I have been building this project intending the injection to be a smaller part of the whole. Thats ok though because I'm learning a lot. The Ecotec is a great motor. There are tons of them and there cheap! OK on the the nuts and bolts. Im building a sand rail with a Ecotec out of a 2008 cobalt which is the same motor as my 2004 cav right? well no. Problem it has a COP system that i still have to sort out. What i need is to know for sure is my crank and cam sensors a hall effect or a VR sensor? and whats with this funky trigger wheel 6+1 or something anybody got a picture of that? I'm still building the megasquirt so i need to figure out what i have so i can build the board correctly. -B


My head hurts.

the cavaliers used the l61 ecotec (2.2), im unsure of what engine your using weather it be the l61, le5 (2.4), or lsj (2.0 sc). if you let us know im sure someone would be able to help you more. also the trigger wheels from what i understand are used to adapt our l61 head to other ecotec bottom ends such as the le5, lsj etc good luck and lets see some pics..

I think you'll get more help at, www.ecotecforum.com, and you'll be using a 60+1 trigger wheel unlike us who use a 6+1 trigger wheel.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

Why not use the PCM that was used on the Cobalt?





P&P Tuning
420.5whp / 359.8wtq

The motor is a 2.2 NA motor. Guess its a l61 then. Why would i be using a 60+1 wheel don't all l61 have the same trigger?


My head hurts.

after 05 all ecotec's run the 60+1 trigger wheel while pre 05 they all run the 6+1. 05 is the fuzzy year, the 05 cavaliers/sunfires run the 6+1 wheel, while the cobalt/g5 runs the 60+1


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

ok good deal thats one issue down.Next issue is the crank sensor a vr or hall effect? same question for the cam sensor.


My head hurts.

L61 uses VR, Le5 (the 2.4 with vvt) is hall effect. The halleffect sensor will work in an L61 and will provide better signal to the megasquirt. We dont have cam sensors so you'll need to get that info from a site dedicated to newer ecotecs, or someone on here might know.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

Leafy wrote:I think you'll get more help at, www.ecotecforum.com,

the main tuners frequent here more and would be able to help out with it more here.

doing research before you buy the engine is probably a good idea.

same RPO, but the 2008 and 2004 ecotec engines have a lot of differences.

does yours have VVT? if so.. yea have fun with that.

2002-2005 ecotec 2.2
6+1 reluctor ring
wasted spark ignition
no cam sensor in the traditional sense (uses resistance measured across the spark plugs to 'generate' a cam signal.. this is self contained in the ICM module and ignition cassette.. the big black thin in the center of the valve cover).

2006+ ecotec 2.2
60-2 reluctor ring
coil on plug ignition
I believe some got an actual camshaft sensor.

around 08 they were updated again to VVT (possibly 09)

you can program the trigger wheel in MSnS extra or newer pretty easily.

two wires on the crank/cam sensor = VR
three wires on the crank/cam sensor = Hall Effect

if you have a VVT ecotec, get rid of it and get one of the older ecotecs. 03-05 L61 are the easiest to retrofit on rails. 2002 ecotecs work too, but they have a tendancy to snap rods if they aren't tuned right, and especially with boost. 03-05 will blow ringlands if not tuned right, but you can at least survive that kind of failure and repair the engine.

QWK LN2 (P&P Tuning) wrote:Why not use the PCM that was used on the Cobalt?

Still has yet to be answered........





P&P Tuning
420.5whp / 359.8wtq

Both crank and cam are definitely Hall Effect.

Crank is a 60-2, the cam is a four unequal length teeth.

Thought it was a hall effect. Good I can tune that. The engine does not have vvt so Im good there.

The PCM from the cobalt is something i don't have. Besides I'm doing this project to get experience with the megasquirt.

One more question the cam sensor wheel has some funky pattern on it. 4 cutouts that aren't spaced evenly. I assume it was to prevent signal overlap with the crank sensor. anyone know if i can use that with the megasquirt? I have been having alot of fun with this project and learning alot. I plan on doing a COP sequential ignition with batch fire fuel. Even the trans will be computer controlled but not by the ecu.




My head hurts.

I am not sure about megasquirt, but you will have to set it to falling edge for the cam. The rising edge of all the teeth are equally spaced, but because the teeth are different widths you can use the falling edge to determine TDC Cyl 1.

Good idea. is that what the factory does?


My head hurts.