MS2 -> EF Guide (not dial up friendly)

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Over the last couple of weeks I have been collecting parts to install a Megasquirt 2 into my EF. For those of you that havn't heard of these, they are an aftermarket ECU that come in kit form (i.e. you solder it together). This weekend I got it in so I thought i would share a bit of info and a few picks. There are a few issues that you have to deal with when installing an ECU on any car. I personally hate cutting factory looms, so i wanted to install the computer completely stand alone from the factory ecu. I did this by installing a second set of sensors in the engine bay and connecting them to the MS2. This way, the EEC is happy because it still thinks its in control and happily goes on doing things I cant be bothered setting the MS2 up to do such as switching the fuel pump on, controlling thermos, BBM switching, and sending signals to the instruments.

The other big decision is which way to go for ignition. The MS2 supports both the ford TFI dizzy set up (EA->ED and EL) as well as the EDIS 6 coil packs (EF and AU). Problem with coil packs is the actual edis module that controls the coil packs is moved inside the ECU on Australian cars, so you need a US module. While not expensive (Could get one delivered for $60 AUD), I didn’t go this way because I don’t like using parts I cant get easily. So instead I converted the EF to run dizzy.

As far as installation goes, the can be ordered from a number of websites and arrives looking something like this:



The motherboard looks like this:



After about 6 hours work you have something that looks like this:



The assembly instructions are so simple you could pretty much get the thing together half drunk. The soldering is pretty easy going, just a lot of it. Mine was assembled in one night (and I was taking my time). Next you have to move into the engine bay. I used a EA lower thermostat housing so that I could fit two sensors in. Although you can split the signal from one sensor if your clever, it can come back and cause grief later so I wanted to play it safe.




Then the dizzy has to be installed where the cam angle sensor is fitted to EF. My EF seems to run the same with or without cam sensor connected so I had no issues getting rid of it.



Next came running the loom. I put the MS2 under the passenger seat with the loom running under the center console, then down to the gearbox and up to the engine bay that way.





I then needed to start hooking up the sensors and power to the loom. For power, I have a relay connected to the battery which feeds a fuse box on the passenger side of the engine bay. This realy is switched from the HEGO's 12V power feed (which is applied to the sensors from the ECU when the key is switched to on). I made a Y cable which gets signal from the O2 and power and runs it to the loom



I fitted the second inlet air temperature sensor to the airbox lid and connected all the sensors to the loom.



Finally, the MS2's internal MAP sensor needs to be connected to a manifold vacume line. I just but a T piece in on the fuel reg and ran a 4mm line along the same path as the loom.



At this point I started the car up running of the EEC alone. I hooked the MS2 up to my laptop and started the real time display (nice collection of gauges). From here I can calibrate the ECT, IAC and TPS sensors, and get a feel for what the EEC is doing with AFR to give me an idea where to start tuning. Next, I unplugged the injectors from the EEC and plugged the MS2 loom up. Turned the key, it cranked for 3 or so seconds and fired up. Idle was a little rough, but after playing with the settings for 2 min the idle was smoother than the EEC with chiptorque!

The next stage in tuning is getting the volumetric efficiency (VE) table. This is the table that the MS2 uses for fueling so it is very important. I used the tools that come with the software to come up with a safe tune. This table was good enough to drive around, but it wasn’t smooth (fair bit of bucking and popping out the exhaust). I used EGO correction to fix the AFR, but since this is based of feedback from sensors things have to go wrong before it can fix them so it still is pretty crap. Today was the first chance I got to do some tuning. This is definitely a 2 person job. The MS2 can be tuned in real time, so I drove the car while Grant (EDXR8) trimmed the table to fix up the VE values. It is a simple process, drive at say 60kph and look at the EGO correction factorm, then trim the table until the correction factor is 0. Using this method I got the lower parts of the table filled out and driving is heaps better. There is an auto tune feature that will do this for you but I wanted to get a feel for tuning process so did it myself. The EEC is still controlling spark, but that will change as soon as I get a chance to swap the spark leads over (PITA job).

So far the MS2 is getting the big thumbs up from me. It has been a time consuming process as far as aftermarket ECU's go (about 3 days worth of work in it), but the $ savings are well worth it.

Ill get some screenshots of the tuning and datalogging software next time im out with a laptop.