I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction...
I have an EDIS6 module from some '90s Ford truck (junkyard, 3.0 V6) and a coilpack from a '98 Explorer 4.0l (new).
The towers on the coil pack are clearly labelled:
( A B C )
4 6 5
3 2 1
with one being closest to the connector. All the documentation about coilpacks I've seen shows #1 is on the opposite side.
The firing order for the Explorer this pack came from is 1-4-2-5-3-6, which is very clearly C-A-B as far as this coil is concerned.
I am installing on a Ford inline six, firing order 1-5-3-6-2-4.
I have tried wiring as the coilpack indicates (CAB), and wiring as I expected to (ACB). In neither situation will the car start - there is *clearly* a timing issue as the motor stutters & stops turning over or backfires.
(Interestingly, I checked the firing order for an earlier 3.0 V6 which is also 1-4-2-5-3-6. so still CAB.)
Any guesses? Is maybe the later coil pack simply not the same as the earlier one?
SECONDLY, can anyone confirm whether coilpack pins 1,2,3,4 are always 1,2,3,4? I ask because I had initially wired backwards (4,3,2,1) and during my testing got amazing spark - with power on #1, etc. When the car didn't roar to life I doublechecked that wiring first and corrected - power on #4, etc. Now I have weak, almost non-existent spark - although clearly enough to backfire!
FWIW MJ is out of the equation right now - I have wire nuts holding things together (so I can rewire) and it's just VR sensor + module + coil pack. I would happily proceed with other troubleshooting steps but the &%#! firing order is killing me. Just being able to trace with certainty the link between the connector pin & the tower would be magic - but I don't know how.
TIA for any help!
EDIS6 Coil Pack Wiring - CAB vs. ACB? + Which pin is which?
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thesameguy
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thesameguy
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Fri May 11, 2012 6:05 pm
Okay, I have done some more looking, but now I am possibly even more confused.
The MJ installation instructions indicate EDIS pins 10,11,12 go to coil pins 1,2,3 respectively, and elsewhere I have read that the coil pack fires ACB.
However, the factory wiring diagram for the EDIS module shows that pins 10,11,12 go to coils A,B,C *and* every wiring diagram I have found shows the coilpack as being wired either power,b,c,a or b,c,a,power (depends on the application it seems, there is no year split). I cannot find a wiring diagram for a coilpack where the pins are ordered A,B,C.
Edit: I have since discovered this next paragraph is in error... see my following post:
Given that, it seems the actual connections should be EDIS 10,11,12 to either coil pins or 4,2,3 or 3,1,2 depending on the version of the coil one has.
What am I missing... am I overthinking this?
The MJ installation instructions indicate EDIS pins 10,11,12 go to coil pins 1,2,3 respectively, and elsewhere I have read that the coil pack fires ACB.
However, the factory wiring diagram for the EDIS module shows that pins 10,11,12 go to coils A,B,C *and* every wiring diagram I have found shows the coilpack as being wired either power,b,c,a or b,c,a,power (depends on the application it seems, there is no year split). I cannot find a wiring diagram for a coilpack where the pins are ordered A,B,C.
Edit: I have since discovered this next paragraph is in error... see my following post:
Given that, it seems the actual connections should be EDIS 10,11,12 to either coil pins or 4,2,3 or 3,1,2 depending on the version of the coil one has.
What am I missing... am I overthinking this?
Last edited by thesameguy on Wed Jan 16, 2013 11:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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thesameguy
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Fri May 11, 2012 6:05 pm
Just going to keep replying to my own post, maybe someone will jump in... 
I think I am overthinking this... the thing I was not grasping is that nobody is wiring these systems like Ford does, and I was trying to rationalize "what people are doing" with "what Ford did." I've seen some other posts on this forum with similar confusion, so I'm not alone.
Here's the thing:
ALL the documentation for Megasquirt and Megajolt label the coil towers left to right, with the connector facing the viewer. This is not how Ford labels the towers. Additionally, the Megajolt (and I assume Megasquirt) shows the connection of EDIS to the coilpack in a different order than Ford does. In combination this double-mislabeling works out, but if you're trying to compare Ford wiring diagrams and Ford-labeled parts to what you're doing, none of this makes sense.
