Issues with COP installation on 308 with Haltech ECU

Hey all,

So got round to attempting the "COP" conversion on my 308 . . . this was my second solid attempt at getting it working.

I'm using a Haltech E6X ecu that's currently controlling the EFI and stock dizzys. I also am using a Haltech proximity sensor with magnets for triggering the ECU which seemed to improve performance over interfacing with the stock triggers.

So the first time I installed it all I kept loosing the trigger signal from the Haltech to the MSD DIS 4 box (flashing light tells you this) . . . finally took the easy road of convincing myself something was wrong with the MSD unit and got an RMA. In the mean time, got my hands on another DIS 4 and same problem.

There's some parameters in the Haltech . . . coil charge time . . . told to set it to 2-2.5 ms . . . set it to 1 ms because "there was nothing left to try" . . . bingo . . . trigger signal is good and car seems to rev fine in the shop.

First test drive it's pinging and running like crap . . . adjust base timing but still pinging under power and it doesn't feel any more "peppy" than with stock dizzys. Played around with timing curve but still pinging and weak power.

Put stock dizzys back on . . . download old program . . . she screams again.

At this point, I think the MSD is looking for a much cleaner signal than it's getting from the Haltech outputs . . . when I scope the signal there's a lot of noise which looks like it's from the MSD box (timed pulses after the fire/trigger) . . . not sure how much noise is acceptable.

The ignition trigger wires are not shielded in either factory cable . . . don't like the idea of cutting into the Haltech cable but I'm theorizing this could be the problem . . . I wrapped some tin foil around the harness assembly where I could get to it and it "seemed" to help the signal . . . it wasn't as intermittent when I grounded the foil (I think), but then I stumbled on adjusting the coil parameter and thought I'd cured it all.

Other thought . . . outputs of DIS 4 spike at 480V . . . seems like there could be some crosstalk on these output wires which could be triggering cop's on the wrong cylinders . . . factory MSD harness not shielded and wires are bundled together but maybe some coils aren't as "sensitive" as these cop's.

Hopefully third time will be successful.

Thanks Fchatters,

Sean

 

Thanks for the info Mark.

Your settings are way different than what MSD tech told me which was constant charge at 2-2.5 ms . . . what about falling edge or rising edge trigger for the coil?

I don't think I have a spark break time on my E6X either?

I was hoping the DIS4 might give a little bit more bottom end with the multiple sparks below 3000 rpm.

Anyway, thanks for giving me something to try besides cutting up my wiring harness.

Sean

 

Thanks again Mark . . .

The rising/falling edge I'm referring to is for driving the coils . . . maybe you didn't have that in the E6K or E11 . . . I know there's also an edge setting for the crank trigger but it all seems to be working fine or I'm assuming it is since the engine runs fine with the stock dizzys.


I played around with things some more yesterday without success and might just opt for buying four twin post coils to isolate what the problem is.


Good luck on completing your construction project for the summer.

Sean