Holley Terminator X startup issue….no spark

[WPS 73 Bronco]

I‘m looking for help from anyone that has installed the Terminator X ECM in their Bronco (with Coyote, F150 motor, etc).

All startup procedures are done and all sensors are checking out correctly. When I crank, I’m getting fuel but no spark. I pulled the plug to see if there was a spark and there’s not.

I’m looking for help. My opinion is that it has to do with the way the ford ignition works. When you turn the key, several “switch powered” connections turn off. If that is happening to the feed to the coil pack, I won‘t have power AKA spark. That’s what I’m thinking but not sure.

Anyone have any similar issues when you hooked the system up?

Any contrarian Views?

 

[DirtDonk]

Which switched wire are you using to power the computer?
There’s only one circuit on the ignition switch that has power in both ON and START positions. But even that one can default to zero if you turn the key too far.
But if it’s an accessory circuit, it’s gonna go dead, no matter what as soon as you hit the START position.

If you use the terminal that has both the green with red and red with green wires, that should be correct.
So I guess the best test would be to turn the key until the starter cranks, but don’t go any further.

Another test would be to create a temporary jumper wire to give a constant 12 V to the computer so that no matter what happens to the ignition circuit when you turn the key to START, the important parts stay powered up.

I know we’ve been talking about this build your other thread, but since I get confused jumping from one to another, remind us what wiring harness you’re using. Is it all stock, or is the entire harness updated? With some wiring harness threads going on, sometimes I forget who is this who’s.

And since you’re discussing the build, including the Terminator, I’m not sure if you should’ve started another thread about it or just throwing this into the mix in your other thread.

 

[WPS 73 Bronco]

Paul, as always thanks for your help. I posted a new thread since many others have installed the terminator x in their Bronco, but not with an LS. The common thread is the Terminator and the existing Ford ignition system regardless of motor, so I thought I’d get more responses from those who have dealt with this terminator x.

Back to your questions….. I maintained the original Ford wiring harness. I eliminated the Ford fuse box and installed a universal Painless box. The Holley Terminator wiring harness only controls engine and transmission functions, but it’s connected to both direct hot and fuse box hot.

I agree with your thought about a jumper to the Holley system. It has a few different connections so it‘s simple to isolate, but difficult to get to since all of the dash has been put back together. Obviously I should have waited. I did so many check prior to putting it all back together. Oh well.

 

[WPS 73 Bronco]

Researching my wiring integration from existing harness to the Painless fuse box, I used Black-Yellow as my Hot Battery side power, and I used Black-Green as my ignition switched power.

If I use the Green-Red or Red-Green instead of the Black-Green, I’m thinking that solves my problem.

 

[WPS 73 Bronco]

I was able to jumper the green-red wire to the Holley red/white wire. This solved the switched constant power issue to the Holley system while cranking. I now see during crank all of the sensor information. I think the battery is a bit too low. It registered at 12.1 volts, and then dipped to 10.3 v while cranking. I’m told the system needs 12 v while cranking. I’ve got the battery on a charger and will try it here in a little while. I might even jump the battery to another car.

When cranking, I saw the following:
RPM about 105
”syncing” signal was visible
Fuel Pressure was fine

 

[WPS 73 Bronco]

Solved……. Battery charge allowed it to start.

 

[DirtDonk]

That modern stuff sure is sensitive the voltage! As we have found out many times over the recent years.
With an old stock system, it’s not uncommon to see 10 to 10 1/2 while cranking. In the old system, the brown wire from the starter relay/solenoid supplied an additional path for current to flow while cranking.
Now that it’s started, how many volts were you showing during crank? Strong battery probably brought that up quite a bit I guess.

And I mentioned in the other thread about the alternator, not working because of the low-voltage reading, I saw on your video of the Terminator screen.
Had to go back and rewatch it and pause it just the right moment so I could be sure what I was seeing.

 

[rcmbronc]

I will be interested ins seeing how you like the Terminator with the Coyote. If it had 6R80 trans control I would have done that instead of the Ford Computer. Are you doing variable cam timing with the Terminator?

 

[WPS 73 Bronco]

Mine is tied to a LS3 & 6L80 transmission.

 

[Broncobowsher]

Just fought 2 rounds of EFI no start in new cars the first of the year. Both were low voltage during cranking. It is real.

The Ford ignition switch is not reliable in having ignition power during crank. From the factory it is a mute point as the bypass wire ("I" wire off the starter solenoid that bypasses the ballast resistor) take care of the ignition while starting. There are some switches that are really good about having ignition during start. My case 95% of the time I had ignition. About 5% of the time it would drop out. I could tell as I had the gauges tied to ignition. When I went to start, I would loose the gauges and knew to stop and try again. This was due to deleting the original solenoid during the rewire. I sold it before I got around to doing the planned modification. I was going to put a beefy diode off the start post to the ignition. That would power ignition during start but not start during just ignition.