Distributorless ignition
Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 4:58 am
When we had the snow in the UK this winter, I had awful problems with condensation in the distributor causing rough running. I've also had problems in the past and frankly, I was sick to death of it. In a fit of pique, I ordered a MegaJolt ignition system but have only just started installing it. It's also an engineering challenge.
For those of you that don't know, MegaJolt interfaces with a device called an EDIS module, which gets pulled out of scrap Fords. If the MegaJolt computer fails for any reason, the car can run on the EDIS alone, albeit with fixed ignition timing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAkeqBt62fk
I thought I'd be troubleshooting this all morning but it fired first time. It does sound rough but then I've been cranking the engine without any ignition to check various things so there was a lot of unburnt fuel about. It was also running without any choke from cold which for my engine is quite impressive.
Since the Pinzgauer is 24V, I was running this off a 12V leisure battery - will try it off the voltage dropper in due course but at the moment completely elated that it runs at all!
Since the distributor is still in place, to get the original ignition system going again I'd need to replace the HT (ignition) leads and reconnect the coil - an easy job in the field.
For those of you that don't know, MegaJolt interfaces with a device called an EDIS module, which gets pulled out of scrap Fords. If the MegaJolt computer fails for any reason, the car can run on the EDIS alone, albeit with fixed ignition timing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAkeqBt62fk
I thought I'd be troubleshooting this all morning but it fired first time. It does sound rough but then I've been cranking the engine without any ignition to check various things so there was a lot of unburnt fuel about. It was also running without any choke from cold which for my engine is quite impressive.
Since the Pinzgauer is 24V, I was running this off a 12V leisure battery - will try it off the voltage dropper in due course but at the moment completely elated that it runs at all!
Since the distributor is still in place, to get the original ignition system going again I'd need to replace the HT (ignition) leads and reconnect the coil - an easy job in the field.