Ford EDIS

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thesameguy

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I've got my old 170 sitting on the ground, and a new-to-me 200 sitting a little further away on the ground. I've got Pertronix on my old LoM 1/4" drive distributor, and points on the new LoM 5/16" drive distributor. I've got a recently rebuild Holley 1904 on the old motor, and an unknown (but reputed good) Holley 1940 sans SCV on the new motor. What to do...

1. My Holley 1904 onto the new motor, and move my Pertronix to the new distributor. That gives me a carb-> distributor / SCV -> LoM match for about $0.
2. Buy a '68+ distributor and a new Pertronix module and use the existing non-SCV carb. That's a non-SCV / conventional distributor match for somewhere between $100 and $150 depending on whether the distributor is used or new.
3. Invest in a DSII ignition conversion. That's somewhere between $100 and $300, depending on where the DSII parts come from (junkyard, rockauto, Classic Inlines, etc.)
4. Move to new tech: Ford EDIS-6 run from a Megajolt controller. That's about $300-$350, it seems - $150 for the MJ, $50-$100 for the EDIS parts, and then about $100 for the trigger wheel setup.

I am really leaning to #4 - a fully programmable ignition system for not much more than a CI DSII setup sounds pretty cool to me. It wouldn't look anything approaching period, but IMO not much worse than a big ol' DSII dizzy and some electronics hanging off it.

That leads me to these questions:

1. Will the single-belt crank pulley from my '62 170 fit on the '67/'68 200? It has a dual-belt pulley on it now, but has a single-belt alternator conversion so one pulley is doing nothing anyway. My single-belt crank pulley is six months old, in perfect shape. Losing that extra depth makes room for a trigger wheel.

2. Related, does anyone make or was there ever available a single-belt water pump pulley?

3. Does anyone have any recent experience with EDIS on an old six? Any ignition maps you'd like to share?

I'm not sold on EDIS, but it sounds like fun to me. :)
 
there are options, I vote to control your own timing... any version...

I'm personally going to a GM OBDI ecm+tbi, and having it control my DUI (I have to send it in to them to convert it over) then I'll go and mod the ECM so I can control it.

many options out there...
 
I am going to stay with a carburetor for now - I am not going to put a dime into fuel injecting the six. So whatever my ignition solution is it's going to be stand alone, and Ford EDIS a very competent system and Megajolt insanely simple to wire up and run and the final product is extremely compact. Of all the stand alone systems out there, it offers the best value. If that's the road I'm going down, I just need to know whether my good single-belt crank pulley will fit on the later crank. It seems like it will since it's the same part number across a variety of '60s and '70s Fords, but I just don't know if something special was done to accommodate the double belt.
 
Thought I'd follow up on this.

I ended up sending my crank pulley out to Miller's Mule in Katy, TX. Jason Miller designed a trigger wheel to bolt onto the pulley and get me what EDIS expects:

falcon_trigger_wheel2_sm.jpg


The price was a very reasonable $120 - if anyone is looking for something like this, he has the design now and could sure make more of them. It should bolt to either a single-belt or double-belt pulley, but obviously would prevent you from running a third belt for power steering or AC.

I was concerned that wheel would interfere with the fan, but it doesn't. Unfortunately, the attaching hardware does:

falcon_trigger_wheel4_sm.jpg


I'm not concerned about this right now since I won't be running EDIS anytime in the immediate future. I just wanted to have all the pieces designed and available while the motor was out of the car. At this point, I just want to get the car back on the road for the warm months - I'll get back to this once the rain comes back.

I am going to pick up some button head bolts to see if they cure the fan->trigger interference, but if not I will just remove the trigger wheel for now. When I actually move forward with it, I'll either get a slightly thinner radiator and space the fan out from the pulley, or convert over to an electric fan.

Tonight I am going to finish the bracket that will hold the crank sensor to see if it adds any more interference to consider, but it's pretty slim so I should be ok. I'll get some pictures up of that this weekend.

