Switched ignition power Accel DFI ?

[Jim Nilsen]

When going over the instructions that I got off line, (I'm throwning the old book in the trash ), I was reading that on 75 and earlier vehicles that if you have a voltage drop when you turn the key to start that the car will not start.

I checked my panel and when I turn the key the voltage drops to 10.25. it seemed as if I was getting a big enough spark but you never know?

If you are running a gen 7 where did you hook up your pink ecm power wires too?

I really hate to think that I will get my fuel problem taken care of and still not be able to run because of a connection problem.

Accel tells you that you can have a problem but they give you no solution. Just another one of the stupid things that plagues them.

They are probably caught up in a viscious circle of not having enough time to update and make their info better because they are on the phone answering questions because of bad info.

So if you had this problem let me know how you solved it and if it has never been a problem that would be a good thing to hear.

Thanks, one of these days my car will run and I hope it is this week sometime.

[Denvervet]

Sounds like an awfully big drop considering it should start out at about 13.5v. Too obvious but you sure your battery is good?

[shep]

The original wire to the coil that is hot when the key is in the run position is a resistive wire on the GM cars. You can get the HEI change upgrade wiring from several places that will ensure that you have at least 12v switched. If you don't have power when cranking connect the same wire with on from the S terminal on the starter solenoid it will be hot only during cranking and the HEI wiring will be hot with the key in run.

[ProdigyCustoms]

Many times wires are hot ingniton on but not cranking. So as you let off the key it "trys" to start if for a moment giving a little hope it will run if you try cranking again. Make sure your getting voltage while cranking. The drop is not good, but should be OK.

[Mike Holleman]

When going over the instructions that I got off line, (I'm throwning the old book in the trash ), I was reading that on 75 and earlier vehicles that if you have a voltage drop when you turn the key to start that the car will not start.

I checked my panel and when I turn the key the voltage drops to 10.25. it seemed as if I was getting a big enough spark but you never know?

If you are running a gen 7 where did you hook up your pink ecm power wires too?

I really hate to think that I will get my fuel problem taken care of and still not be able to run because of a connection problem.

Accel tells you that you can have a problem but they give you no solution. Just another one of the stupid things that plagues them.

They are probably caught up in a viscious circle of not having enough time to update and make their info better because they are on the phone answering questions because of bad info.

So if you had this problem let me know how you solved it and if it has never been a problem that would be a good thing to hear.

Thanks, one of these days my car will run and I hope it is this week sometime.
Jim, I just finished an Accel Thruster DFI install. Not sure what differences exist in the wiring between it and the Gen 7, but I did have some wiring issues. My system was all provided by Accel. Dist, Ign Box, coil, ect. I wired the pink ECM feed directly from the ign. switch. The switched 12 volt to ign box was from the dist. harness pink wire. It comes out of the harness with the blue trigger wire and white(not used). I saw a very minimal voltage drop to the box. Maybe a tenth of a volt. I did run 14 ga. from the dist to box. Keep in mind this only switches the box as it is powered by the larger red wire, battery direct.
The wiring system I used was Painless. They tell you to power the box thru their fuse panel(coil feed). So I also ran that wire to the same red/yellow wire on the ign box. That does not work. The extra feed caused the ignition to not shut down when the key is turned off. Luckily I caught this while testing my curcuits before starting the engine. I also used Ron Francis's ign switch. In my testing I would lose my ign after the key went from start(solenoid) back to run. There was a milli second of voltage loss as the key moved back to run. The ECM did not like this and would kill the run voltage. I run the same switch on my Elky and the GM computor has no problem with it. I also have had both the Accel ign. box and coil fail during tuning. Talk about pulling your hair out. What is the chance that both would fail in the first ten hours of running? My theory is the the ign. box was losing some output juice and overheated the coil. Both did fail and this was verified by Greg at DFI. Sorry to be long winded. I have been fighting this tuning battle since late June. I agree with you that Accel's instructions are weak. Nothing was specific to the system I was installing and their support to me was sadly insufficiate. Mike

