Webinar 96 trigger error

Hi Andre,

This perfect time for this topic as I have a very strange timing issue.

Link G4 plus Thunder on a 6 cylinder Subaru motor. It has Hall Effect sensors on cam and crank, 12 tooth wheel on crank. It has on plug coils with a exciter for the 6 coils. New plugs

I have run trigger scope on the ECU software and it all appears to be correct.

The problem,

If I have a timing light connect to a plug not in the engine but still on the exhaust pipe or a metal earth the timing light shows the correct timing during cranking. If I then connect it through the plug in the cylinder it would fire roughly 100 degree ATDC, if I sit that same plug on top of the head the timing error is less, about 50 to 60 ATDC. I thought it maybe something to do with the engine earth but I have used jumper leads and earthed a heap of different spots on the engine to see if it made a difference and it hasn't.

It appears that it is taking time for the spark to occur or delaying it because a poor earth but doesn't make sense. I got the motro second hand from Japan so never had it running. If I run a ECU spark test on cylinder 1 when it hasn't start the fuel will explode.

Okay so I think I nutted it out, the problem is that the coils aren't getting enough power so the actual spark doesn't get through the plug as soon as the power is supplied its delayed. The timing light is seeing the delay but in the reality the Cam and Crank sensors were on time. I suspect that part of the problem is the set up I have for the coils in the LInk.. The Subaru motor has a igniter and on plug coils.

I will dump the coils and go to a better, stronger type that is more suited to the Link.

I'm not sure if I'm missing something here but it sounds like your base ignition timing needs to be adjusted/corrected? I'll assume you haven't actually been able to get the engine to start/run as yet?

I've wired and tuned multiple subaru engines of various guises and the internal igniter coils are quite common on later models. Provided the wiring and configuration of the ignition system in the ECU is correct they are absolutely fine. I think perhaps you might be best to go back over the installation and configuration and confirm everything is ok before going to the trouble of replacing coils.

Hi Andre,

This engine is a EG33 flat 6 from a Subaru SVX so it has a totally different ignition system to the rest of the Subaru. It has a separate igniter that does 6 plug coils. I have the exact same set up in my race car with this actual harness etc and it runs (doesn't develop as much power as expected at high revs)

This motor that is giving me problems is the same configuration but came from Japan. When it arrived it had a heap of earth straps on it a magnets on the fuel line so there maybe a problem with this motor that has resulted in the spark problem showing its head.

In short,

- The coils don't have enough grunt to fire a dirty plug or if the engine is flooded .

- When it has failed to start, with the engine not turning you can put each cylinder in test mod on the ignition and they will fire, doesn't even have to be TDC.

I will talk to link and see what the correct way to set up the ignition in the ECU for my configuration.

hello guys on the forum here is a log sample from a customer car the suffer from trigger errors all the time when cranking and also under load .the fix was lower the trigger 1 arming threshold table .the trigger 1 threshold voltage table from the help section was not ideal for this engine.

thanks Andre for the webinar so i was able the trouble shoot and fix this issue.

Hi Aruba,

The issue turned out to be a issue in the Link Thunder gear change code. The ECU came out of a car that had a sequential in it. I turned the gear change feature off but the time was as I describe. Then I used a older G4 Extreme with out that feature and the motor started up straight away. Put back the thunder and no go again. Load the program from the Xtreme to the thunder and motor starts and all good.