Ignition Systems

[Buddy]

Hi

Just wanted to ask for your opinions on what ignition system to refit on my 2 1/4 Petrol 2a rebuild, Dizzy, Electronic , or solid state, I'm not looking for the cheapest, I want to fit something thats going to give me good reliable performance.

So what do you all think ?

Buddy

[Jon White]

Edis and megajolt. Far superior to anything that uses the dizzy. Fit and forget, and totally waterproof! All the parts are easy to find in this country as yours is a 4 pot to boot!

Jon

[ltwt1981]

If you want a simple system keeping the dizzy then I fitted an Alson Electronic, £60 I think from memory.

Fits inside the dizzy on the backplate and been in for 4 years now with no trouble.

I drown it as well so its pretty good.

If you want the ultimate then Jon is right.

[Buddy]

"Edis and megajolt. ?"

How does this system work, what bits do I need and where do I get them ?

Cheers

Dave

[FridgeFreezer]

I agree with Jon, EDIS is soooo easy for a 4-pot.

EDIS is a Ford system - Electronic Distributorless Ignition System. Details are here:

MegaSquirt'n'EDIS info - this page refers to running EDIS from a MegaSquirt ECU but the MegaJolt is just a cut-down 'squirt that only does ignition. IIRC they cost about £50 (see www.autosportlabs.net), and a complete EDIS setup (sensor, coil pack, leads, control module) costs around £10-£30 from the scrapyard. The easiest place to get a trigger wheel is www.trigger-wheels.com.

Personally I reckon you should buy a MegaSquirt and fuel inject the thing while you're at it - for some reason no-one has done a 4-pot yet despite there being thousands of them out there!

[Buddy]

I agree with Jon, EDIS is soooo easy for a 4-pot.

EDIS is a Ford system - Electronic Distributorless Ignition System. Details are here:

MegaSquirt'n'EDIS info - this page refers to running EDIS from a MegaSquirt ECU but the MegaJolt is just a cut-down 'squirt that only does ignition. IIRC they cost about £50 (see www.autosportlabs.net), and a complete EDIS setup (sensor, coil pack, leads, control module) costs around £10-£30 from the scrapyard. The easiest place to get a trigger wheel is www.trigger-wheels.com.

Personally I reckon you should buy a MegaSquirt and fuel inject the thing while you're at it - for some reason no-one has done a 4-pot yet despite there being thousands of them out there!

But why is this system better than standard after market electronic system ?

[Jon White]

Cos its a modern, electronic, fully mappable ignition system that uses coil packs. You can map the advance curves to be exactly what you want.

All the after market electronic systems do is replace the points and condensor, you still use the rest of the dizzy.

With EDIS the timing does not wander at all, which it does with a dizzy. The spark is much stronger, and the whole lot is completely waterproof to boot. No more messing about with the WD40 when you've driven through a deep puddle!

You basically need the complete EDIS system off of an early 90's escort / fiesta/ sierra/ mondeo and add an ECU that controls it all. see the links that JU has posted above.

Jon

[FridgeFreezer]

Once again, what Jon said ^^^

It has no moving parts to wear out / get full of water/mud etc. and you tell it what advance you want at each point on the map, none of this bob weights and springs clockwork malarky. Although using Ford coil packs is easiest you can use coil packs from almost any vehicle.

Ford spent ~£12m developing it and they did a pretty good job, then fitted it to the most boring range of cars in the universe

[Diff]

Sorry to interrupt, but can the megajolt hold two ignition maps (one for LPG and one for petrol) and be switchable between the two?

Regards,

Diff

[FridgeFreezer]

Not sure but the MS can hold twin 12x12 ignition and fuel maps.

[Jon White]

Sorry to interrupt, but can the megajolt hold two ignition maps (one for LPG and one for petrol) and be switchable between the two?

Regards,

Diff

Yes the latest version and and allows you to use a simple swtich to switch between the two.

Jon

[Diff]

Brilliant! Thank you both.

If I do go this route I probably wouldn't bother with megasquirt as I only ever use petrol for emergencies (maybe once a year) at the most.

Sorry to Buddy for the thread Hi jack.

Buddy - The simplest upgrade is a simple fix in system like the magnetronic or aldon ignitor systems which replace the points in the Distributor with a small pickup/amplifier unit. These systems cost around £70-£90 and give you a reliable, never needs adjusting, accurate spark. As Jon and John have said they still rely on the standard bob weights, springs and vacuum capsule for the ignition timing curve. According to Roland at ACR, the standard Lucas Dizzy has a reasonably good curve which is suited to the engine.

So providing your engine is pretty much standard, and your Dizzy is in good shape, the simple upgrade with Magnetronic or similar may be all that you need.

The Megajolt system is better in that it has the ability to be finely tuned using a lap top to set the timing map/curve, it has no moving parts, and can produce very large sparks even in adverse conditions. It is also waterproof.

The standard Dizzy set up can certainly be made at least splashproof.

Other alternatives include a home built MAPLINS/Velleman ignition amplifier kit which are very reliable, very cheap, but keep the points as a very low voltage switch(don't wear out anywhere near as fast as normal points).

Obviously, the best system- the megajolt, requires more work and parts sourcing, as well as programming, than other systems.

If your engine is standard, with a decent dizzy you may see an improvement using the megajolt as opposed to anything else. How much of an improvement over other electronic systems may be small, or may be significant, it is difficult to say unless you can find someone who has done it on a Landrover 4 cylinder.

I think it is safe to say that you may see bigger improvements on a V8 engine than on the 4 cylinder, as the standard V8 ignition seem to be more marginal than the standard 4 cylinder ignition.

I have tried standard, Maplins kit and modified electronic ignition from an Austin maestro (using the original Landrover ignition curve).

The Maplins kit + sports coil proved better than than standard ignition, but the Maestro electronic kit and coil showed no improvement over the Maplins kit.

The Maestro ignition (which was second hand) died after a few months and I reverted to the Maplins kit which has been in use for about 4 years with no issues.

My engine is often subjected to severe dunking with water sprayed all over the engine, and it never misses a beat. I have not had it completely underwater though.

In theory with Megajolt, provided you had a good snorkel, you could run the engine completely submerged like a diesel.

Regards,

Diff

[Buddy]

Thanks to everyone for the great information, I think I'd go with the EDIS and a Megajolt.

Cheers

Buddy

[rslandys3]

Thanks to everyone for the great information, I think I'd go with the EDIS and a Megajolt.

Cheers

Buddy

Good move. I'm about to fit this to my series and make it automatic switching between maps when on lpg. It will also mean i can get a decent timing curve when I have finished my 9.5:1 head.