93 F150 300 i6 Megasquirt "how to and build thread"

ninjawhosneezes

New member
INTRO:I have posted this here in the fuel injection section for two purposes. The basis of my build is the Megasquirt fuel injection, AND I had a little hard time finding all the info I needed. So hopefully this can help another person who seeks to add a megasquirt system to their vehicle.

MY INTENT:This will NOT be an "all-in-one" single post or guide by any means. I will do my best to document step by step how it is all done (including how to WIRE the ECU for the Ford EEC-IV 60 pin connector/ adapter/ break out board).

WHAT I HAVE: is a DIYPNP with 60 pin ford BOB. That translates to "Do It Yourself, Plug N' Play with 60 pin Break Out Box). The vehicle is a 1993 Ford F150 300 I6 with EEC-IV and TFI. It does have the distributor style ignition system.

A little history: This ford F150 1993 was given to me by my father in-law, kind of a vehicle favor exchange, he needed some tires on his ford van. So I took care of the van, and eventually received the truck as a trade for what I had done. Now, this is not a pretty truck. Its rusted out, body is useless. The frame and engine are fantastic. The engine has about 180K miles on it. The transmission is a 3 speed C6. When I finally get around to doing what I want, well lets just say it will have a new body. What actually will happen... well you dont read the end of the book first do you?

In my next post I will start with some pictures and basics on the Megasquirt.
 
In the beginning... You start with what looks like a piece of plastic with hundreds of holes in it and a lot of electrical components. When I finally opened the box I though "I got in WAY over my head, there goes all that money." But I was pretty determined to do this, to have a vehicle powered on something that I put together!

So you have three components if you but the plug and play kit like mine, you have the white "Microsquirt" module, and it is pretty much a processor in this setup. Then you have the main board, this is the bigger one, lots of holes in it. And then you have the break out board, which quite literally is just a board that takes the output from the Megasquirt ECU and jumps it over to match the connector on your OEM wiring harness.

Please note that the Microsquirt module (white) is the only part that comes pre-assembled. But you do have to solder a connector to it.
 

Attachments

  • 20170311_171950.jpg
    20170311_171950.jpg
    6.6 MB · Views: 435
  • 20170311_193303.jpg
    20170311_193303.jpg
    7.2 MB · Views: 428
  • 20170317_173132.jpg
    20170317_173132.jpg
    7.4 MB · Views: 429
Its really cool that someone else is interested in doing this with their truck. This forum is also a work in progress as well as the vehicle, nothing is truly complete yet. Another bonus for any readers is that any mistakes I make, you will obviously have the answers to fix them. Hopefully I can work through all these things.

A little update, I am currently waiting on a "junk" ECU to arrive. Ordered it on ebay, all i need is the 60 pin connector that the kit actually doesn't come with. So ordering a whole ECU for $30 kinda beats rummaging through a junk yard. Its kinda cold and wet around these parts.

Im in [highlight=red]Ohio[/highlight] by the way, originally from [highlight=green]Michigan[/highlight] Go green. :rolflmao:
 
Update: So I did get my junk ECU and un-soldered the connector... I do NOT recommend it. Buy that $40 connector. It will save you time. Here is why... The OEM ECU happens to have silicone plastered across all the terminals to seal them from corrosion and such, which I admit is great for longevity, but sucks when modification is necessary.

20170320_190925.jpg
20170320_190935.jpg

The process that should be used if junkyard ECU is your only or best option is as follows: 1 Disassemble the case by removing the screws (two of which on mine were filled with solder to prevent tampering), 2 Once in the case remove the one and only plastic pin that secures the big connector to the board, 3 Then take a type of wire brush (the toll i found easiest to remove the silicone) to remove the this layer across all the terminals on the connector and remove it from the board.

20170320_223355.jpg
20170320_223413.jpg
20170321_151534.jpg

This is challenging. The two best methods I have found are a solder sucker/ remover, or bridging all the terminals with solder so that they all melt at the same time and just take it off.

NEXT POST: I will be installing firmware and once I verify that everything works, I will post all the wiring maps. I wrote it all down as I assembled the unit. I just dont want to mislead anyone. Without a guide you are left to sift through the wiring on each end of the connector and figure out what goes where.
 
Update: The truck is running! Most everything works, but I have to sort out a sensor to get Air Fuel ratio.

On some other forum:
"by LT401Vette » Sun Aug 25, 2013 6:26 pm
There must be some form of feedback as to when the engine is running to rich or lean. Either O2 Volts, AFR, Lambda or at least ego Correction by the firmware.
In all cases those are based on feedback from some form of O2 sensor."

At this moment I dont see anything I could use off the OEM ECU pinout diagram. I was hoping that the ECU would have some form of O2 return to it but I can not find anything.
 
I'm using an Innovate LC-1 wideband O2 system on my Econoline build. Wideband is a must. Only one wire from the sensor goes to the DIY PNP board. Looking at the diagram below (92-95 4.9) pin 29 should run to your 02 sensor, along with pin 49. Use an ohm meter to see which of those goes from the o2 sensor on your truck thru the harness to the connector. Then jump from MS to that pin on the BOB. Then it's just a matter of following the wiring instructions for whatever wideband sensor you're using and tying it into the correct wire(s) in your harness for ground and power. See my Econoline thread for my system diagram that includes the O2 sensor.

Hope that makes sense.... 8)

2013-06-12_082814_92-94_f150_4.9_wiring.gif
 
My ignorance. Pin 29 is the heated oxygen sensor. got it wired up a while ago. Been tuning it, experimenting with timing and A/F Ratios. Its fun. I have to do some mechanical work on the truck now.

I will gather some paperwork and resources and post them here for anyone on this endeavor.
 
Sorry that it has been so long since I have posted here. I have not forgotten and I am still working on the truck. I have been driving it and using it lately. Messing around with tuning it and the autotune feature. It has been fun and runs real nice!
 
Hello. I'm looking into a Megasquirt setup for my truck too. Need to fix some stock components before I get there, but trying to research in the meantime.

What resources did you use to figure out how to solder up the main board? That seems to be my main reason of not jumping in quite yet.
 
Im going to assume you went with the MS for more tuneability for upgrades? Do you have plans for converting to MAF or keeping speed density? Im asking because im running into tuning issues with my 1991 300 that I cant get around with a stock ecm, ive toyed with the idea of MS or finding a 6cyl MAF mustang harness and ecm that is supported by quarterhorse and tune that. Im definitely keeping an eye on this to see how it works out.
 
I realize this hasn't been updated in awhile but I was wondering how everything is going with it ninjawhosneezes?
I was also curious how the auto tune feature is working for you. Is it a pretty solid tune or would you need some time on a dyno to make it 100%?
It's not looking like this winter will be my MS build after all but that's alright, there's always next :beer:
 
Its been so long :( and I apologize! Married life is great and time consuming, the truck has been an ATV hauler and scrap hauler this entire time running on megasquirt (y) . I use AUTOTUNE often to check up on it and see what its doing/ thinking. Seems to run rich regardless. I actually took the old bed off the F150 and will be making a wood bed soon.
 
Back
Top