Complicating the matter is that Ford sold two virtually identical versions of the coil pack - one with power on the #1 pin, and one with power on #4. I can't see any outward difference between the two, and even worse they used both at the same time, just in different vehicular applications. A '96 Mustang 3.8l V6 or a '98 F-150 4.2 V6 has the power on #4 (as the Megajolt installation manual shows), a '90-'11 Ranger 4.0 V6 has power on #1. So, there doesn't appear to be any obvious year split. You have to know where your coil came from!
Ford labels the coil IN FIRING ORDER, not alphabetical or numerical order. With the coil pack connector facing the viewer, Ford labels the towers B,C,A or 2,3,1 from left to right. Thus, the COIL firing order AS FAR AS FORD IS CONCERNED is, in fact, A,B,C or 1,2,3. The pins on the coil are ordered the same. Once you have located/eliminated the correct power pin, the left pin is left tower, middle pin in middle tower, right pin is right tower.
The whole ACB is a confusing misnomer. It is not consistent with any Ford wiring diagram (that I can find) and more to the point Ford sometimes uses letters and sometimes numbers to describe the coil tower pairs. But we don't really care about which tower is which. What we care about is how it's connected to the EDIS module.
The EDIS module is where the ACB comes into play, and ACB really should be 10,12,11 - because EDIS fires Pin 10, then pin 12, then pin 11. You can connect 10,11,12 to whichever coil pack pins you want SO LONG AS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE and plug in your spark plug wires accordingly.
If you follow the Megajolt installation manual, and connect EDIS to the coil pack as described (allowing for the power connector to be in a different spot) everything will be fine. However, any Ford wiring diagram you wanna use to troubleshoot will be useless and confusing. Thus, it'd be my advice to NOT follow the installation manual, and instead:
Power on Pin 4: EDIS 10,11,12 to coil pack 3,2,1 resp.
Power on Pin 1: EDIS 10,11,12 to coil pack 4,3,2 resp.
Plug 1 will then be the "bottom right" tower on the coilpack, as it will invariably be labeled on the coil pack anyway!!!
FWIW, rockauto says:
Power on Pin 4 coilpacks:
FORD CONTOUR (1995 - 2000)
FORD E-150 (1998 - 2000)
FORD E-250 (1998 - 2000)
FORD F-150 (1998 - 2000)
FORD MUSTANG (1994 - 2000)
FORD RANGER (1998 - 2002)
FORD TAURUS (1996 - 1999)
FORD THUNDERBIRD (1990 - 1997)
FORD WINDSTAR (1995 - 2000)
MERCURY COUGAR (1990 - 2000)
MERCURY MYSTIQUE (1995 - 2000)
MERCURY SABLE (1996 - 1999)
Power on Pin 1 coilpacks:
FORD AEROSTAR (1990 - 1997)
FORD E-150 1997
FORD E-250 1997
FORD EXPLORER (1991 - 2010)
FORD EXPLORER SPORT (2001 - 2003)
FORD EXPLORER SPORT TRAC (2001 - 2010)
FORD F-150 1997
FORD MUSTANG (2005 - 2010)
FORD RANGER (1990 - 2011)
FORD TAURUS (1989 - 1995)
MAZDA 626 (1998 - 2002)
MAZDA B3000 (1995 - 1998)
MAZDA B4000 (1994 - 2009)
MAZDA NAVAJO (1991 - 1994)
MERCURY MOUNTAINEER (1998 - 2010)
That's a lot of text for a working theory. Someone please let me know if I've screwed the pooch.
I think I am overthinking this... the thing I was not grasping is that nobody is wiring these systems like Ford does, and I was trying to rationalize "what people are doing" with "what Ford did." I've seen some other posts on this forum with similar confusion, so I'm not alone.
Here's the thing:
ALL the documentation for Megasquirt and Megajolt label the coil towers left to right, with the connector facing the viewer. This is not how Ford labels the towers. Additionally, the Megajolt (and I assume Megasquirt) shows the connection of EDIS to the coilpack in a different order than Ford does. In combination this double-mislabeling works out, but if you're trying to compare Ford wiring diagrams and Ford-labeled parts to what you're doing, none of this makes sense.
