unused one hanging about.

[liam012]

so it could be as easy as this....:

[Ant]

Liam, that is perfect dude

gut a stock moronic and use the pins exactly as they've done above.

or, unplug the moronic, and tap into the connector on the car side, end result is the same.

wire the IAT pigtail loom into the back of the existing AFM plug( under the boot=weatherproof)

do the same for the TPS loom.

MS can run the tacho, but not when wasted spark is employed, we're working on it.

use the MS fuel pump ground to ground the DME and FP relays,

job jobbed

[JonnyBravo]

Loving that wee adaptor would make things a lot easier coz I don't fancy cutting into the loom just in case I do summit wrong

As for tuning MS does anyone have or can tell me where i would get a base map for a 2.7 motor?