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Pre-built MS2, now what?

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Old Jul 22, 2010 | 02:54 AM
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Default Pre-built MS2, now what?

Well miata guys, I jumped into megasquirt world and it feels like I'm up **** creek. I've read the ms manual and build threads and stuff but i'm still so confused. Ok first of all, I'm turboing my 00. After reading alot on here, general consensus is buy a megasquirt. Well I found somebody selling a kit that had a prebuilt ms2 and relay board as well as a connector cable, usb-serial adapter, 12' of cable wiring, low imp resistors and 3 bar map sensor for cheaper than buying a prebuilt ms2. I planned on running standalone but now I am thinking about running my ecu parallel for fans, a/c, and alternator. Would this be easier than running complete stand alone and building circuits for those? Keep in mind that I'm not very good when it comes to circuits, (I do have a friend that can solder decent, but I would still have to tell him WHAT to solder) hence the reason I wanted a prebuilt ms2 (couldn't afford paying double for the braineack diypnp though)

Is the relay board even usable? I didn't think I needed it but he wanted to sell as a whole set. I have connectors in the mail on the way to my house so that I can either make a db37 to 64 harness or boomslang style harness or wire the 64 pin to the relay board if necessary, depending on what route i decide to take (standalone, parallel etc...)

The the basic ms2 is already built but I don't really know what I need to add (or remove) in order to get it to run with my car and I just get more confused when I read the manual. I don't need fancy stuff like Sequential Injection, launch control, boost control, maf delete (for now) or anything like that, I just need it to be able to run my stock n/a miata for now, then when I install turbo I can load a base map and already have the MS problems worked out. After turbo is up and running (and somewhat tuned) then i'll worry about maf delete and other stuff.

More problems though, when I got the kit it didn't have any resistors, diodes, capacitors wires, or anything of the sort, what pieces do I need to get from radioshack to make this work?

I understand I asked alot of questions here but if anybody could chime in on just a part or two that'd be great, anything would be really helpful.

PS, anybody in Missouri done this before? I got a case of beer waiting for anybody that could come bail my *** out
Heres what I got so far. Sorry for shitty pictures, took me 20 minutes just to get these ones.







Last edited by Golferluke; Jul 22, 2010 at 10:09 AM.
Old Jul 22, 2010 | 02:59 AM
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So to clarify, this was not built for a miata? Even with your friend who can solder, I'd suggest sending it out to someone who knows what they're doing with an MS2, such as Braineack, so he can apply the miata specific mods. Shouldn't cost you too much. I did a botch job on my PNP harness, and he resoldered it to a 64 pin ECU connector for ~$25 IIRC. He could do your harness while he's got it too, since you probably just have a 12" open ended DB37 harness?
Old Jul 22, 2010 | 07:00 AM
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Green MS2 daughterboard?
Old Jul 22, 2010 | 09:07 AM
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Ya it wasn't built for anything specific. http://www.diyautotune.com/catalog/m...nit-p-165.html
Its like that but I have the 3.0 board.

What color should it be?

I have a 2 foot, two ended db37 cable I was thinking about cutting in half for the harness.

Last edited by Golferluke; Jul 22, 2010 at 09:42 AM.
Old Jul 22, 2010 | 09:46 AM
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Originally Posted by Reverant
Green MS2 daughterboard?
That's one of the first ~100 MS2 daughterboards. They had a slightly different processor, no CAN, and can't run the MS2/Extra.
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Old Jul 22, 2010 | 10:03 AM
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Not really worth bothering with if you can't use the Extra firmware.
Old Jul 22, 2010 | 11:06 AM
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Wow are you kidding me? So I'm basically fucked?
Old Jul 22, 2010 | 02:51 PM
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Not really. Just upgrade the chip for the MSII.... that shouldn't be too bad. However, you will need to do the miata specific mods to the board.

Dave,
Old Jul 22, 2010 | 05:47 PM
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Anybody upgrade to ms3 and have an extra daughter board layin around? I got a limited edition green colored board I'll trade you!

So what about running parallel? Still need msextra?
Old Jul 22, 2010 | 06:03 PM
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Originally Posted by Golferluke
So what about running parallel? Still need msextra?
Parallel or not, the basic MS2 code does not support the patterns generated by the '99 and later Miata's crank and cam wheels.
Old Jul 23, 2010 | 10:07 AM
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I have spare MS-I CPUs.
Old Jul 23, 2010 | 10:50 AM
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Obviously you know alot more than I do, but can I run a ms1 chip?
Old Jul 23, 2010 | 11:02 AM
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yes.
Old Jul 23, 2010 | 11:55 PM
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So I get that I need to get a new chip, but what about the actual board? Mine looks much more crowded than pictures I've seen of other peoples. Are there things I need to remove off the board? I know there will be things I need to add. Then I have to buy IAT sensor, build alternator control and fan control, a/c and stuff, at what point should I just put this up on ebay, buy a diypnp and start from scratch?

What would be the easiest and quickest route to take? I really want to get done with this so I can do my turbo build (if i had gotten this done this week I could have installed my turbo next weekend )

EDIT:
or i suppose i could buy the ms3 chip if i'm getting a new daughterboard anyways. or hell for $120 more just buy the whole ms3 and set it up miata specific from the start. Probably make most of my money back selling the one i got.

Last edited by Golferluke; Jul 24, 2010 at 02:11 AM.
Old Jul 24, 2010 | 10:26 AM
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go with ms3!

http://miataturbo.wikidot.com/MS2_a

this is how you need to mod the board with it.
Old Jul 24, 2010 | 12:02 PM
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I think thats what i'm gonna do because it looks like they're in stock now. Ok so even though I have 99-00 I build the board the same as the older miatas and all the differences are in the software not hardware?
Old Jul 24, 2010 | 12:08 PM
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actually no, the crank/cam inputs are different.

https://www.miataturbo.net/showthread.php?p=305857
Old Jul 24, 2010 | 02:24 PM
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Well ordered my ms3 just now. I think the usb is what sold me on it ha ha. Hopefully I can figure it out but i'll probabbly be back towards the end of the build with questions, ecspecially about the firmware.
Old Jul 24, 2010 | 02:27 PM
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The spark outputs will be the same, you'll also want to add into your a/c switch for the a/c idle up code.

but the main difference is that the 99 cam and crank sensors need a different circuit in order to bring in the signals.
Old Jul 30, 2010 | 03:53 AM
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MSIII came today! I'm pretty excited to get started on it tommorow but had a few quick questions, they are all probabbly simple to you guys but i'm in a whole new world here lol.

First, equipment: I can't spend much on a good soldering iron, but are there any I should stay away from? I planned on going to radioshack and getting a cheap 25w (read thats a good slow starting point in another thread??) Would this work?

What about the type of solder? I couldn't find much searching besides really small solder with low flux?

What type of tip should I work with?

Second question is about the assembly, Where is the cam/crank circuits on the board? Tommorow I want to start working setting it up just like braineacks guide, but I don't know what to stay away from. I'll read up on it more, but (here comes the noob question) what part of this picture should I skip? (i'm assuming all of the topside is the same?)

Lets hope tommorow goes more like than



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