Goodbye CIS-III, the Haltech IG5 is in!

[auditude at get.net]

On 3 Jul 2002 at 8:11, Marc Swanson wrote:
>
> > I don't know if I scared or pissed them off back when I was insisting on having it produced to use a
> > combination of stock crank/cam sensors so that the ignition/injection would be indexed by the crank and
> > not the cam, but they have basically put me on hold.  The latest of the conversations was that I would run
> > it with the stock sensors, but with only the stock rpm sensor and the hall sensor for indexing.
> >
> > Initially, I wanted a circuit included (or incorporated by me) that would use the flywheel indexing pin, but
> > be supressed when the hall sensor is not also in phase indicating compression stroke.
>
> well, worse case would seem to be a wasted spark if you didn't build the
> curcuit right?

I'm not sure exactly, there may be more than one way to do that.  If we're talking direct ignition (5 coils)
driven off the crank only or something, then it might be a "wasted spark" for each of the cylinders.  Not in
the normal sense of wasted spark tho', but a single coil that fires twice as often as it actually has to.
Unlike the two-post wasted spark coils, that fire two cylinders half as often.  That seems way outside the
box, but maybe doable.

If you mean a more traditional sense of wasted spark, like I've heard of people thinking of/trying to do for a
5 cylinder with only 3 or 4 coil triggers, then that's different.  I'm not sure how that would work, as you
would somehow need to replicate a spark plug on the "other" end of the coil for the 5th cylinder.  I guess
it's not impossible.

Which form of wasted spark did you mean?  3 double post coils and a fake plug, or 5 coils firing twice as
is necessary off the crank?  There might be some issues with the coils keeping up with rpms, or perhaps
with having a different set of requirements for ignition and fuel.

But anyway, without that circuit, next optimum setup in my mind would probably still be direct ignition, but
indexed solely off the hall sensor signal edge.  No wasted spark, but with t-belt/dist gear/hall sensor
inaccuracies, however big or small they may be.  For me, I'd have to get a "cam position reference
sensor", which from the latest 20v head discussions may have to come from/for a '92 S4 instead of a later
AAN.  Surely one of those would be cheaper than a full blown distributor to use only for the hall sensor.
Or, perhaps just run the distributor with a single coil and be done with it.  Funny how not being able to do
things at all, makes one seek out possible alternatives.

> > As for the 4kstq getting together, no progress except that I bought a decent toolbox (joy!) and am getting
> > organized (shoulda done that before the 5kcstq clutch swap), and just tonite got the garage swamp cooler
> > working after replacing almost every(rusted)thing.  On the swamp, only the low speed works on the new
> > motor, so tomorrow I need to either adjust the pulley to a smaller diameter, or swap back in a 1/2hp from
> > the 3/4hp one.  Just in time for it to be ineffective in the monsoon season here hot AZ.
>
> Never really had the itch to put AC in the garage as it never got hot
> enough in NH to justify it.  I did end up putting insulation in for the
> winter though as there is nothing worse than working on a car when it is
> freezing cold out.

Yeah, working in the cold sucks too.  I can't say I've had the misery of actual freezing temps while doing
it, but I've worked with a little bit of a chill before.  I think one of my worst experiences was removing a
Saturn radiator filled with hot coolant in the middle of a hot AZ summer day, in the middle of a hot black
asphalt parking lot.  It was hot.

> > Anyway, before I ramble on too much, I have nothing to report on the 4kstq project, except for
> > infrastructure improvements.  (Like finally finding the charger for my cordless drill!)
>
> my favorite is collecting the few dollars in change every time I pull
> the carpet up ;-)

Yeah, the Coupe GT yielded a few quarters when I cleaned it.  I dunno if they were mine in the first place,
or if they were a rebate from the selling price. :-)

Later,

Ken