Getting my car running :/ no spark?
Turbo Mini Forums

Hey guys,

Came to start the car just now, fuel goes through fine but theres no spark, tried sending a map I have to the megajolt but I keep getting "timeout reading cylinder count" "timeout reading ignition configuration"

Sounds to me like it cant connect to the MJ

I have a PCMCIA com port card, but I thought the MJ had a basemap that should of got it started anyway?

I have adjust the sparkplugs BPR7ES to 0.8mm gap
The MJ is getting power as the green LED comes on.
Im using a standard telephone cable to go from the connector to the megajolt (if it makes a difference)

I have checked my com ports in device manager and set it up right, but it tells me I have com3 and com4 on my PCMCIA card, tried with both no luck

Dont really get what Im doing wrong here :/

Cheers

sounds like the EDIS to me,

the engine should run (or at least spark) with only the EDIS connected, so start there, pwer to the edis, power to the coil pack,

EDIS gets power from same point as the MJ and the AFR Gauge, so I know the power is there, the coilpack gets its power from the MJ as it has a hardcut limiter and Ive just checked the earths :/

How would I know if its a bust coilpack or a bust EDIS. No Spark at all just gave it another try

get a volt meter on the three pins of the coil plug,

centre should be 12v, (power in) and the outer two are the signal for firing the coil, they should be at 12v, and then pull down to 0v intermitantly when you spin it over.

Is it a recon/new edis or second hand?

As joe say it doesent even need the mj to run

13.95 1/4 mile on a 2.95 fd. Carnt be that hard to beat!

just checked the coil is getting power

Its a second hand EDIS off of ebay, :S

oaky so to check the EDIS is sending a signal to the coil, I need to connect a pin to one of the outer pins on the coil connecter and then the other pin to an earth, it should read 12v then when I turn the car over it should go to 0v?

Check both outer pins on coil connector?

It should pull down to 0V from 12v at regular intervals, as that shows you that it is firing that bank of coils (there are two banks, hence the wasted spark).

Choose from either pin 1 or pin 3 to ground and let us know what you find.

Just going to give it a go carl.

Cheers

Problem is I cant see what the multimeter is telling me, it moves up a tiny amount and kinda sits there, when I put it on pin 2 to test the power it shot all the way up. Im guessing this is telling me theres nothing going through?

Where it says "AC10v DB" it goes up between the -20 marker and the 0 marker and moves ever so slightly, this could be because it was sat on teh engine??

Right my dad has told me that I had the multimeter set to 10v and that if it had 12v running through it it would of moved across the whole of the multimeter so looks like no power there? Just going to continuity check the wiring to see if im to blame

Is it an analogue meter? i.e. does it have a needle and gauge or a digital readout?

It may be quite tough with an analogue meter as the pulses for the coils are very short, so the meter probably wont react in time and look like jitters on the needle and so it will be difficult to assess whether the coilpack is actually firing off its coil banks or not.

If it is a cheap digital one, you will probably have to look at it carefully and hope that you witness the 12v spikes, as they are that brief unfortunately.

If it's a decent digital one, it should react in time and be quite obvious if the banks are firing properly.

I don't think I recognise that multimeter setting but you need it on DC Voltage, which is usually indicated by a line with a couple of dots under it and a V for Voltage.

Hope this helps!

yeah it was set on DC Voltage, at 10v. It is an analogue one unfortunatly is there any other way I can test for it, such as (although a bit dodgey) connect the feend from the edis to an earth and see if it sparks?

Continuity check on the wiring shows that the right wires go to the right point on the coilpack, looking likley that the EDIS is buggered?

I wouldn't directly earth pin 1 or 3 of the coilpack as it would probably burn the coil out, but I'm not certain of that. Definitely not advised though!

You could always disconnect your fuel pump's power supply and pull a plug out of the engine, earthing the plug body against something else and check visually for spark? I know that's a bit of a bodge as well but if you're careful you'l be fine.

Sorry i've been on the wine so I probably won't look that useful in the next few replies!

Carl, I have tried the trick with putting the spark and visually checking it, thats how I know its a spark issue.

I take it the megajolt wouldnt connect to my laptop if the EDIS is screwed? Just wondering if thats why it was saying "timeout reading cylinder count"

What do I test next?

Summary so far:

I've prooved:

Coil has power

Wires are in the right place and connected hte right way round

*possibly* the EDIS isnt sending a 12v signal to the coilpack

Other issues:

My MJ doesnt connect to my laptop says timeout reading cylinder count (could possibly mean its not connected to the EDIS?)

Its no good pulling one plug and checking for a spark - you need to have all three earthed at the same time.

I screwed four plugs into holes in a piece of scrap ally, making their own thread, and earthed this to the block with a jump lead.Then, when you spin the engine you should see a display of sparks !

It should do this without the MJ , as already said.

Sounds like no connection between the MJ and the PC anyway.

MJ to pc:

Using an Old Dell Inspiron 1200 with a Rs-232 PCMCIA card

Spark Plug Visual test:

Left all the others in the engine with the HT Leads plugged in, then took one out put the lead back on and earthed the thread of the plug then turned it over

No im happy with what Ive done, my dad and grandad suggested doing it this way :)

What do I need to check tomorrow to narrow down both the causes of the MJ not connecting to the laptop and why its not sparking.

My list so far:

Check continuity on ALL wires
Check my Crank Sensor Wiring (both polarity and the continuity)

Which coloured wire needs to go to pin 6 (positive pin)

Cheers

id say the edis was fecked mate the joys of ebay

give em hell

ok,

if you have an old bulb you can solder a couple of wires to it and connect it between the midle and one of the outer coil connections instead of the coil, when you spin the wngine it should flash,

Also another favorite is the VR sensor, these can caus isues if wired the wrong way, or are not close enough or too far away, about 1mm is about right iirc. also iirc you can measure the output from them when cranking and they will give about a volt.

Exclude the megajolt to make your life easier to begin with, EDIS will run at a fixed 10 degrees with no PIP/SAW signal which is what MJ provides to the EDIS unit, known as limp home mode.

From memory, the EDIS unit needs 7 wires/pins, the positive and negative sensor wires, the two coil bank earth wires (bank A and B for an EDIS4 unit), a shield earth from the sensor wires (only at the EDIS end, NOT at both ends), and finally the 12v aupply and earth for the unit. The coilpack will have its 12v supply to pin 2 as i'm sure you know.

This is all that's needed to get it working. If you're not even getting any signs of life from the plugs, such as jumps from the engine even if the sparks are out of time (due to incorrect VR sensor polarity) then the VR sensor could be poorly mounted or dud. If that can be proven working then the EDIS unit is probably dead.

The autosport labs has a huge wealth of information including wiring diagrams and many people asking similar questions on their forums so you'l get it solved, rest assured.

Sorry this reply probably isn't very comprehensive, i'm now extremely tired and need my bed!

Okay,

I set my VR sensor to 0.8mm gap, will double check tomorrow. I will check for continuity on the VR sensor and also for some voltage.

I have loads of spare bulbs so will give that a try with the coil. Could I do the same trick for the VR senor?

I found that my MJ and Laptop connection issues will probably be that I am using a telephone RJ11 cable. This only has 2 wires in it and the MJ cable needs 4. Unfortuntaly I dont have a clue where my Cable that I bought with the cable is! Are 4 wire RJ11 cables common place and can I get one from maplins tomorrow

no the vr wont make enough to light a bulb,