lyonnate23

iTrader: (1)

Hi everybody! My name is John and I'd love to give you a little background on who I am before anything else. I am a 22 years old and I just graduated from Humboldt Sate University in the spring with a Bachelors in mathematics. Before my Miata I drove a 2002 Mustang GT convertible which was given to me (Privileged to some degree) where my parents bought it brand new in 2002 and it was given to me as a graduation gift in 2012. I had so much fun in that thing! I took good care of it, I loved it, but then reality slapped me in the face. My Mustang was totaled while it was parked by some kid (stole an SUV and crashed into my car) who the police never caught and insurance wouldn't pay out. Pissed as I was I needed a new car and quickly. I did tons of research on what car I should invest into next and saved up $5,000 for a car. I knew I loved the speed and torque that the Mustang offered but I wanted more handling. This is when I met my first Miata. Having been so privileged of having a nice car given to me that i never buying a car before and never needing to understand boost because of 8 cylinders naturally aspirated beauty, I was in for a world of surprise. I bought this 1990 Miata for $5,000 and all I knew is that it was supercharged. I had no idea how boost worked, no clue on aftermarket ECUs (still do not really), no clue on short nose or long nose crankshafts problems (mine is a broken/JB weld fixed shortness crankshaft), no clue on narrow/wide band. Bottom line, I was in for a world of larding and time spent on forums trying to get myself caught up with 'how to boost, properly'.
This brings me to where I am at today. A little over a month ago I bought a Megasquirt 2 diy. I didn't think it would be so hard but with all the outdated forums out and upgraded circuits out there (like Joe's upgraded spark output) I couldn't tell what what relevant, what was too old or had better circuits, how exactly the input and outputs are configured with Megasquirt or even which ones I would need or were optional. So for the past month I have been digging through the forums trying to decide if I should've bought the MS-3 instead, decided which more circuits I needed, understanding the software. So if anyone had and relevant threads that i should read please post below.
Also probably relevant to that last sentence: I own a 1990 Mazda Miata, JR SC w/ only 5.5 psi of boost, stock injectors (for now), still currently running the Denso ECU.


Quick questions:
1) Is the alternator voltage truly internally regulated?
2) Does the single wire switch in the front of the engine bay for the coolant control the relay for the fan or do I need to make additional modifications?
3) How do I avoid sync loss before I have to make modifications after I arrive at the problem? In correlation to this post.

afm

iTrader: (3)

1. The 1.6 alternator (like the 1.8 NA alternator) is internally regulated
2. The single wire thermoswitch is used with the stock ECU to control the fan. If you have a properly set-up Megasquirt, it will control the fan, making the thermoswitch useless.
3. Can't help you here, I've only ever used fancier sensor interfaces with my MS3s

The MS2 is a perfectly fine ECU; something like an MS3+MS3X is just easier to setup, and offer lots more useful features.