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Understanding the Nissan Ignition Trigger
Created: 28th November, 2001
This is a short article on understanding how the Nissan trigger system work, and how to go about integrating it into the Haltech engine management system.
What is the Nissan Ignition Trigger system ?
The Nissan Trigger is a special type of Multitooth trigger system.  It has a camshaft driven trigger that uses an optical trigger unit. This unit which outputs a square wave digital signal, is triggered by a slotted disc. The disc has 360 slots around the outer section, with the inner section having the same number of slots as the number of cylinders. I will be using a 4-cylinder version as an example below/
Normally with a Multitooth trigger, there will be many ignition pulses to tell the ECU where the crankshaft position is, which show engine rpm.  This is wired to the Haltech Main Trigger input. A second trigger setup is used to syncronise the ECU so it can find Top Dead Centre (TDC) and know when to fire each spark or fuel injector.  This trigger is wired to the Home Trigger input of the Haltech.
The Nissan system works in a similar way.  The difference is that the 360-slot signal is wired to the Home Trigger input, and 4-slot signal is wired instead to the Main Trigger input.   The Haltech system uses the Rising Edge of both input signals to trigger the ECU.  The way the ECU determines which cylinder is firing is to count the number of 360-slot triggers that occur during the largest of the 4-slot triggers. It is this number that is entered into the Home Window Teeth value in the Ignition Setup Page.
 

What Haltech's does it work on ?
This is the easiest question to answer.  The earliest Haltech systems that support the Nissan Trigger system are the E6K and the E6H.  The fuel only F9, F10, F7, and F3 models do not support this trigger, and neither do the old E6A and E6S fuel and ignition systems.
 

How do I configure my Haltech to use the Nissan trigger ?
Go to your Ignition Setup Page (CTRL-G) and configure it to these settings below.   This will be a good starting point to get most Nissan trigger systems up and running for the E6K
 
Ignition Setup Page 4-cylinder 6-cylinder
Trigger Input Hall Effect Hall Effect
Trigger Edge Rising Rising
Home Input Hall Effect Hall Effect
Home Edge Rising Rising
Trigger Angle *45 *55
Trigger Type Nissan Nissan
Home Window Teeth 16 24
Nissan Tooth Offset *18 *5
Spark Mode Direct Fire Direct Fire
Coils on 4-Cylinder 2 ---
Engine Type Piston Piston
Output Type Constant Charge Constant Charge
Coil Charge Time (mS) 1.8 3.0
Output Edge Falling Falling

* These are approximate values only and will most likely need to be changed to suit individual installations.
 
 

How do I wire it up ?
Covering this shortly