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

[Danny Barrett]

Sounds good to me... Do you think you would be able to adapt it for old 6
cyl engines???

>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
>
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