Ms Newbie ?'s , What Do I Need To Make It Work??
 

Has anyone had any expirience with this unit and on a scale of 1-10 how hard would it be to put one of these things together for a miata and how much would the overall cost be ....? MS strikes me with overwhelming curiosity, I have plenty of spare time to throw at building one of these units, and there is alot of info on miataturbo.net! what do you guys think.

I have a 94 M with 136k miles , what do i need to do the build for my 1.8:confused:

Most of the people here have had some experience with the MS. How hard it is to assemble/install really depends on the individual. If you have good soldering skills and can easily interpret written instructions then you shouldn't have too many troubles going with a MS. For prices check out www.diyautotune.com

I think that if you reckon that you have a chance of succeeding, then run with it.

Check out some of the install pages here and they should give you a good idea as to what is involved in getting MS working well for your Miata.

I've done some wild things with cars over the years, and very few of them have been as rewarding as being able to say that I built my fuel injection computer from a bag of electronic components, tuned the system myself, and understand it so that if I add aftermarket components, I don't have to pay someone to modify the tune. Definitely buy a wide band though, otherwise you're kind of flying blind. Good luck and welcome!

Here’s a page with info on my recommendations for a complete system: http://www.diyautotune.com/faq/megas..._do_I_need.htm


Here’s a quote for a pretty complete system with the ECU/Stim un-assembled:

MS130-K $189
MSStim21-K $50
MSHarness $68
IATwPiggy $21 IAT Sensor
38NPT-Bung_S $8 Bung for mounting IAT sensor (steel weld on, or JB-Weld on)
TuneCable $6.50
USB-2920 $22 (Only needed if you laptop doesn’t have a true DB9 port)
Subtotal without wideband-- $364.50


And here’s a quote for a pretty complete system with the ECU/Stim assembled:

MS130-C $330
MSStim21-C $85
MSHarness $68
IATwPiggy $21 IAT Sensor
38NPT-Bung_S $8 Bung for mounting IAT sensor (steel weld on, or JB-Weld on)
TuneCable $6.50
USB-2920 $22 (Only needed if you laptop doesn’t have a true DB9 port)
Subtotal without wideband-- $540.50


Wideband Options—

LC-1 without gauge $199 (you can still view real-time AFR and datalog AFR through your laptop)
LC-1 with analog gauge $258
LC-1 with XD-16 digital gauge $399
LM-1 with built-in LCD Readout $349 (good for tuning multiple cars, temp installation)


I think this will give you a pretty good start in the right direction. If there is anything else I can assist with please just let me know. I'll subsccribe to this thread so I'll see any replies here....

http://www.diyautotune.com/tech_arti...alon_laser.htm
Also-- check out this page, I believe all of the Miata guys are finding that my DSM writeup works perfectly for the Miata ignition system control as well. I'd like to confirm this and if there are any minor changes needed I can make a page dedicated to MS'ing the Miata.

Oh yeah mate, without your DSM writeup we'd be having a lot more problems trying to do the spark. Your DSM instructions are also Miata instructions!!

So there are no changes needed at all for the Miata? If so I'll duplicate the page and create one that's Miata specific. What years are covered?

90-97.

98-05 Miatas need a CAS sensor from a 90-97. Basically, on the Megasquirt side it's all the same.

Jerry,

The DSM instructions worked on my 96, however the Coils are very sensitive to Dwell time, mine fried @ 4.5 ms, others have had success @ ~2.2ms.

The 1.6 coils are a lot more robust.
I'm using 6.5 ms for cranking and 5.0 ms for running with my 1.6 coils (and have been for the last 7 months without any problems at all).

Thanks for the info-- I'll put together a Miata focused page soon.

Question-- are you guys using the stock ignitors or the internal VB921's?

Once I get the page together if there's anything else you see that will help to improve it please let me know. I'll post here with a link....


Anyone got a slick pic or two of a sweet looking MS'd Miata they want to see on that page?

Also-- if you could email me your .msq file to websales AT diyautotune DOT com I'll pull some of the important ignition related details from it for this article. If you feel good about the file I can post it for download, of course with the warning that it's for use as a base map ONLY and that vehicle specific tuning will be required. Just something to get people close....

