Ford EDIS

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Controller just shipped, so it shouldn't be too long before I know! :) Hopefully the weather holds out. I'll drive the Falcon in the cold, but not in the rain.
 
Got some work done on the Falcon yesterday. It was so bloody cold outside I couldn't work for too long before my hands got numb, so I didn't get all that much done.

First thing - I cleaned out the driver's side of the motor. The distributor is still there because, right now, it runs the oil pump and I kinda need that. Eventually it'll get replaced with something taking up less space.

falcon_edis_cleanedout_sm.JPG


My completed bracket, and the little 10-32 (IIRC) allen heads hold the coil pack to the bracket. The bracket bolts to the side of the motor, where the oil coil went. There are only two 5/16-18 bolts there, but it's rock solid. I had to use two small (1/4") spacers to move it out from the block, as there was a little protrusion that kept it from mounting flush.

falcon_edis_coilbracket_sm.JPG

falcon_edis_coilbolt_sm.JPG

falcon_edis_coilinstalled_sm.JPG


I was so proud of my simple VR (crank) sensor bracket I put together while the engine was out of the car. What I did not anticipate was interference from the radiator outlet! I was shy about 1/2", and there was no way to get the actual connector for the sensor on! DOH! I had to modify my bracket to move the sensor down further. It works, but it's not as stable as before. I'm going to see about having someone with fabrication tools make a better one, but this is totally functional for now.

falcon_edis_modifiedvr_sm.JPG


I stuck the EDIS module under the brake master cylinder. On the Ford trucks it comes from, it's always mounted up by the battery, behind the headlight. I'm not sure whether this is a convenience thing, or an attempt to isolate it from heat, or what. I've got good new wiring going to this location, and since the motor isn't crossflow heat should be minimal on this side of the engine so I think it's a reasonable choice. It also minimizes wiring to the coil pack and the Megajolt controller.

falcon_edis_module_sm.JPG


And, this is the beginning on the next part of this project - sorting this stuff out and sticking it in the Falcon. Plan is to run the temp sensor and VR sensor from the engine across to the fender, and then down the engine bay towards the EDIS module. EDIS module has an 8" "jump" across the engine bay to the coil pack. Then, I have a short (2'?) run from the EDIS module into the cabin & the Megajolt. Easy, right?

falcon_edis_wires_sm.JPG


Gonna try and put some time in this evening, but between early sunset and cold weather, I'm not sure that's gonna happen. May have to wait until next weekend - the anticipation is killing me! :)


P.S. There are higher res versions of these pictures here:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/co ... out_sm.JPG
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/co ... ket_sm.JPG
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/co ... olt_sm.JPG
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/co ... led_sm.JPG
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/co ... dvr_sm.JPG
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/co ... ule_sm.JPG
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/co ... res_sm.JPG
 
I spent a little time Monday night doing some wiring on the Falcon, but not much because it was cold and dark and I remembered I had a 7:30p dinner. I was pretty hasty in my assembly but following the diagrams on Autosport Labs was not difficult. I sprayed some carb cleaner in the carb and turned it over... it stuttered, halted, and backfired. Something was wrong. I double checked my wiring and it was *exactly* as indicated, so I figured the indications were wrong.

After dinner, I spent many hours googling as many wiring diagrams for '95-'05 V6 cars and trucks as I could. I was kind of shocked in that Ranger owners by far and away had more information posted on Ford V6s than any other single model. Ranger forums across the world were very helpful!

A bunch of technical stuff that nobody probably cares about:

ALL the documentation for Megasquirt and Megajolt label the coil towers left to right, with the connector facing the viewer. This is not how Ford labels the towers. Additionally, the Megajolt (and I assume Megasquirt) shows the connection of EDIS to the coilpack in a different order than Ford does. In combination this double-mislabeling works, but if you're trying to compare Ford wiring diagrams and Ford-labeled parts to what you're doing, it doesn't.

Also, Ford sold two virtually identical versions of the six cylinder coil pack - one with power on the #1 pin, and one with power on #4. I can't see any outward difference between the two, and even worse they used both at the same time, just in different vehicular applications. A '96 Mustang 3.8l V6 or a '98 F-150 4.2 V6 has the power on #4 (as the Megajolt installation manual shows), a '90-'11 Ranger 4.0 V6 has power on #1. So, there doesn't appear to be any obvious year split. ALL the MJ & MS documentation assumes you've got a coil pack with power on #4. You have to know where your coil came from in order to know!

In factory manuals, Ford labels the coil IN FIRING ORDER, not simply left to right as MS and MJ do. With the coil pack connector facing the viewer, MS & MJ just label them A,B,C (left to right), and then state the coil pack is fired A,C,B. That makes ZERO sense. Ford labels the towers B,C,A or 2,3,1 from left to right, so firing order makes a far more sensical A,B,C or 1,2,3. The pins on the coil are ordered the same. Once you have located/eliminated the correct power pin, the left pin is left tower, middle pin in middle tower, right pin is right tower.

