Technical Talk to me about electronic ignition

[thooms]

Recently I swapped my alternator over to a Punto one, per Dragon Man's recommendation. I'm using the Punto pulley - which I couldn't help but notice has a trigger wheel on the end.

Is this trigger for some kind of all-powerful ECU, or is it for an ignition system? What're my options for making my ignition system a bit smarter? I've got a reasonable amount of experience from doing something like this on the other car, but I don't know the various solutions that Fiats have come with over the years.

I've wondered about building an EDIS controller, but this might be more trouble than it's worth. I know you can get these electronic ignition modules off ebay that handle firing the coil electronically rather than using the breaker - but are there options for added cleverness? I'm thinking scrapyard bastardisations, not massive investments in something like a Megajolt (which I'm sure is great, but I don't want to spend that much).

Feel free to shoot me down if this is a stupid idea - just thinking out loud

 

[Dragon Man]

well if you was going down the route of full ECU control... you would just need pretty much all of the engine running gear from a 1.1 FIRE engine.

the ONLY reason why i never did this on talon is because you have to change the 999cc carb engine oil pump's outer casing to the one from the 1.1 fire engine that has the holder for the crank position sensor. you could then have a fully fuel and spark system (like the later >1993 pandas, cinqs and puntos with the fire engine)

using the Bosch fuel injection only (no ignition control) system from a uno 45 ie is a pain in the ass to set up. not worth it as the engine does not have as much power due to the narrow throttle body.

the best combo is the carb with the the electronic "point less" ignition system.

or if you want more power just do an engine swap from a crashed cinq/punto.

 

[thooms]

That's what I was thinking matey - I'm quite happy to stick with the carb for fuelling, but I imagine there are nice usability gains to be made by moving to a more sophisticated ignition system...not to mention less continual adjustment of timing!

Not too bothered about adding heaps of power, I really like the 999cc engine and feel it suits the car well

Where would I find the pointless ignition system? Is this the same as fitted to later Pandas and Cinqs etc.?

 

[Dragon Man]

later pandas and cinq use an ECU. it eliminates the need for a distributor completely.

you can find the pointless ignition system on panda 4x4's "some" 2x4 pandas and pretty much every pre fuel injection Uno.

i personally got the best out of Talon's ignition timing by ear. keep adjusting till it started pre-igniting then just backed it off slightly.
it did make a difference in power and economy when i did it