First start of a 4AGE with Haltech Sprint 500 ECU

[rallysprinter]

I hope someone has come across something similar.

I've recently finished wiring in a Haltech Platinum Sprint 500 ECU to run my 4AGE with ITBs and big cams. I want to get the engine to run well enough to drive it to the tuner to get it tuned properly.

My problem is that I can't get the engine to fire. I've determined that I have great spark and nice consistent ignition timing when cranking it with the spark plugs out of the engine. As soon as I put the plugs into the engine, connect the leads, put the fuel pump fuse back in and enable the injectors and crank it over, I don't get any spark (as determined using a timing light) at all.

Engine speed varies from about 380 rpm with no plugs, down to 320 rpm with the plugs in.

I'm running a smallport dissy to get the 24/1 home/trigger sensors and using a TPS based map provided by Haltech. I believe I'm using the G2 as home sensor and so I'm using tooth offset 22 with angle 50 degrees to get it to settle on 10 BTDC, with the spark plugs out. Using trigger and home filter level 2 to get good enough signals.

I've checked the physical cam timing against the dissy and most everything else I can think of.

Any suggestions on why I'm not getting any spark with the plugs in, or further troubleshooting tips? If no one can suggest anything, I'm going to see if I have a break in the wiring somewhere. May be there's not enough power to create the spark under full compression?

Thanks Craig

[aus jd 2703]

my under standing is you don't use the trigger angle to adjust the timing,
you should set trigger angle (3sgte is about 60 deg) and then lock timing to 10' and vary the tooth off set until you get close and then fine tune the timing with the distributor.
be aware it is possible to be 180 degrees out, so you may need to move your tooth off set up or down 12 teeth to get the spark on the power stroke.

lastly check your miss counter, also are you getting fuel? deffinately enabled injectors etc?
these are the things that caught me out with my 3sgte,

[jondee86]

I'd be surprised if a "great spark" with the plug out, couldn't make a spark with the plug in. Try unplugging everything back to the point where you are getting spark, and then re-trace your steps one at a time, testing to see which step actually causes the spark to disappear.

Whatever settings you have in the ECU won't cause the spark to disappear. They may stop the engine from starting up, but you should still be getting spark. In particular, I would look to see if the 12V supply to the coil/igniter is still there after you make each change.

Cheers... jondee86

[samkaos]

Find Luke Boden on FB

[rallysprinter]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll be redoing the timing setup today and I'll see what I can find out.

Cheers
Craig

[rallysprinter]

Ok, just had a few minutes to try it.

Trigger angle returned to 57 degrees. Looked at the home sensor. It's directly opposite No1 position on the dissy, so moved tooth offset by 12 - changed from tooth 22 to tooth 10 (about half way further around the 24 teeth trigger wheel which would put it back to putting home position at no 1 TDC. Timing with the plugs out manually adjusted to 10 BTDC using the timing light.

Put the plugs back in, still have spark according to pointing the timing light at my face, but I can no longer see the timing mark. Maybe not enough RPM?
Put fuel pump fuse back in and enabled the injectors. Crank it over. Still have spark, but getting pops and bangs like bad timing.

Anything obviously wrong on this diagnostics screen. Is 16 triggers since last home correct (should it be 24?) or do I need to check the clearance of the trigger sensor? Miss count is about 3%
ps500_4age_small.jpg

Thanks
Craig

[rallysprinter]

I think I may have found my problem(s). I had changed the dissy from a bigport to a smallport to get the 24/1 setup. I double checked the disssy this morning and found that the air gap between the trigger and home sensors was too much and the distributor itself was out by a tooth.

I don't have anyone to help me check the ignition timing with the timing light right now, but I incremented the tooth count on the haltech by 2 to cater for the movement of the dissy itself and kicked it over. Got 24 triggers since last home and it fired a couple of times.

When the mrs gets home to crank it over, I'll set the ignition timing correctly and see how we go.

Craig

[rallysprinter]

We'll it fires up with the ignition timing set correctly. Only ran it for a few seconds as the idle was too high and the throttle return spring on the ITBs isn't strong enough, so the revs were starting to rise as we turned it off.

Thanks for your help guys.