I'm in the process of modernizing my 1995s fuel system with new components and switching to sequential fueling. I have an early 1.8 car so I only have the cam angle sensor on the back off the head, but no crank sensor. I picked up SuperMiata's 36-2 trigger wheel, I just need to get a crank sensor. I'm stuck on which crank sensor to pick, there are several oem ones from various years I could pick, and Ballanger has their own upgraded sensor. Is their any real difference between the Oem sensors or are they all functionally the same, or is Ballangers sensor worth the upgrade?

 

You need to use a NB 99-05 sensor, not a 96-97 sensor. The ballanger one is shielded with a nice DTM plug, and a long pigtail to reach your CAS wiring, but other than that I don't think it's any better than a stock piece.

 

If I go with an oem NB sensor, how well does the oem one hold up, can I grab a used one, or should I get new, and if I use a new unit, or is their an aftermarket brand that makes an oem equivalent sensor that’s proven to be as good as oem?

 

Ballenger is reputable, so I would think their sensor is good.
Otherwise...
After testing several aftermarket options, OEM is the only way to go. Buy once, cry once.

 

What is the benefit to switching to the NB style crank angle sensor instead of the NA Cam angle sensor though ?
I thought people just do it on the NB because they don't have a cam sensor and the OEM nb crank sensor is quirky due to the low resolution ?

 

Resolution. I don't have the data on my drive but spark scatter was well documented years ago. I want to say something like 6° at 7,000 depending on magnetic or optical OEM sensor. An issue for a high rpm n/a motor tuned to the ragged edge. Butt that spark scatter of the OEM NA cam triggered ignition has been the death of many a DIY turbo build. First thing we did back in the day was convert to a 36-2 crank trigger. Beyond that, the OEM intake manifold does not feed all cylinders equally, nor do most exhaust manifolds. So you have some cylinders leaner than others and slightly different VE curves. But just a single O2 sensor and a fuel/spark tables that are basically averaging them out mean you'll have issues. Fine on a very conservative tune but dangerous if you are getting threshold det anywhere that you are not aware of. High count crank trigger goes a long way towards timing accuracy. The next step is one EGT in each exhaust runner and individual cylinder trim if you are really leaning on it. For a more reasonable and safe tune, just the crank trigger is enough. But that's at least 6° before any det you can hear outside the engine.

sorry for the brain dump.

HTH

 

Thanks, brain dump much appreciated.

 

plszmr. Did you get and mount the sensor? If so, have any sensor mounting pics you can upload? I'll be doing this on my 95 this winter and am looking for sensor mounting inspiration. I don't have power steering so was thinking about bolting on a piece of aluminum stock and attaching the sensor to that. Either that or using a bolt from the oil pump?

 

Get the NB oil pump which has the threaded hole for the crank sensor. Otherwise you will end up chasing sync losses because you can't position and gap the sensor properly.

 

I have the boundary oil pump, will that work?

 

I haven’t done it yet, but I’m planning on doing it pretty soon, I’ll post in this thread when I get mounted and working properly.

 

I believe all Boundary pumps are the same m6x1 thread, so you can just bolt on a NB crank sensor.

Even the 1.6 shortnose appears to have a m6x1 threaded hole, so you can bolt on a NB crank sensor.

All NA8 pumps are m5x.7 (I think), which you can carefully drill out and tap for m6x1, grind off a little protrusion that interferes with adjustment, and bolt on a NB sensor.

The rest are all old enough that I don't care how low of miles you have, you should be rebuilding, at which point you can put a later NB or NA8 or Boundary pump on, and you guessed it, bolt on a NB sensor.