In the end, it doesn't matter which tower is which letter or number, and here's why: Each pair of towers (remember, this is wasted spark) is triggered by a specific output from the EDIS ("ignition control") module. EDIS fires Pin 10, then pin 12, then pin 11. You can connect 10,11,12 to whichever coil pack pins you want SO LONG AS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE and plug in your spark plug wires accordingly.

I have not found this simple fact in any documentation for either system, just a lot of "if you do it this way you'll be okay." The problem with that if you actually look at the parts and their factory labeling, it seems in opposition to what the install guides are telling you to do. If you noodle on it for a while, it'll make sense... but why not just tell technically minded people who are doing something pretty complex in the first place the truth!? This becomes double troublesome since there is no acknowledgement of the "other" ignition coil... the one with power on pin #1 instead of pin #4! If you've got one of those, everything falls apart.


Once I discovered there were two versions of the coil that look virtually identical and confirmed how EDIS interacts with the coil, everything made sense. Bottom line is that if you follow the MJ or MS installation manual AND have a coil with power on #4 AND connect EDIS to the coil pack as described everything will be fine.

HOWEVER, if you have power on Pin #1 and/or you ever want to use any Ford literature to troubleshoot following those instructions will just cause confusion and, in my case, total failure.

The PROPER way to wire these things up is:

Coil Power on Pin 4: EDIS 10,11,12 to coil pack 3,2,1 resp.
Coil Power on Pin 1: EDIS 10,11,12 to coil pack 4,3,2 resp.

That wiring mirrors the factory!

So I did that. And it started right up and set into a damn decent idle!

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/co ... art_sm.mp4

This is a cold start - the car hasn't moved since Saturday and had been idling just long enough for me to power on the camera. It's about 45 degrees outside. The car is running on EDIS6 in "limp home mode." Megajolt is not connected, so timing is a static 10 (IIRC) degrees BTDC. I wanted to be sure my VR sensor could sense the trigger wheel and my used EDIS module was working before introducing complications. Clearly, it is!

All the wiring is literally just twisted together and electrical taped right now, so tonight I am going to make those connections permanent with proper wire lengths, etc. I'll probably wait until the weekend to actually install the Megajolt controller. Aside from the timing maps, the hard part of this project is DONE.
 
Also, for those of you playing at home, given you are wiring the coilpack as I have this is the correct configuraton:

5 4 6
2 3 1
4pin


"4pin" is where the 4-pin input connector is (i.e. closest to you). Most coilpacks will have all the towers labeled, and #1 is where #1 is indicated. The other five will be different.
 
Falcon runs AWESOME on EDIS. Super smooth idle (better than it's EVER been), super stable idle. Put about 30 miles on it today with not a single hiccup or weirdness. I have a very simple ignition map, just rpm vs. advance with no accounting for temp or load. I figure it's no worse than the factory centrifugal advance would be. Got some baselines for MAP and RPM behavior, so now it's on to some optimizing. Big thanks to E4ODnut for getting the ball rolling!
 
Very innovative and a job well done. I can see others doing this. It would be interesting to know what hp/tq increases this provides although the increased driveability is a worthwhile improvement to be sure. I like the use of Ford parts available from wrecking yards to build an advanced ignition system.
 
I was going to dyno this thing before, but frankly I'm not sure how meaningful it would have been. I've got a 50 year old unrestored car, so really, who knows what sort of condition anything is in? I don't think those results would be applicable to any other car. I do however want to put it on a dyno now, as tuning the ignition on the road with a 2-speed automatic is a little rough. ;) I think it's safe to say that if the CI DUI is good for +15hp, this setup must good for at least that.

I too am happy it's all Ford parts (save the temp sensor). I suppose distributorless ignition is a little out of time, but it looks pretty darned good under the hood nonetheless. Although, not sure how prevalent a USB cable hanging out of the dash was in '62. ;)
 
Here is the Megajolt Configuration utility with the car running.

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/co ... mj_map.JPG

You can see the simple ignition map I am starting with. I hooked up the temp sensor yesterday but it's not doing anything.

Cranking advance is set to 10 degrees. I thought that would be pretty conservative, but surprisingly it's right on the border of reliable starter kickback. The car starts pretty easily except when very, very cold (sub 40 degrees) - just the slightest throttle and it's live.
 
Keep us posted on your ignition as you tweak it. Are you planning other upgrades? I saw on a autolite carb site a description of the 2100 as being close to a throttle body device- the 2100 would be real nice with this ignition. Might feel real close to fuel injection.
 
The only remaining thing I am working on right now is a formal heater control valve, which I should be finished with this weekend.