Only things left to figure out (which aren't important now) are what spark plug wires to use, and what MAP sensor to buy. The whole thing will come in substantially under $500, which I think is cheap money for a fully-programmable solid state ignition system that can be as aggressive or as economical as I want it to be. Not to mention built entirely using cheapo '90s era Ford parts that any parts store will carry.
 
Final piece of the puzzle:

falconsensorbracket3_sm.jpg


Larger pics:
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mi ... acket1.jpg
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mi ... acket2.jpg
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mi ... acket3.jpg

I would have liked to have it an inch or so higher, but bar aluminum is what I had, and I don't really have the tools for more significant fabribation. Bar stock + Dremel + drill got the job done. I also picked up some button head bolts for the trigger wheel which addressed the fan clearance issue.

I replaced the two bolts on the timing cover with all thread, then installed lock washers and nuts and torqued those down to spec. Then a spacer, the bracket, and more nuts. That way I can remove the bracket without messing with the timing cover. The top hole of the bracket is slotted (not in pictures - I did it after) to give me a little angular adjustment of the sensor, and the lower holes are just slots so I can adjust the sensor gap. The sensor->trigger wheel gap is .030 to .060, and apparently different sensors are happier at different gaps so adjustment room is important to optimize performance. Crank sensor itself is a Standard Motor Products PC51, which is from piles of Ford cars including '90s (RWD) T-birds and Cougars with a V6.

There is a specific orientation for the trigger wheel. At TDC, the sensor needs to be at the 6th tooth behind the missing tooth. That's why the mounting for the trigger wheel is adjustable - to account for position of the crank sensor and the position of the wheel itself. Here's an image of relative placement of parts for EDIS:

http://www.planetcampbell.us/TriggerWhe ... itions.gif

I am going to put the motor back in the car this week, and then start collecting the rest of the EDIS parts. Installing EDIS at this point would just be a small amount of wiring and making up some sort of bracket to hold the coil packs in place. I am not sure whether I'll mount them to the engine (where the coil currently is) or on the fender. Probably on the engine, otherwise there will be a mess of spark plug wires hanging in the breeze. ;)

Question: Is there a part from some other Ford car that I can use in place the distributor so the oil pump still has a drive, or do I need to hack the top off of a distributor? I don't think any derivative of the six ever had a cam-driven distributor or distributorless ignition, so I'm not sure why that part would exist, but thought it was worth asking. :)
 
I think your right about needing to use the base of an old 200 distributor to drive oil pump don't know of any V6 part that might work. The Ford 5.0 in the Explorer / Mountaineer uses that type of stub distributor to drive oil pump and I think as a cam position sensor. So maybe a combo of parts adapting the top of the 5.0 part to use for cam position sensor with that 200 base or if the V8 stub could be re-machined to fit a 200 and then use the 200 drive gear.
 
bubba22349":1h0wfe76 said:
I think your right about needing to use the base of an old 200 distributor to drive oil pump don't know of any V6 part that might work. The Ford 5.0 in the Explorer / Mountaineer uses that type of stub distributor to drive oil pump and I think as a cam position sensor. So maybe a combo of parts adapting the top of the 5.0 part to use for cam position sensor with that 200 base or if the V8 stub could be re-machined to fit a 200 and then use the 200 drive gear.

That could be a good setup - I'll have to go find one to play around with. Thanks!
 
I think this is great!!!

keep it up, and document everything as I am sure others might want to follow suit, or even make a kit and sell to other i6 fanatics... like me!
 
bubba22349":1tqc9z82 said:
I think your right about needing to use the base of an old 200 distributor to drive oil pump don't know of any V6 part that might work. The Ford 5.0 in the Explorer / Mountaineer uses that type of stub distributor to drive oil pump and I think as a cam position sensor. So maybe a combo of parts adapting the top of the 5.0 part to use for cam position sensor with that 200 base or if the V8 stub could be re-machined to fit a 200 and then use the 200 drive gear.