I have a '90 using a V2.2 board. Don't know if anyone new will be using a V2.2 board for a new start-up again. I'm about to buy a 3.0 or two from you to run a Hayabusa powered car and a Jag V-12. What I would have found the most helpful would have been to see that the white CAS wire goes to pin 24 on the DB37, and the blue/yellow CAS wire goes to pin 25. The primary/secondary terminology threw me off. Also that when the transistors are removed, the wire to X12 and X13 gets soldered to the side of resistor R25 and R28 (V2.2 again) that used to go to the transistors. Maybe that is common sense to everyone else and I'm an idiot, so be it. Wouldn't hurt to be clear. It's great that you're doing this.

BTW, does my car classify as sweet looking? : )

http://www.teamverploegen.com/Miata.htm

The 1.8 miatas have the ignitors built into the coils so the VB291's aren't needed for them. The 1.6's could run from the VB291's and bypass the OEM ignirots.

:eek5: so this is what I need for my ms build, What version of the ms , the 3.0 of the ms, is the any place I can get the build up for my 94 miata?

I updated my Miata doc with the wire colors--- is this the same for ALL 90-97 Miata CAS's?

On the transistor removal-- are you finding this to be a requirement? Should it be a part of my doc? Details?

Your car does look good... got any other pics?

Sounds like most of you are using the stock ignitors though right? I know on the DSM's if you use VB921's you have to work out using the stock TACH as it's wired to the stock ignitors for it's signal....

That looks like a good list to me minus the few resistors needed for the input/output mods. Here's the Miata writeup 'in process'. I'm still waiting to get all of the ignition config info together, that's still the DSM stuff at the moment.

http://www.diyautotune.com/tech_arti...azda_miata.htm

Jerry,

you might find these pics up to the task:

(LM-1 connected to incar-pc and Megasquirt piggyback on the stock ECU on a 2002 Miata)


http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/twikico...GE_00066_1.jpg
http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/twikicore/dsc00635_1.jpg

I am using the stock ignitors with no problem. Someone with a later year will have to answer about the CAS wires. Don't know about the transistors. I read remove them, so I removed them.

From your page:

"The Primary tach input (CKP) (Reported to be White on Miatas) is connected to pin 24 on the MegaSquirt's DB37

The Secondary tach input (CMP) (Reported to be Yellow on Miatas) is connected to pin 25 on the MegaSquirt's DB37"

The secondary is blue/yellow, correct?

That is absolutely SICK!!!

Ah yes, it caught a little cold the other day...

It is very sweet-- great integration into the cockpit there. I've considered doing something like that but I don't have a good spot for it in my MR2.... maybe I need to buy a Miata ;)

So the DSM instructions apply to what version of the MS, and these are the same instructions used in the miata for the ms??

More or less yes they are identical. I've heard so some people removing the LED transistors as well and will need to get some more detail on that to include in a Miata specific writeup I'm working on.

These docs are for using the MS-I with MSns-E firmware.

Stop press: For 98+ models retrofitting the CAS from the 90-97 Miatas, at least for the CKP (crankshaft) part of the sensor, the DSM mod is not necessary (and in fact it won't work). This is because (I assume) the way the CAS is fitted on the 90-97 is totally different than the way you and I would fit the CAS (directly on the MS and not shared between the stock ECU and the MS).

Jerry you might want to put that disclaimer on your page until my install is finished.

Jim

It would be interesting to see how you go with the COP ignition system in your NB, Jim. Your findings have been great so far!

NBs still have wasted spark, not coil on plug. Not much of a detterent though. I'll just have to watch my dwell settings as I have the 1.8 coils with the sensitive ignitors.

Jim

That makes me feel a lot better about using MegaSquirt then, I had just made the assumption it had COP and would have to be run as wasted spark!

This thread is absolute gold for the 1.8 ignitors:
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=166507

Mate you're a ledgend! I've been looking for something along those lines to protect my fragile 1.8 coils!

now if only my MS would arrive and I could get to building the thing! :D

EDIT: although after skim reading it i'm still non-the wiser at what dwell settings would be safe for me :?

I am making another assumption here but I would say to aim for something between those, closer to the 3.4 mS to be conservative. Would that be strong enough if the voltage drops though? I don't have any direct experience so please don't take this as gospel!

Tim, is yours an NA or an NB? (mine's an NB8C, aka "facelift").

I haven't bought one yet, I'm saving to buy one for Christmas since I don't want a loan. I'm looking for a 6 speed so that will mean 2001+ (has fog lights etc).

In the mean time I have bought the MegaSquirt and a Garrett T28 (which I am rebuilding) to keep me busy! :)

JasonC has an NB8A I believe. Don't know if the NA and NB ignitors are different.

Jerry, you need to change the title of the Mazda Miata guide on your site, when you go to bookmark it, it says it is for a 4g63!