msd 6al 6420

[Scufty]

ok Im crap at electrical but here goes...I pull the car into the garage all good...push it out to do some cleaning. Try to pull it back in ..no go.
getting fuel
poor or no spark.
I seem to have power to the MSD box no power leaving to coil from what I can tell.
test orange and black at coil ...notta
is there a way to tell if you have a pooched msd box?
or any other thoughts for that matter ...who wants to come figure this out for me ?

[Greg Haile]

Scufty,

Don't know if this will help, but I just went through problems with my 6AL. It would simply stop supplying spark at any given moment. After ordering a new box with same results, I decided to follow the directions on the back of the box. THE HEAVY RED AND HEAVY BLACK WIRES MUST BE RUN DIRECTLY TO THE BATTERY TERMINALS. There is no exception to this no matter how good you think your ground and power are. This will also be one of the first questions the techs will ask when you call MSD.

Good luck
Greg

[Scufty]

the strange thing is this just started all of a sudden?
hummm..I will check this as well though
I dont think they are

[RICK LAKE]

Scufty Check your cap for the center terminal still being there. Also check the rotor for no burn holes in it. You might want to try a new cap and rotor first before getting into the box problem. MSD's are hard on caps and rotors. If you have and emergency kit in your car, 5 things should be added with tools, MSD 6al box(spare) Cap, Rotor, and the timing sensor in the distributor. This will save you on break downs on the side of the road, If you have room a spare coil is also a good idea. Better to have and not need, than need and not have on the side of the road. You also know that this will fail at night with bad weather moving in. 12 volt light is also a good thing. Either on this forum or the FE forum, do a search for igintion problems. There are new caps for the distributor in black. The part numbers are on the thread. Pepboys and autozone sell them. Go get a cap and rotor and try it, If the car works you fixed it, if not keep the parts as spares or take back. I have a complete kit in the back of my car with parts from above. If you are around swap meets, you can find these pieces cheap but need to test them. This will save you about 40% over new parts. Have good connectors to splice in with. The yellow ones with water proof ends that seal with a bic lighter. Good Luck Rick L.

[lovehamr]

Originally Posted by Scufty

ok Im crap at electrical but here goes...I pull the car into the garage all good...push it out to do some cleaning. Try to pull it back in ..no go. getting fuel, poor or no spark.

How did you test for spark? I use the old screwdriver in the coil wire test (not touching the SD or coil wire) with the SD propped on the intake or VC a good MSD box should jump a 1/2" gap no prob.

Originally Posted by Scufty

I seem to have power to the MSD box no power leaving to coil from what I can tell.

How much power to the MSD Box? As Greg said it must be good high amp power for the thing to operate properly. Is the box making any noise?

Originally Posted by Scufty

test orange and black at coil ...notta
is there a way to tell if you have a pooched msd box?

You might want to check this link and poke around on that forum to see what you can pick up.
MSD 6AL Suddenly dies - MSD Ignition Tech Support Forums

Hope that helps, Steve

[kayakjack]

Reading all this stuff about MSD electronics has my attention. My 2001 vintage 385hp Ford Motorsport crate motor has a DuraSpark ignition. Works fine. Never an issue. I have considered changing to MSD. I guess because so many folks have them. No good reason.

Anybody have any issues with DuraSpark. Should I just keep it and move on?

If I keep it, are there any parts I should replace for general maintenance? Like the cap, etc.

Jack

[rokndad]

Mine did the same thing. Just stopped after running great. After doing the diagnostics per the MSD website, replacing the cap, rotor, trigger, and eventually a brand new MSD 6 AL box, guess what? Even though the engine cranked over fine, it was low battery power getting to the box during cranking. MSD sets the minimum amount of volts the box needs to see while cranking to trigger the spark. Mine was just below the bar.

Installed new batteries, problem solved. If your battery(s) are older (say 3years or so) , you may want to check that as well.

[RICK LAKE]

Scufty I left out one thing, if you are running the HVC coil, Be REALLY CAREFULL. That thing can KILL YOU. I screwed up once and left the key on. I was playing the distributor and doing the phasing and got SHOT over the hood of the car. 3 days later I was still tasteing the shot. All the coils are strong. They sell spark testers for about $20.00 at an auto store. They have the biult in gap for testing. All you need is good ground. AGAIN BE CAREFULL.Rick L.

[767Jockey]

See that, Rick - and you thought you couldn't fly!

[tmareina]

I have the MSD box, distributor and coil, all hooked up per the instructions. Have had it with no problems for about two years and 4,000 miles or so.

Tom

[Scufty]

Ok I have exactly 12 volts to the Big Red Wire and 11.45 to the small red wire from ignition when ignition is on...I just checked spark ..and the bloody thing seems to be getting spark..maybe just not enough ...dam
Maybe I will try the battery now

[rokndad]

You have to measure the volts on the red wire to the MSD box while the engine is cranking to get what the box is "seeing" to trigger a spark. MSD has the spec on their website, I forgot at this point what it is. I think it was 10.8v but I may be wrong. You can also call the tech support at MSD and they'll help you on your cell phone while your doing things to check. They're pretty patient with us hobbyists.