Edging closer to this, and it looks like all the motors in the Explorer used this type of an arrangement. Dorman makes all of 'em:

http://www.dormanproducts.com/catalog/O ... nizers.pdf

That begs the question, is there a chance any of these engines are known to be dimensionally similar to the I6? The 689-105 (for a 4.0l) looks to be very similar to a stock 200 dizzy. Shoulda looked for one at the junkyard on Saturday but forgot. :(

Edit: Looks like the same type thing (a "camshaft synchronizer") was installed in later Vulcan V6s, as in the Ranger and Taurus. Wonder if the not-nice people at the local Ford dismantler will let me play with their collection?
 
yet again I point out the easy and cheap fix....

cam sensor from a 2.3L OHC ford.....they are about $50 new

press off the 2.3L pump drive gear and press on a 200 gear and drill for the pin.

done.

or if you want a locked dizzy....

2.3L OHC dizzy
swap gears as above
install a reluctor of a batch fire V6 ford (CFI 3.8L cars have these)
install V6 cap from a 6 cylinder TFI equiped ford.

This will give you a drop in TFI module distributor for EFI (I would skip the megajolt and just put in a MS1 with this....could got to EFI with just more wiring at this point)
 
I appreciate the reminder about the 2.3 cam synchronizer - I thought I'd read that somewhere but couldn't find it.

I am not interested in TFI (too many issues) or Megasquirt (I will never fuel inject the six). Megajolt was the decision after a lot of reading & searching. It's a good match for what I need & want, and the total cost will be inline with a CI DUI. More than I should spend, but still within reason.
 
After some consideration, I think rather than trying to mount the coil to the fuel pump cover, I'm going to see about getting a friend of mine to produce a bracket for the coil, something like this:

steel_sm.jpg


http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/coilprj/steel.pdf

Idea is to mount it to the holes where the coil normally bolts.

My only concern with this setup is that it may not be "stable" against a vibrating motor with just two bolts on one side, but I think given a heavy enough material it'd be okay. If it turns out critical, I could add a brace to go from the side/bottom over to the clutch pivot point (which I am not using). I am also not sure that both side braces would be necessary, but I put them in anyway. I'll get the opinion of the guy who is actually going to make it.

And that begs the question, should I make more than one? Is this something anyone else would be interested in? I imagine since the pattern exists anyone could replicate it, so perhaps making more than one now would just be wasteful...
 
I will be dropping my mockup bracket off this weekend and having it turned into something useful. After that, I just need to figure out some spark plug wires and order the controller. Probably still a month out, but what could possibly go wrong? ;)
 
Took a while to get my bracket made, but it's done.

falconcoilbracketinstalled.jpg


Threw it on a spare motor to see what it looks like - going to paint it to prevent rust this weekend.

I'm currently buried fixing up a friend's PT Cruiser, but I'm going to order the controller in a week or two... the last piece of this puzzle!
 
Some other info, as my sloooooow project progresses -

I needed a connector for my VR sensor to build a wiring harness. Rockauto carries a pigtail for about $25, which seemed insane. The Standard Motor Products PC51 VR sensor I am using to pick up the trigger wheel is from a bunch of RWD V6s, but getting to the sensor on those cars is a HUGE PITA. The connector is common across a few VR sensors, including the SMP PC74, used on the OHV V6 in oval Tauruses. On those cars, the sensor is easily accessible from the top of the motor on the passenger side of the car. The harness squiggles up before disappearing into a huge connector on the firewall, but there is a good 2' of perfectly usable harness that you can get to easily with a 10mm socket (remove the big connector from the firewall) and a wire cutter (cut zip ties, remove insulation). Easy. This harness is useful as the VR sensor needs shielded wire to cut electrical interference from messing up the signal.

I also needed a connector for the EDIS6 module. Any mid/late '90s Explorer or Ranger has that. The EDIS module is located on the front crossmember, passenger side, right next to the radiator/behind the headlight. It's a single 6mm or 7mm (can't remember) hex to get the thing out. The harness goes up the passenger side of the car, under the fusebox (which lifts out, no hardware) and then disappears under the brake booster. I was able to get a very good 30" of harness, including more shielded wire for the VR sensor and what I hope will be enough shielded wire to connect to the controller. If you are building one of these, grab the EDIS6 module as well, as they are pretty durable (used = ok) and new ones are insanely pricey!