[Jim Nilsen]

Jim, I just finished an Accel Thruster DFI install. Not sure what differences exist in the wiring between it and the Gen 7, but I did have some wiring issues. My system was all provided by Accel. Dist, Ign Box, coil, ect. I wired the pink ECM feed directly from the ign. switch. The switched 12 volt to ign box was from the dist. harness pink wire. It comes out of the harness with the blue trigger wire and white(not used). I saw a very minimal voltage drop to the box. Maybe a tenth of a volt. I did run 14 ga. from the dist to box. Keep in mind this only switches the box as it is powered by the larger red wire, battery direct.
The wiring system I used was Painless. They tell you to power the box thru their fuse panel(coil feed). So I also ran that wire to the same red/yellow wire on the ign box. That does not work. The extra feed caused the ignition to not shut down when the key is turned off. Luckily I caught this while testing my curcuits before starting the engine. I also used Ron Francis's ign switch. In my testing I would lose my ign after the key went from start(solenoid) back to run. There was a milli second of voltage loss as the key moved back to run. The ECM did not like this and would kill the run voltage. I run the same switch on my Elky and the GM computor has no problem with it. I also have had both the Accel ign. box and coil fail during tuning. Talk about pulling your hair out. What is the chance that both would fail in the first ten hours of running? My theory is the the ign. box was losing some output juice and overheated the coil. Both did fail and this was verified by Greg at DFI. Sorry to be long winded. I have been fighting this tuning battle since late June. I agree with you that Accel's instructions are weak. Nothing was specific to the system I was installing and their support to me was sadly insufficiate. Mike

Thanks for the detail description of what you went thru, it makes my choices of plan b's a lot less. I was going some places over in my head and came up with the same scenario of the car not shutting off .

I had the excuse from them the last time I talked to them that every system is different and then I reminded him that I ordered it for a small block chevy and that the MST bracket is on the list of parts in my kit but I had no bracket or intructions on where they expected me to install it and that I understand that it would be different than a Ford or Mopar kit but I ordered a SBC kit specifically and it was their kit with the manifold they chose with the throttle body they chose etc. etc. so how could they not know what to give me and that their kits should be more complete even if they cost more. They are like people who are on 2 different pages at the same time and niether is the page you are on and they have all the excuses ready to make you wonder if you are on the right page.lol
it's always fun talking to them IF you can get thru.

Thanks again and thanks to everyone else who is helping get this done.

[Mike Holleman]

Thanks for the detail description of what you went thru, it makes my choices of plan b's a lot less. I was going some places over in my head and came up with the same scenario of the car not shutting off .

I had the excuse from them the last time I talked to them that every system is different and then I reminded him that I ordered it for a small block chevy and that the MST bracket is on the list of parts in my kit but I had no bracket or intructions on where they expected me to install it and that I understand that it would be different than a Ford or Mopar kit but I ordered a SBC kit specifically and it was their kit with the manifold they chose with the throttle body they chose etc. etc. so how could they not know what to give me and that their kits should be more complete even if they cost more. They are like people who are on 2 different pages at the same time and niether is the page you are on and they have all the excuses ready to make you wonder if you are on the right page.lol
it's always fun talking to them IF you can get thru.

Thanks again and thanks to everyone else who is helping get this done.

Jim,
Hope I was of some help to you. I know how frustrating the set up of this system can be. Accel definately has customer service issues they need to work out. On my very first call to them I knew there would be problems trying to get help. They are not even setup to get you to voicemail if no one is available to take your call. You basically just call over and over until you get someone or get disgusted and give up. Dave in tech services trys hard, but it is obvious that he is stretched thin. If you need any help that I might can offer, feel free to PM me or call my cell 252.659.0509. I am far from an expert on EFI but I have learned a ton during this process.
I also may be able to direct you to others that helped me get thru this.
On the plus side, the car is now running extremely good. Starts very quickly, runs smooth and makes very good power. It will hit the dyno soon and we are thinking we have a 60 or so HP gain. Way stronger by the seat of pants gauge.
Mike