Option two, (as per the supplier's, not the maker's instructions) was the go. Odd that the maker had the wrong instructions, but there you go!
Accuspark has been notified, so its up to him to fix it up.....
Well it's all installed. The wiring sneaks in behind the tachometer, and cannot be seen. Its very lucky that my tacho is the inductive type - needing a feed from the coil as well as one back to the dizzy. Extremely fortuitous
It meant I didn't have to do anything to the loom, the +ve, -ve, neg coil and dizzy wire were there ready to go. I placed the
blackbox with double sided tape up beneath the parcel tray with the USB facing out. Sweet fit out for a Mini I would rather not hack into.
The distributor was swapped out from a 23D repro back to the stock 29D which has had its weights bound as shown in the posts above. Now it is relegated to the simple role of crank angle sensor.
Old(ish)
New(ish)
I disconnected the
blackbox by bridging the wire from the coil back to the dizzy, warmed up the car and set the timing to zero degrees. You can also set the dizzy at a static of perhaps 10 degrees, and subtract it from your total curve.
Once connected up to the computer (the software is already installed), connecting the device up to the USB and turning on the ignition will cause it to detect and load the device driver. This can take some time for windows to fiddle about with. You might need to restart the computer as well so windows can feel all updated and in control of itself
However, once this is done, connecting up the
blackbox first and then opening the Accuspark software will have the device brought online. Immediately the device will load up its default curve.
I had problems in that the clever goose who balanced my flywheel balance the thing by strategically removing metal where my
1|4 TDC timing mark is (image below shows the hole....)
Fortuitously (!!) I used the new device to my advantage! I set it to 10 degrees advance across the range, and set my dizzy in place at the 10 degree mark, which meant when returned to zero reference, so did the timing. Win
The software has its default curve, it looks nice and safe, so I have stuck to that one for the moment. I'll update the curve with one I work out in the next couple of days. For now I'm pretty pleased with just having it working so simply.
There is a number of buttons down the left side of the screen. They're fairly self explanatory:
Install will install the
blackbox drivers;
Load will upload the stored curve from the car onto the computer;
Default will return the default curve (but not upload it);
Realtime will bring up a databox with particulars of the engine parameters at that moment in time (image below); and
Store will upload (save) your new curve onto the
blackbox device.
The long and short is that the box works as claimed. I have set a number of different timings and compared them to the timing light readings and so far it seems to be quite accurate. Changing the curve while the engine is running is not a problem. You can hear the engine note change as the new curve is loaded in.
One downside, the software can be a little buggy. If you open up the Realtime screen, close it and then try to adjust and store your curve, the software will freeze up. The engine running isn't affected however, just comms with the
blackbox. Simple enough to close and reopen the software again to get restore communications. Only a slight problem if you have entered in all your new curve data, you will just need to enter it in again. Not a big problem however, and probably more related to windows than the device.
I'm chuffed it installed so easily, it works as claimed, and is a cinch to use. I have not asked if it is compatible with high energy ignitions. If it is I will upgrade my coil to a low-ohm electronic ignition coil. I'll let you know...
