eDist questions...

[JeffB]

reading through the past posts about this thing i'm a little confused... it would seem as though there is no way to have a rev limiter, two-step, or shift light triggered from this system? can that be??? surely i must have misread...

also, where can i find specs on what signals the system needs and how it is actually wired... for example, do the crank pulses need to come at exactly TDC for each cylinder? and is the once-every-time-through-the-firing-order cam pulse required to be in a certain range (like at least 20 degrees before a crank pulse or something)... just trying to figure out how to set up my sensors to get the signals i need... as far as the overall system layout, do the crank/cam signals go to the FAST box first just like a normal SEFI layout? and then it sends the spark trigger signal to the eDist? i would think the eDist needs to know the crank/cam info itself too... basically, as you can tell, i'm starved for any and all info on this... i've read every edist post on here but i'm still lacking!

thanks,
Jeff

 

[tbailey76]

I haven't found anyone that'll give me tech support and I own both FAST and EDist. It seems like it's a "buy and figure it out yourself type deal". If they showed camaro owners how to hook it up to their stock pcm cars, they would rack in some heavy $$$. It seems like all the lt1 owners want to get rid of their opticraps. If I figure out anything during my next vacation (two weeks from now), I'll try and give you some info.

 

[bruce]

Originally posted by JeffB
reading through the past posts about this thing i'm a little confused... it would seem as though there is no way to have a rev limiter, two-step, or shift light triggered from this system? can that be??? surely i must have misread...

also, where can i find specs on what signals the system needs and how it is actually wired... for example, do the crank pulses need to come at exactly TDC for each cylinder? and is the once-every-time-through-the-firing-order cam pulse required to be in a certain range (like at least 20 degrees before a crank pulse or something)... just trying to figure out how to set up my sensors to get the signals i need... as far as the overall system layout, do the crank/cam signals go to the FAST box first just like a normal SEFI layout? and then it sends the spark trigger signal to the eDist? i would think the eDist needs to know the crank/cam info itself too... basically, as you can tell, i'm starved for any and all info on this... i've read every edist post on here but i'm still lacking!

The eDIST wires into the ecm's ignition output, and needs a cam synch signal.

In operation, the eDIST is asleep til it sees a cam synch pulse, then waits for 2 more ref pulses and then fires the fire plug in the firing order.

It has a series of dip switches that configure it for the number od coils, and various dwell signals, some electronics use an inverted dwell voltage signal.

the instruction sheet kinda splains it better.

 

[Craig Smith]

The eDist is fed by the points output from the ECU... the signal that would normally go to the points input on an MSD ignition system. The eDist also needs a cam sync input so that it can figure out which cylinder is #1.

The crank signal doesn't go to the eDist, it goes to the ECU, so depending on the ECU you are using, the location of the crank signal would vary. I would recommend a crank trigger setup on anything. This system is usually set up with the crank trigger set at 50 degrees.

The cam sensor signal, realistically, can happen just about anywhere. The only place you DON'T want it to happen is within the timing range where the coil(s) would be firing. In other words, don't set the cam sensor to trigger in, let's say, the 20-40 BTDC range. The eDist gets unhappy when it receives cam signals and coil signals at the same time.

I have yet to figure a way to use a 2-step or anything else with this, other than feeding an MSD DIS-4 with the eDist and having it run a set of waste spark coils.