ECU Programming and Running Engine

• By basil
• One Comment

Well, we got the engine running – sort of.. We have some early problems getting it to fire at first due to the ECU not being able to recognize or deal with the stock Subaru trigger wheel (Subaru calls it a crankshaft plate – see pics below).  Kevin usually specs an aftermarket trigger wheel from Outfront Motorsports with uniform teeth.   The stock Subaru trigger wheel has a non-uniform pattern of pulse teeth and this is the essence of the problem we’re dealing with.  We needed to get the Redline ECU to understand this stock wheel.

Kevin and the gang over at Redline worked together to get support for this Subaru trigger wheel.  I found a few diagrams online showing the tooth pattern of the Subaru wheel.  I also found a pulse pattern graph and mocked up a tooth count for my own understanding.   I plan to do some software tinkering when I have the chance as the latest Redline ECU’s now have the ability to data log everything.  Data and software I get – wrenches, not so much. :)

Below are the images I found related to our situation.

So the car starts after prolonged cranking as the ECU struggles to get in sync.  Once synced, it runs:

Longer version:

So our next step is to get another update from Redline that should have consistent, reliable and spot syncing with this wheel.    Once done, we should be moving on to the body work phase!