Show of Hands-HOw many people have had an MSD magnetic pickup fail???

[RestoCreations]

Not sure. I bought the mallory, but it is not easy to adjust the advance and it has a lot of the same symptoms that the msd distributor was having, which leads me to believe there is something going on with the digital 6 box.

The alternative i may use is a pertronix system with a mechanical and vacuum advance. Mechanical advance is simple to adjust on such a distributor...simply set the timing so that 36 degrees comes in at around 2500 for best performance. if the vacuum canister needs to be changed to one that pulls in at a different level of HG reading, then they are ten bucks.

[8litercobra]

Had intermittent ignition failure while driving. Engine would cut off, but would crank right back up as if nothing were wrong. Checked the MSD distributor, found a cracked mag pick up. Replaced cracked module. No more problems to date.

[86Sebring]

I had 3 MSD's fail so far, BB Vette, sbf Healey replica and most recently in a sbf Mustang. Replaced it with Pertronix and never had issues again.
The worst was the inconvenience of getting stranded on my way to a car show, about 90 miles away. Me stay away from MSD now...

[cdnus]

Fluctuating tach is the box. Probably getting to hot. Is yours mounted under the hood?
I know this because mine was and when it got hot it would drive my fuel injection crazy because of the tach signal feeds the EFI?
Made changes to keep the box cool and problem went away. I replaced the box after solving the problem just in case it was internally damaged.
Hope this helps.
Craig

[RallySnake]

I used a number of MSD boxes in 30 years of running my Cobra in Solo2's and rallies. I had many failures and it evolved into a complete dual NASCAR type system. Two years ago, I converted to a stock Ford EDIS system controlled by a Megajolt box. These parts are cheap on eBay. The engine runs SO MUCH smoother. You do not realize how many power pulses an engine misses with the mechanical advance, single coil, distributor system. It took months to get used to the consistent power delivery, quick starting and much better gas mileage with this Ford system from the 1990's. I hid the coil packs under the surge tank.

The simple truth is that aftermarket companies do not have the resources to produce the same quality as major manufacturers.

[decooney]

If you decide to rule out the pickup coil, it's easy. Grab an ohm meter, and run it across the two pickup wires coming out of the distributor. See if it measures between 500-700 ohms. I just rechecked the MSD site, and that still seems to be the current spec.

I've seen two (2) MSD pickup coils go bad and one was mine. I keep a spare pickup coil in my trunk tool bag in case mine or others go out on friends cars on drives. Cheap, and easy to check or replace if needed. And, of course the MSD boxes go bad occasionally but mostly due to too much vibration or too much heat. I moved my MSD box inside the cockpit of the car away from any engine or exhaust header heat. No problems.

[Bernica]

Well, here's my last and final MSD setup. Obviously done with them.
Went to Pertronix dizzy and ignition. So far, so good.