Megajolt build project(image heavy)

Steve JL

Steve JL

Steve JL

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5 Dec 2003
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Thought some of you might be interested in the Megajolt build I have done for my Westfield.

Info on Megajolt

http://www.autosportlabs.net/index.php?title=MegaJolt_Lite_Jr._Users_Welcome

Basically it uses the coil and EDIS(Electronic Distributorless Ignition System) along with an ECU to control the sparks to your plugs in laymans terms.

So once you have ordered a Megajolt you get the bits below in the post.

IMG_0446.jpg


A few hours soldering and testing then you end up with this

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After building the ECU you have to test you have comms with your pc(I am on my third laptop now as all the batteries are knackered on mine lol and on my main pc I have tweaked it using NLite and removed the serial support :rolleyes:) .

Before you can get the ECU installed you have to do a little more work fabriacting brackets and mounting a trigger wheel for the Crankshaft Position Sensor(CPS) to reference from and (in my case a Throttle Position Sensor-TPS) to work out engine load.

Trigger wheel and bracket below

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TPS bracket and sensor below

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I went for a TPS based system as on my car I have twin Dellortos and would not be able to get a clean vacuum signal if I was to base it on Manifold Absolute Pressure(MAP) but if for example it was a single carbed vehicle or even ran a turbo this would work better.

I have no pictures of the EDIS and coil mounted yet as I am still tidying the loom.Currently on wiring loom mark 3 at the moment as I keep modifying it to make it neater and probably will be again tomorrow.

Whilst I was fabricating stuff I decided to make a bung to blank off the hole where the original distributor would be.

Pictures to follow as it wont let me add them to this post if anyone is interested.
 
More pics please, looks like a good project.

Have you done anything similiar before? I did think of using a megasquirt ECU on the golf but wasnt a 100% on setting it all up.

Are generic maps available that you tweak to your own spec?
 
Here's a picture of the distributor bung.

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And now fitted to the car

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After all this messing around the car finally ran last weekend.

When the EDIS and coil are fitted to Fords(Mondeos,Escorts and Orions) they have a function to go into limp home mode if you had a TPS or ECU failure.Basically they default to 10deg advance across the whole of the rev range.
A quick way to test that the EDIS works and that the Crank sensor and trigger wheel have been correctly installed is to try and start the car.

Well.......


First attempt and she runs :D. Had a little dance round the garage to celebrate lol.

The car has honestly never started so well.

Next we add the Megajolt and play around with the map.Will try and add more later and if I have time on saturday I will get a video of it running.
 
my new car has this system, it is totally awesome, completely reliable and so clever that unplugging the control box all still runs, all be it with 10 deg advance. with the distributer bung in mine, it has a vent going to the oil catch tank for racing.
 
Built quite a few of these now. I strongly advise you to spray the PCB with conformal coating to prevent any damp rotting it.

It's a neat system, 90% of the cleverness is all within the EDIS unit which is built to automotive standards and will run with fixed advanced by itself so reliability is good.
 
@ L1J I have never soldered down to component level before but have done lots of alarm installs in cars and plenty of wiring related soldering.
I believe the new builds come with a safe map on them but there are loads of maps out there if you look around which can be adapted to your particular car.
I do have a set of bike throttle bodies at work so did consider the Megasquirt myself but I wanted to change quite a lot on the car over winter and figured that I would not finish it all in time.
I have been offered a brand new 2ZZ-GE engine from a Corolla T Sport so may re evaluate the Megasquirt later in the year.

Luckily we have a rolling road at work and I will be doing my tweaking on that.

@Mattius what car and what engine?

@ Dogbreath already covered that with loads of conformal coating lol.It is a Westfield after all the and the rain protection isn't great. I have been caught a few times in storms.

I probably didn't make it clear in my earlier posts that the car has been running on the ECU for a couple of weeks but I have still not driven it on the road yet as the MOT is up and its currently on SORN.

I have ordered a floor mounted pedal box and bias bar for it this week and need to fit that and all the associated master cylinders and bits.Probably have to make new brake pipes as well.

Just for reference the costs so far

Megajolt = £46 inc import duty
EDIS bits from scrapped Mk V Escort = £20
Triggerwheel = £23
TPS from RS Components = £16
TPS spindle adaptor from Emerald = £7
HotWire plug lead adaptors from Halfrauds = £10

Lots of bits still to do on the car yet but I am aiming for completion in about two weeks.
 
Steve JL said:
@ L1J

Luckily we have a rolling road at work and I will be doing my tweaking on that.
Click to expand...


Nice! I thought I was lucky with resources at work!

Did you put the trigger wheel in a lathe before hand to ensure it ran true?
 
@ Triggerthat, on my car I am still running points and condenser(or rather was) although the car had a Aldon distributor which had been built for the engine spec.

Static advance was 14 deg which always made a pig to start so with the Jolt I can set my starting advance to whatever I want then when it has started the ECU will then control the advance curve depending on how I map it through ten adjustable areas.There is more to it than that but plenty has been written about it on the net.
As it is now using electronic ignition I get bigger sparks so easier starting and better running all round.Even with a distributor like I had I am still limited by the mechanical advance so its not ideal.
More power?Possibly,a much cleaner revving engine and a better drive most definitely.

A couple of things I have not mentioned also is that you can wire in a shift light,you can set a soft rev limit plus you have three programmable outputs to drive other components-relays to control water injection on a turbo for example ;) .

@L1J yes it was put in the lathe at work to check it was all running true.I needed to turn up an adaptor boss for the crank pulley so I could mount the trigger wheel easily as I didn't fancy welding it to the pulley as they have a tendency to separate in stock form!
If you saw the kit we have at work that just doesn't get used you would cry.

Didnt get in the garage over the weekend at all I am afraid,cambelt on a WRX on saturday and Goodwood today so no pictures to update.
 
Is it sad that I can spot a crossflow by the water pump pulley? :D

Right, back to have a read of this thread... ;)

Edit: what cam and head work have you had done?
 
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LOL well spotted that man.

Spec wise I am a bit unsure.

Its a 1700 X Flow,four branch and twin 40 Dellortos. It was but by Ferridays in Birmingham. When I spoke to him last year he could not remember what cam he had put in it :( .

I am guessing a 285 probably or maybe a 270. As I have never had it on the rollers it will be interesting to see what it makes.
 
That all looks nice :). I was going to fuel inject my xflow with these:

original.jpg


The trouble was that the engine really needed a rebuild as well and I ended up deciding that I should put my money towards a more modern engine rather than sink a load of cash into an engine would would need another rebuild in 15,000-20,000 miles. I ended up going down the zetec route.

Jonathan
 
I like that,who fabricated the manifold and the trumpets?

I have got a set of TB's sitting under my bench at work "just in case".

What car was it going into?

Steve
 
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