I'm going to spend a little time getting a feel for the car as-is, and maybe do some additional tweaking of the ignition maps. I feel like I am running pretty significant advance at this point (14 degrees just off idle, up to 38 degrees at 3500rpm) with absolutely no signs of problems. No pinging, A:F looks good, car runs great, and fuel economy has been dramatically improved. It just seems I should be accounting for load, but it's possible that without a better fuel system trimming the ignition for load is sort of a pointless endeavor. I dunno... still working on that. :)

Down the road, maybe closer to summer, the two things I want to do are a set of CI headers and a new carb... I am just not satisfied with the 1940's cold start performance. I know it can be better. These are both things I've wanted to do for a long time, but I just never felt all that great about the six with the Pertronix... I kept thinking engine swap, and thus putting money into the six didn't seem wise. The EDIS has totally changed that. It's just so darned pleasant to drive now my reservations about giving it a little boost are gone. I was thinking about a Carter, but am totally open to a 2100 as well. I just need to look into what's involved with fitting them.
 
I went by the junkyard last weekend, and amazingly there were two '92 4-cylinder Mustangs there. I almost pulled the whole motor I was so happy (can't have too many 2.3l Lima parts around!), but instead I just pulled the oil pump drive.

Here is what it looks like removed:

falcon_edis_pumpdrive1.JPG


Couple things are true:

1. The gear is different compared to a six. It's at least a different diameter, didn't bother counting the teeth.
2. The shaft size is the same between the two, but there is a crown on top of the six's gear that interferes with the body of Mustang part.
3. The shaft on the Mustang part is about 1/4" longer from gear to nose than on the six. The recess/drive for the oil pump shaft is about 1/4" deeper than the six's distributor, so it could lose some length.

Here's an image approximating the gear interference:

falcon_edis_pumpdrive2.JPG


So.... I dropped the gear and pump drive off at a machine stop. They are gonna turn down the gear and trim the nose off the shaft. Hopefully that does it. I can't see any immediate reason why it won't.
 
Got the oil pump drive back from the machine shop.

This picture shows the modified drive versus the original. Notice the top of the gear (post above) has been machined off, and the nose of drive has been removed. The 2.3l four is thicker than the small six here, so the drive is about 1/4" longer.

falcon_edis_drivecomparison_sm.JPG


Here is the measurement between the tip of the drive the hole for the roll pin. This measurement is on a 200ci six distributor shaft with the gear removed. This is what you need to get the shaft on the 2.3l oil pump drive down to.

falcon_edis_drivelength_sm.JPG


And, finally, here it is installed. Although a total anachronism, it just about looks like this motor was designed to have distributorless ignition from the beginning! I used the hold down from the 2.3l motor, as it fits much better of the drive that the stock piece. I had to hack it in half and redrill the hole, but it's a better fit and I won't have to worry about the drive floating out the block. ;)

falcon_edis_driveinstalled_sm.JPG


Only point of concern for me is that I got the gear installed properly vertically. Pretty sure my measurements were all good, but I snapped some pictures of the teeth on the drive gear and will check out wear in a while to make sure it doesn't need adjustment.

This project is pretty much DONE. I am really looking forward to many months of driving this car and NOT working on it. :)
 
It looks great. You should have a good time driving it from what you have decribed so far. I don't mind working on them but would much rather drive them. Can't wait to hear of your next mods.
 
I really want the answer to that to be "CI header" or "disc brakes" but the correct answer is paint and weather stripping. We'll see if I can pull that off. ;)
 
Subscribe! Working up to install an Electromotive TEC unit on mine and going to start ignition only. This is a great guide for that. thanks for your hard work.
 
Absolutely. I have been so pleased with this result that I am planning to do the same with my '67 Fleetwood next winter. It's ultimately so very little work I can't think of a single reason not to! :)
 
Can you verify for me that your trigger wheel
Trigger wheel (Miller's Mule custom part): $120
has 35 teeth and that the missing tooth spot is the same size as the would be 36th tooth? And that do you have a recommendation for how much larger in diameter the trigger wheel needs to be than the harmonic balancer/pulley?

thanks,
-ron
 
Correct - it's a 36-1 (that is, thirty six minus one) trigger wheel. The sensor picks up a waveform generated by the 35 teeth, and the missing 36th tooth creates a break in the wave so the control unit knows TDC. The trigger wheel doesn't explicitly need to be bigger than the harmonic balancer - its function is largely dictated by the distance of the sensor and the relative size of the teeth (peak to valley). As long as whatever the wheel is next to is consistent and doesn't have an unpredictable magnetic effect you'll be fine. Here's mine:

http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/mi ... l0.jpg.jpg

You can see the teeth are just just a fraction of an inch larger than the pulley. The result has been VERY accurate RPM sensing.
 
Gonna link to this other thread here:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=70110

It seems a 65a alternator isn't quite enough to run EDIS and the rest of the car reliably under worst-case circumstances. I'd say moving to a higher output alternator is good insurance if you're going this route.
 
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