can someone please explain in laymans (idoit proof) terms what i need to run megasquirt microsquirt on a zetec silver top. i am going to use bike throttle bodies. i have scrolled through the sites but its all vr this iat that, all i want to know is the basics i need to run & mild tune thanks in advance

Unfortunately it isn't straightforward as once you've installed one it will need tuning and setting up.

I would suggest firstly you start studying the megamanual and get to understand the jargon and what it means before you go any further.

Essentially the megasquirt is connected to water(coolant) and air temperature sensors, a Throttle positon sensor (TPS) and Crank position sensor (VR) and a Lambda Sensor (EGO). these are the inputs.

The unit is then connected to the ignition coils via EDIS or direct and the fuel injectors.

EDIS is Electronic Distributorless ignition system which is a Ford component which connects between the VR sensor, Coils and the Megasquirt, you will need to read up and understand this too and decide wether you will use one or not.

The megasquirst monitors all the inputs and decides when to provide a spark and when and how much fuel to squirt into the engine. All this will need tuning using Tuner studio software.

linky

thanks for that what you have written has made a lot more sense than what i have found. do i need a lambda sensor? & where wil i put the air temp sensor as i dont want an air box. i was going to use a piper px600 filter

microsquirt has a narrow band lambda built in I believe which would be ok for a simple set up. Megasquirt uses an external one.

It is best to use one, provides feedback to the ECU regarding the amount of oxygen in the exhaust gas and the adjusts the air fuel ratio-AFR.

I am planning to mount the air temp inside the pipercross filter bracketed off the backplate and poking into the airflow, thats my thoughts anyway, not got to that bit yet though.

Do you have any information what has happened to the microsquirt sequencer?

www.megamanual.com/seq/indexright.htm

MicroSquirt uses an external Lambda sensor/controller like MegaSquirt.

Downside with a narrowband Lambda sensor is it's 'goldielocks' - too rich, too lean or okay. Any ECU will then oscillate the corrections as a result. Best bet, but more expensive, is a wideband Lambda controller which feeds back to the ECU what the O2 reading is in the exhaust gas.

Don't bother with a narrowband its pretty useless. Get the wideband more accuracy any you can use it to get a fairly good tune before tweaking on the rollers. What you pay for the sensor and controller you will save at the rollers

You don't "need" a lambda sensor after the ECU has been mapped, plenty of people run with out. However a narrowband sensor can help keep the calibration correct as components age, but is pretty useless for actually helping to map the ECU. A wideband sensor will give a continuous AFR reading, so can be used to map the ECU on the road.

To add to the list of components you will need these (obvious) ones
High pressure fuel pump,
Pressure regulator,
Fuel rail,
Injectors,
Feed and return lines to tank
Inlet manifold (ST170 is a favourite for the Zetec)
Airbox/air filter

I converted my silvertop zetec to megasquirt and GSXR throttle bodies a few years ago and wrote it up on my website. Some of the detail concerning the tuning of the megasquirt is now a little out of date but you might find some useful stuff. The link below will take you to the index, select throttle bodies or megasquirt from the menu.

FBB website

the throttle bodies are ace, really neat installation, fantastic site