I like using factory wiring wherever possible so that colors match (for later troubleshooting ;)) and so I have some comfort in its durability. If you prefer to just buy wiring, both Mouser and McMaster-Carr have shielded duplex wiring in varying lengths. McMaster-Carr part number 8219K61 seems like a good match - it's 18ga duplex shielded with PTFE insulation and near 400-degree temperature resistance. If my scavenged wiring ends up short, that'll be my go-to since it's available by the foot. But, my solution has me out of pocket $6, so here's to hoping. ;)

When I installed the Pertronix, I used a SPST relay triggered by the ignition switch and pulling straight from the battery for power. The relay is right by the brake booster, behind the driver's side shock tower. I'm going to repurpose that relay block and swap in an SPDT relay to power the coil pack, EDIS6, and the Megajolt controller. You've seen where the coil and the sensor are. The EDIS6 module is going right under the relay block, to minimize the wiring length between it, the coil pack, and the Megajolt controller. Given the factory placement of the EDIS6 module right by the radiator and hidden behind headlights, I assume it doesn't mind heat and doesn't need much direct airflow, so I think my placement on the Falcon is sane.

Only thing left to do is figure out spark plug wires. The coil pack uses a funky latching connector, so standard wires won't work. I think I'm going to turn back to the OHV V6 there - the relative location of coil pack to spark plugs seems similar to the I6, so hopefully I won't have messy wires hanging around. I hate that. ;)
 
I am waiting for my Megajolt controller to ship, but my attention turned back to "what goes in the distributor hole" question. There was discussion about hacking off the top of the stock distributor, or using a cam synchronizer from a later car, but it appears the correct answer is an oil pump drive from a 1991-1993 Mustang with a 2.3l. There's one on ebay now:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-2-3-Distri ... mp;vxp=mtr

Super clean solution! Just needs the drive gear swapped and that should be pretty easy. Off to the junkyard!

I also ordered a couple sets of spark plug wires from various Ford vehicles to see what fit the best. Ideal solution seems to be three sets of wires from a '96-'00 Taurus/Sable with the 3.0l OHV motor. Yeah, I could make do with one set and have some extra length, but I really just need six super-short spark plug wires. Denso 6716089 wires, which are $14/set from Rockauto and pretty good 8mm wires. So, $45 solves the problem and will look neat and tidy. And maybe I can find someone who needs the other 12. ;)

Megajolt has an input for a temperature sensor, which is used to modify the ignition map. That is going to be super handy for getting a reliable cold start with a carburetor without giving up economy/performance once it's warmed up. That feature right there is worth the price of admission to me. It uses a GM sensor (like Megasquirt), #12146312. That's also:

Standard Motor Products part: TX3
Airtex part: 5S1018
BWD part: WT3000
ACDELCO part: 213928

It's on MOUNTAINS of '80s & '90s GM cars including 1993-1997 V8 F-bodies and most '85-'92 F-bodies. I junkyarded mine (and grabbed some wiring while I was there), but the sensor is only $15 new and a wiring pigtail is available for another $15 or so if you prefer new. Threads are 3/8" x 18 NPT, and it happily threads right into the plug on the thermostat housing.

That's where I am. I have all the pieces except the actual brain, which hopefully will be here within the next week or two.

Total cost:

Megajolt Controller, with pre-installed hard rev limiter and MAP sensor and programming cable: $200.00
EDIS-6 coil pack (Airtex part: 5C1123): $52
Bracket for coil pack (friend of a friend): $20
EDIS-6 module (Airtex part: 6H1107): $15 (@junkyard, $150+ new)
3x Spark Plug Wires (Denso part: 6716089): $45
Trigger wheel (Miller's Mule custom part): $120
VR Pickup (Standard Motor Products PC51): $25
Temp Sensor (Airtex part: 5S1018): $1 (@junkyard, $8 new)
Misc wiring (VR sensor, coil pack, EDIS module, temp sensor): $10 (junkyard, around $50 new as pigtails)

$488

I think this compares very favorably price-wise to other ignition solutions out there and offers the advantage of full programmability and temperature compensation. Time will tell how well it works, but I'm optimistic. ;)
 
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