Anyone using an ignition trigger other than the AEM EPM or T1 trigger??

 

I have a custom crank trigger on my car now. Custom made the entire fixture to hold the crank pick-up sensor and using a really slick non magnet disc for the trigger wheel. Here is a pic of it:



Crank triggers give the ultimate rock solid timing reading compared to a cam set-up like the EPM or T1 trigger. Those are still very accurate but at the expense of belt flex, which will show a little at high rpm timing "drift" when you put a light on the engine.

 

An OEM OBD2 crank trigger will work great as well, but you can't run sequential with only a crank trigger, so a cam trigger is still needed.

 

I was going to go that route, but didnt know how well it would work with the factory air gap. I am still using the OEM distributor for cam sync for sequential.

Tony, does Motec have a variable trigger angle or CRIP to compensate for belt flex on a cam driven set-up? Was just playing with Haltech's and it actually works really well with some trial and error.

 

Is the pulse wheel custom also hybrid or just the fixture holding it??so if i run your trigger set up i would aslo need a crank trigger tony?im planning on using an aem v2

 

AEM v2 supports alot of different trigger patterns, but I was having issues with Tony's T1 trigger a few months back with the software. The wizard was not set-up properly and you have to manually edit all the tables. I have never done a crank trigger on AEM EMS but have done tons of cars with the EPM and T1 trigger and either works well. The only thing I dont like about the EPM's is that they fall apart. Literally separate. You have to take them apart and loctite all the screws on them. I have seen this happen now on 5 of them in a relatively short period of time. I now just take them apart before installation and loctite everything to avoid issues.

The "disk" and sensor that I have are from FAST. They are a mag set-up, so not optical/hall effect like the AEM EPM/T1 trigger. The fixture that holds everything is custom made. If you run a trigger disk you'll need an ATI balancer, they have the small block chevy bolt pattern on the face. This allows you to bolt up pretty much any aftermarket crank trigger disc. There is a hall trigger disc that Tony linked me to awhile ago when I was researching making a trigger set-up from Shane T I believe.

To add to the post, a crank trigger is not absolutely needed but gives dead nuts timing. AEM EMS can support a ton of different trigger set-ups, but you'll be hard pressed to use anything besides the standard 36-1 or 60-2 patterns that are in the wizards.

 

So my best bet is to just run the EPM.I want to run a COP set up to free up some room and have that "cleaner" look but yet i wanted it to be cost effective..lol

 

I used to like the concept of a crank trigger over a cam trigger until I started running into harmonic issue, or so I believe was the problem. Seems in most situations for a crank trigger the sensor needs to be mounted far from the engine and bracket vibration and/or crank flex seemed to cause all sorts of issues. Very possible it was the ecu as well. Tried new brackets, different machining on the pulley, resistor, filters etc. Switching to cam trigger and new ecu cleared it all up. Seems belt deflection is more of an issue when on and off the throttle. Stays pretty steady under load in my experience

 

i had issues with tec3r using a crank trigger...we assumed the same thing as joe and came to the conclusion that at high rpm the flex of the rotating assembly was causing the problem

 

I ran Tec3 up to 10.5k without any issues at all for many years. With all kinds of mounting brackets, balancers, CTR pullys, trigger wheels without an issue. I have even had a Fluidampr gell up that almost fell off also causing all the flywheel bolts falling off as well and it still ran. The flywheel started to weld it self to the end of the crank but it never missed a beat.lol

I still tune a bunch of Tec3 cars still 10.5k rpm and no issue. I've had coils that went bad that caused a high RPM miss tho.

 

We tried individual coils and everything. Even worked directly with electromotive and their biggest dealer / installer. Weird part is I've done several other tech cars with no problem. It ran fine to 10800 rpm up to xxx power level, but above that power level it freaked out. Looking back I wish we put a scope on it