So who's played with Haltechs?

[takai]

There is normally an amplifier on the dizzy, if not then in the Haltech settigns you can change the resolution which the ECU expects for a signal. The toyota ones are notoriously weak.

[Norbie]

Hmmm, I assume the amplifier is built into the ignitor, which I have got rid of.

I do remember something about reluctor gain in the Haltech settings so I'll try playing with that. Thanks for the tip!

[takai]

Nah, the amplifier on the 4A is 180* opposite the home trigger, but looking at the pics of 18RG dizzys it doesnt seem to have one. Play with the reluctor gain settings though, we had to tweak mine a bit before it sat happy.

[1JZ-Rolla]

Yep, gain values are the first things to try.... Take your spark plugs out, start with gain values of zero, and increase the gain progressively till you get a clean rpm reading whilst cranking.

You may find (as I did) that the gain requirements are different for both the home & main triggers. Its a bitch to get right, but persistence is the key!

If all else fails, Haltech's external signal converter (RA8 I think) may help, but I think your model of ECU should have the same components/circuitry on board anyway.

Cheers
Phil

[EDIT] just noticed you're still running dizzy, not converted to CAS. Forget about the home gain values! You only have to adjust main trigger obviously

[takai]

Yeah, the E6X has all the external signal converter stuff onboard anyway.

[camrygt?]

Looks nice I might have to think about this one for my 1G!

new model had dual maps which are switchable via digital input and a few other nice things same price still ($990)

[Norbie]

I'm getting close, so close! One major problem remains though - I can't get a clean signal from the reluctor when the ignition system is active. If I crank the engine over with the coil disconnected I get a steady ~250rpm on the Haltech readout, but as soon as I hook up the coil again the rpm jumps all over the place, sometimes even reading as high as 16,000rpm while cranking!

Obviously there is some sort of interference from the ignition system screwing up the reluctor signal, but what to do about it? Any tips would be appreciated, I've been pulling my hair out all weekend over this one.

[The Witzl]

Norbie - SHIELD TEH CABLE.

It's probably signal noise induced into the reluctor wiring. Try to keep the reluctor wiring away from ignition leads and the ignition coil, make sure it is electrically shielded the entire length of the cable run (most aftermarket ECU looms have shielded wiring for the reluctor signals), and double check that you have the condenser capacitor hooked up and working.

Failing that - use l0ve.

[Ben Wilson]

Just check the basics, make sure you've got the reluctor wired the right way around, make sure your ignition wire sheild is only earthed at one end, make sure the ignition wire doesn't go past the coil or coil leads etc.

Have you tried turning the gain down?

[Norbie]

The Haltech loom has shielding for the trigger wires, but I joined that to the original wiring out of the distributor so about 10cm is unshielded. I might get rid of that bit and run the shielded cable right up to the distributor, maybe that will help. I think I forgot about the condensor, so that's another thing to try. I fiddled with the reluctor polarity and the gain is set at zero, I also moved the wires as far from the ignition leads as possible, but none of it helped much. Hopefully shielding is the answer! Thanks guys.

[Ben Wilson]

Bear in mind that the reluctor signal will be at its weakest while cranking, once the revs come up the signal should improve.

Don't stuff around with reluctor voltage, grab an analog multimeter and get it right (it's not worth the heartache).

I assume you've 100% sure of all your earths? It almost sounds like some sort of earth loop stuff to me.

[Skip]

Random RPM spikes etc. are a sure sign off interference. As Witzl says make sure the trigger/signal wires are shielded well, sounds like that extra 10cm may be causing the problem

[takai]

10cm i dont think would be a problem. The 4A runs about that length without any issues. Then again i run COP so i dont have stray high tension wires running anywhere.

[Ben Wilson]

It may stabilise once the car starts, is it jumping randomly, or just spiking now and then?

[Norbie]

I actually did get the engine started at one point after a LOT of trying. It was running like a total bag of crap but I did manage to get the revs up to about 2000rpm, and no the rpm signal didn't improve at all at higher engine speeds. The rpm jumps randomly the whole time the engine is spinning, and as mentioned it even jumps around for a while after the engine stops!