And for our Next Trick ... How 'bout a diyTrionic?

[garfield at pilgrimhouse.com]

Hey Maties.

I been keepin this under me hat for a while, but thot I'd spill the
beans and max out the fun, now that I have a Lab Rat working. Member
that thread awhile back about using the post-spark ionization current to
detect detonation and misfires? Well, one of our illustrious members,
whose initials are Jim Crance (golly, I hope he doesn't mind taking a
bow), who's also a fellow pilot, got aholdOme and said he had a slightly
marginal Trionic Ignition/Ionization unit from Saab that worked fine
excpet it hickup'd whenever it was in a deep freeze, and would I like to
have a look? Jim's a Saab (& other Euro's) Mech. So I got the thang last
week before last, along with a nice Saab 9000 manual Jim sent along, and
danged if it don't look feasible to diy.

The assembly's epoxy potted, so limits my snooping to watching it fly
from the outside (just as well), but like I said before, I figure
ANYTHING that's being mass deployed in the commercial auto market has
GOT to be diy'able; otherwise anything twitchy/complicated/sensitive
isn't gonna make it, and Saab's apparently been using this technology
since '93!! Does this remind you at all of EGOR?

So, here's the plan. Just like before, instead of 'cheating' and looking
inside, we'll use the same approach as on EGOR, and try to LEARN how it
works, with yous guys help, like before. Now, since I'm not a member of
SAE, and I see they want a $100/yr subscription JUST to search their
Paper's bibliography, I am soliciting help in locating any/all
articles/info on this system. I can't imagine Saab not touting it
upon/in-prep-for it's introduction in '93, so there have GOT to be some
interesting/useful papers available. Soooo, any of yous guys with a
moment and a membership in SAE, could you start the ball rolling by
doing a search in the SAE Bibliography for any hits on the following
known good keywords:
	Saab  AND Trionic, "Ignition Discharge Module", Ionization, etc.

The manual Jim sent me says "The Saab Trionic system was introduced in
1993 on Saab 9000 models fitted with the B234L engine." The manual
itself if for '96, and assuming they're still using this Trionic stuff
in '98, that means the thang's been deployed for 5 years. That oughta be
enough to convince anyone it works, I would guess. [Saab sells alot of
them Turbo 9000's, don't it? At any rate I sure see alot of them here in
Calif. A fan of the yuppie crowd, ifyaknowadamean.]

Finally, Fair Use allows us the privilege of posting a few of the key
pages from the manual to wet your appetite, so I'll scan a couple in and
post them up on the FTP site. This could give ole EGOR a definitive
challenge to his nascent fameNnotoriety. Now he's gonna have
competition. Sorta like the Red & Yellow MnM bozos. Heh.

Let's get'er rollin, dudes. Cuz this tech sure looks like it beats the
acoustic knock detection schemes by a Swedish mile! And, unless we get a
total firehose of activity on this and begin to overload the list, how
bout you POST your finds instead of sending them to me privately. Might
encourage the beehive effect, and bring everyone interested up to speed
that much faster. [BTW, didy'all know that this gizmo is even used to
"commute" the spark/injection, by replacing the cam sensor? Yeah, it
detects which "other" pair of plugs is firing via ionization current,
and combined with the crank sensor for the "intersecting pair",
determines which cylinder is at TDC on it's power stroke. Cool, eh?]

Cheers maties; if we pull THIS one off, we'll have to think seriously
about holding some kinda party or sumpin, eh? Could be fun.

Gar