Well I am working on the wiring for the Dart and I am finally starting in on the Microsquirt stuff. This is a good set of diagrams which breaks down the various subsystems for easy digestion.

https://thedubshop.com/microsquirt/

Of course this for a VW flat 4, but it shouldn't be too hard to interpolate to a \6.

One on the implications from the "Main Power Circuit" section is that this system can take a max of around 60 amps. The other is that you may not want to use the "Fuel Pump Relay" to power the whole system. The other is that I should use a separate relays for the LS coils and the injectors.

Does anybody know if the Microsquirt can make use of a knock sensor and actually adjust the ignition based on it? The manual seems to suggest that it can only collect and display.

You'd need an external box such as a KnockSenseMS to read the sensor. Knock sensing on aftermarket EFI with top notch knoc detection hardware is often nowhere near as good as what OEMs can pull off, largely because tuners don't have the budget to grenade a half dozen engines on the dyno to develop a detailed acoustic signature for knock. The best you can get is an extra layer of protection.

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Matt Cramer
1966 Dodge Dart turbo / EFI project

as Matt says, if the acoustic signature is off it will throw those ignition calculations off quite a bit I would surmise.

Greg

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http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack

Creep up on your tune at the track (timing - start low, and mixture - start fat) and look at spark plugs for aluminum bits. Use water/meth injection or a big intercooler...

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

It is interesting that there are a least 3 different charts on wire gauge and amp load for automotive usage, none of which match. All of them are nicely laid out for wire length and temperature. If I compare those charts to what various OEMs have actually done they don't match very well. So the answer to how much amperage can a 10g wire handle is hard to determine.

Sigh, frustrating.

Anyway, I have a pair of EATON fuse/relay boxes and a PDM from an Astro van. The EATON boxes use the Metric pak 280 terminals and the PDM use Metric Pak "800 series" terminals. So parts are readily available.

I could power the whole Mircosquirt package from the PDM and add such things as a fused link to charge the battery, relays for the lights and power the rest of the car. This package can handle several hundred amps. And appears to have a 4g input wire connection. and 5 18g ground leads for the 5 relays. When I sit the module onto the inner fender, it looks like GM went out of their way to design it for a '65 Dart. But the wiring would not match the wiring diagram from the above site.

On the other hand the EATON modules are rated a 70 amps a piece and I could wire the Microsquirt exactly like the diagrams.

How important is it to follow the diagram?

After much head scratching, I decided to use the Eaton boxes (#15305-2). These are 10 circuit boxes with five circuits for relays. They handle 80 amps. There will be one for the Microsquirt and one for the chassis. I will fuse them at 60 amps and wire them to a power source with 8g wire. Probably a 120 amp Nippo Denso alternator mounted in the A100 van location. No, I am not removing the factory fuse box.

The chassis's box will have a fuse for the 12g wire that powers the car, with fused relays for the headlights.

The Microsquirt box will have relays for the fuel pump, LS coils and the injectors. The rest of the circuits will use the spare fuses. It is interesting that the Microsquirt manual suggest that the Microsquirt grounds go directly to the engine block. The above diagrams don't show that. It is also suggested that the grounds for the coils also go directly to the engine block. I guess I now know what those two bolt holes on the head are going to be used for.

Hopefully by separating the above functions, there will be less "noise" in the wiring.

Now I just have to bend some metal and run more wiring. Adding the Microsquirt easily doubled the wire count under the hood.