Not making sparks :(

[Olds442FI]

So i took out my car tonight because everything is finally running pretty darn good. i drove about 10 miles to my shop an everything was going sweet. a few blocks before i arrived a figured i would jump on it and see how it responds to high rpm. It pulled really hard until i hit about 6500 and hit the rev limiter then ran a little choppy. I opened the hood and hit it with a timing light and my mark wasn't where it was suppose to be (now this is the second time this happened).I Checked the distributor and it definitely was not able to move. I tried adjusting the timing back to where it was supposed to be but my mark was jumping all over the place. this is what happened the first time but a little adjustment cleared it right up. So now im thinking, maybe the rev limiter in the ignition box is screwing things up so let me try bypassing it and see if this timing movement thing still happens when i get on it. I disconnected the trigger and reconnected it to the coil and suddenly no more signal. now i reconnected it back to the Ignition box and still no signal. I have a constant ground coming from the ECU ignition output and can get the coil to spark of by touching the ignition output to the wire on the ignition box but when its connected it just doesnt give the signal. I am thinkin this is either the hall sensor in the dist. or something with the ECU itself. I tried changing to 10 rather than 11 and changed the ignition output setting to follow but now i dont even get a signal there. The i tried a stepper pin (4) and tried that setting however only now do i realize i have to set it up with the fan to get it on all the time. Does anybody have any suggestions? how do i test the the hall is working? By the way, i still read RPM In megatune as well.

[rob@vems.co.uk]

It does seem as if theres something strange going on with the wiring there.  It strikes me that the P259 might be dead - because the RPM issue only rears its ugly head when VR trigger is used and you're using Hall trigger.
If you had sparks originally without using the stepper output, then there was no need to change it, you need a test light so that you can see what signals are doing - most people use an oscilloscope to check completely.
Coil the coil have burnt out due to excessive dwell?  Its at high RPM that this would have happened.

[Olds442FI]

well, the coil will fire if i simulate a trigger. I realized this using a test light while i had the coil wire off and i was checking for spark. Also i do read RPM while Cranking, so would that not rule out a blown P259 chip. I was thinking maybe it was the hall sensor because the ground for the ignition output is constant with a test light. If it is a P259, chip that would effect my ignition output? Right now i am using EC36- Pin 10 On a single coil setup. Also i should mention that the car was running until i screwed with disconnecting the ignition output. Sorry if i seem a little redundant, i am a little tired. Was up until 3 a.m. trying to figure this out. i'm really kinda P.Oed at myself because the car was running great until i pushed it, then i messed with the ign output. I just didn't think i would get to my rev limiter that quickly. Plus i think it was i the ignition box revlimiter that going off.

[rob@vems.co.uk]

First off there's no need to apologise, is a royal pain in the arse when crap like this happens - it feels like one steps forward and two back when your car stops running.

You've checked the coil, so we know that its good, so if theres nothing between the VEMS and the coil we're guessing that the c

What sort of trigger are you using?  Is it a VR or a Hall?  Are you driving the coil directly or through a seperate box?  Ideally the coil gets driven directly and you use the features of the ecu to control matters.

[Olds442FI]

here is a link to the distributor that i have. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MAA-6148201/RepairParts/?prefilter=1. It as a mallory hall effect distributor. I have the ignition output connected to the the Points/Hall wire input on a Crane Hi-6 ignition box with a built in rev limiter whit i have now set to 9000 to assure that when i do get it going again it isn't used anymore. I checked the power to the dist and i have power there. Is the ignition output on the ECU supposed to have ground constantly and get its signal from breaking the ground or vise versa?