Complicating the matter is that Ford sold two virtually identical versions of the coil pack - one with power on the #1 pin, and one with power on #4. I can't see any outward difference between the two, and even worse they used both at the same time, just in different vehicular applications. A '96 Mustang 3.8l V6 or a '98 F-150 4.2 V6 has the power on #4 (as the Megajolt installation manual shows), a '90-'11 Ranger 4.0 V6 has power on #1. So, there doesn't appear to be any obvious year split. You have to know where your coil came from!
Ford labels the coil IN FIRING ORDER, not alphabetical or numerical order. With the coil pack connector facing the viewer, Ford labels the towers B,C,A or 2,3,1 from left to right. Thus, the COIL firing order AS FAR AS FORD IS CONCERNED is, in fact, A,B,C or 1,2,3. The pins on the coil are ordered the same. Once you have located/eliminated the correct power pin, the left pin is left tower, middle pin in middle tower, right pin is right tower.
The whole ACB is a confusing misnomer. It is not consistent with any Ford wiring diagram (that I can find) and more to the point Ford sometimes uses letters and sometimes numbers to describe the coil tower pairs. But we don't really care about which tower is which. What we care about is how it's connected to the EDIS module.
The EDIS module is where the ACB comes into play, and ACB really should be 10,12,11 - because EDIS fires Pin 10, then pin 12, then pin 11. You can connect 10,11,12 to whichever coil pack pins you want SO LONG AS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE and plug in your spark plug wires accordingly.
If you follow the Megajolt installation manual, and connect EDIS to the coil pack as described (allowing for the power connector to be in a different spot) everything will be fine. However, any Ford wiring diagram you wanna use to troubleshoot will be useless and confusing. Thus, it'd be my advice to NOT follow the installation manual, and instead:
Power on Pin 4: EDIS 10,11,12 to coil pack 3,2,1 resp.
Power on Pin 1: EDIS 10,11,12 to coil pack 4,3,2 resp.
Plug 1 will then be the "bottom right" tower on the coilpack, as it will invariably be labeled on the coil pack anyway!!!
FWIW, rockauto says:
Power on Pin 4 coilpacks:
FORD CONTOUR (1995 - 2000)
FORD E-150 (1998 - 2000)
FORD E-250 (1998 - 2000)
FORD F-150 (1998 - 2000)
FORD MUSTANG (1994 - 2000)
FORD RANGER (1998 - 2002)
FORD TAURUS (1996 - 1999)
FORD THUNDERBIRD (1990 - 1997)
FORD WINDSTAR (1995 - 2000)
MERCURY COUGAR (1990 - 2000)
MERCURY MYSTIQUE (1995 - 2000)
MERCURY SABLE (1996 - 1999)
Power on Pin 1 coilpacks:
FORD AEROSTAR (1990 - 1997)
FORD E-150 1997
FORD E-250 1997
FORD EXPLORER (1991 - 2010)
FORD EXPLORER SPORT (2001 - 2003)
FORD EXPLORER SPORT TRAC (2001 - 2010)
FORD F-150 1997
FORD MUSTANG (2005 - 2010)
FORD RANGER (1990 - 2011)
FORD TAURUS (1989 - 1995)
MAZDA 626 (1998 - 2002)
MAZDA B3000 (1995 - 1998)
MAZDA B4000 (1994 - 2009)
MAZDA NAVAJO (1991 - 1994)
MERCURY MOUNTAINEER (1998 - 2010)
That's a lot of text for a working theory. Someone please let me know if I've screwed the pooch.
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thesameguy
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Fri May 11, 2012 6:05 pm
Yep, the PROPER way to wire these things up is:
Coil Power on Pin 4: EDIS 10,11,12 to coil pack 3,2,1 resp.
Coil Power on Pin 1: EDIS 10,11,12 to coil pack 4,3,2 resp.
That wiring mirrors the factory!
So I did that. And it started right up and set into a damn decent idle!
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/co ... art_sm.mp4
Right now the car is running on EDIS6 in "limp home mode." Megajolt is not connected, so timing is a static 10 (IIRC) degrees BTDC. I wanted to be sure my VR sensor could sense the trigger wheel and my used EDIS module was working before introducing complications. Clearly, it is!