[Olds442FI]

Hey all. So as an update, I disassembled  the distributor and did a little trick that i found on the net from wells to test the HALL sensor. Plain and simply, i placed a blade between the magnet and the sensor to see if i could get the ignition to fire. I did not get any spark at the coil but i did hear the injectors triggering when doing so. So my assumption would now be that the HALL sensor is working correctly. NOW, i have to start to look at the ECU itself as being the problem. I Tried using pin 10 and pin 11 (at separate times) as an ignition output followed by making the adjustment in megatunes ign output area.oddly enough, when i use pin 10 it seems to be stuck as a ground and when i switched to 11 it shows as open circuit. I even tried using a stepper output, switching the output to the stepper pin, and set the water pump to s259 at -40 so activate it. still an open circuit. Am i overlooking something or is there another option i can use or is  something just fried and im pretty much screwed?

[rob@vems.co.uk]

Firstly, if you have a Hall input you will find that you get an RPM reading regardless of if the P259 is dead.  So I am guessing that the P259 is dead.
There are different ignition options specified at purchase time - the ones with IGBTs can drive the coil directly and are Open when tested, the others are +5v out and are grounded when tested.

I'm loosing track at the moment - so what happens with a test light connected between the VEMS ignition pin 11 and +12v?
We need to take the Crane box out of the equation, the test light will do this.
If the light flickers with the Hall test, then you need to drive the coil directly from the VEMS

[Olds442FI]

When i test pin EC36-pin11 and ec18-pin5 i get nothing on a test light. I do get a constant ground that will not break on ec36 pin 10. since my last post i have also tried ec36-pin35 with the same results. The only thing that i haven't tried was testing ec36-pin 10 after switching to another pin to see if it still grounds. Its kind of like the problem that i having with the fuel pump. It just seems it isnt making the switch. It there someone here in the states that could fix this thing without laying it up for a month? im getting the sinking feeling that something beyond my ability went wrong here.

[rob@vems.co.uk]

What I'm saying, and I don't know if you're trying, is to use the test light on pin 11 and then test the Hall like you did yesterday - as you can hear the injectors pulsing you should also see the light flash.
Best to get in touch with Jason about repairs in the US

[Olds442FI]

Yup, i did try that. i also tried it after wards hooked up to the Crane box and that showed nothing as well. It also has an led that lights with the signal. Obviously when the car is running it blinks so fast it never really goes out but you do see the flicker. Well, right now it only lights when i use pin 10 but never goes off . I was thinkin, since i hook a computer to the ECU, is there some kind of a diagnostic i can do to see what works and what doesn't?

[rob@vems.co.uk]

In ignition settings there's an Invert output's (I think that's the name of the thing) drop-down with the options: Disabled and Enabled.  Enabling this will cause pin 10 to go off.
If not, then theres a problem either with the hardware - possably a blown driver chip, or something really strange has happened with the config - what sort of Dwell times are you seeing?

[Olds442FI]

well im back tonight working on the car. Now i dont even get a ground to invert. No ground no signal. My dwell is at a pretty constant on the last few logs at 2.05ms. Maybe .1 flux once in a blue moon just when i jump on it hard, sometimes. i am going to send the unit to Jay. i think something outside configs is wrong here. I have a pretty good feeling that when i tried to bypass the Crane ign box a spark arced to the post on the coil because i did not have the coil wire on the cap or near something to ground to. Path of least resistance would be just that.so while jay has it he can tell me weather or not im nuts with the fuel pump problem as well.

[rob@vems.co.uk]

Sounds the best course of action.

[Olds442FI]

It turned out to be a blown chip as well as the p259. As i said, i would sent it to Jay and have it checked out. Well, he found the problem and had it fixed and shipped by the time i follow up e-mailed him to see the diagnosis. Thanks again Jay!. Anyway, i hooked everything back up and did a wiring change on the fuel pump output that Jay suggested and started her up. Although i haven't had the time for a test drive yet, everything seems to be much better and the pump even works correctly. Hopefully, i can return the help  that you guys have given me some day. thanks!

[rob@vems.co.uk]

http://195.159.109.134/vemsuk/forum/index.php/topic,1342.msg14124.html