All the wiring is literally just twisted together and electrical taped right now, so tonight I am going to make those connections permanent with proper wire lengths, etc. I'll probably wait until the weekend to actually install the Megajolt controller. Aside from the timing maps, the hard part of this project is DONE.
Coil Power on Pin 4: EDIS 10,11,12 to coil pack 3,2,1 resp.
Coil Power on Pin 1: EDIS 10,11,12 to coil pack 4,3,2 resp.
That wiring mirrors the factory!
So I did that. And it started right up and set into a damn decent idle!
http://www.sacsaabs.org/sacsaabs.org/co ... art_sm.mp4
Right now the car is running on EDIS6 in "limp home mode." Megajolt is not connected, so timing is a static 10 (IIRC) degrees BTDC. I wanted to be sure my VR sensor could sense the trigger wheel and my used EDIS module was working before introducing complications. Clearly, it is!
All the wiring is literally just twisted together and electrical taped right now, so tonight I am going to make those connections permanent with proper wire lengths, etc. I'll probably wait until the weekend to actually install the Megajolt controller. Aside from the timing maps, the hard part of this project is DONE.
It seems to me you were thinking too much 
At the end, the way you've wired your coil will just change the way you should plug your spark plug wires.
Knowing it runs with a ACB "motion" just means you need to plug the 2nd cylinder to fire on C instead of B. If you've mixed up C & B, just run them the opposite way around.
At the end, the way you've wired your coil will just change the way you should plug your spark plug wires.
Knowing it runs with a ACB "motion" just means you need to plug the 2nd cylinder to fire on C instead of B. If you've mixed up C & B, just run them the opposite way around.
Mathieu
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thesameguy
- Posts: 15
- Joined: Fri May 11, 2012 6:05 pm
Sort of. All the MJ documentation indicates power for the coil is on Pin #1, which I found out is NOT universally true. It's 50/50 split across 20 years of Ford cars which was wired which way. It would be nice if *either* the Autosport team would indicate which coil works with their diagram, or at *least* call out the fact that not all Ford coils are wired the same, even though they look the same. Knowing that would have saved me several hours... that's why I posted the list above. Hopefully it helps someone.Lazeum wrote:It seems to me you were thinking too much
At the end, the way you've wired your coil will just change the way you should plug your spark plug wires.
Knowing it runs with a ACB "motion" just means you need to plug the 2nd cylinder to fire on C instead of B. If you've mixed up C & B, just run them the opposite way around.
The coil pack was of course what started this whole thing... I had wired EDIS->coilpack according to the diagram and nothing worked... because my coilpack connector is "backwards."
I'm glad I went down the path I did, though. Although true the EDIS->coilpack wiring works in many ways (given you reorder your spark plugs, as you indicate), there is value in wiring it up the way Ford actually intended. As my car is now configured, I could go into a Ford dealership and say "ignition system from a 1995 Ranger" and they'd be able to troubleshoot. Configuring the way the MJ documentation suggests would mean some detective work to understand the "miswiring."
This is probably only important to me, but since I own other Ford vehicles, some standardization is a nice thing.
I did not ask the question myself for the wa to plug things up. I've got the harness with the coilpack, one wire was red, the 3 others were yellow with stripes so it was straight forward.
I might fight with spark plug wires a little but it should start anyhow. I might be able to try out this weekend if everything goes well
I might fight with spark plug wires a little but it should start anyhow. I might be able to try out this weekend if everything goes well
Mathieu
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thesameguy
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- Joined: Fri May 11, 2012 6:05 pm
If you are using a Ford EDIS6 module pigtail and a Ford coilpack pigtail, your wire colors should match up... red for power, then match the yellow+white, yellow+red, yellow+black wires to each other. IF YOU DO IT THIS WAY you will be wired like I am (as Ford intended) and NOT the way Autosport Labs indicates. Thus, your coil towers will be "out of order" as far as Autosport is concerned. With the 4-pin connector on the coilpack facing you, the leftmost tower will be the second tower that fires, the middle tower will be the third tower that fires, and the rightmost tower will be the first tower that fires.
