MSD Distributor issues

[Dangerous Doug]

Originally Posted by vatdevil

While its possible youve purchased a number of defective 8352s, I'd suspect something else is contributing to the problem. The 2.44 volt reading indicates the ignition module is working.

I thought that as well, but consider this:

Out of the total four failures:

The original unit may have failed due to alternator output issues I was having a few months back. That's been repaired and is no longer an issue.

The "Generic Brand" MSD 8352 knock-off failed due to an internal short within the distributor. The unit worked intermittently, based upon the position of the distributor pigtail. Move the pigtail while the engine was running and you could kill it. Move the pigtail when the engine was not running but the ignition on, and you could hear an audible 12V zap coming from inside the distributor.

The most recent MSD8352 was bad right out of the box. Plug it in, and the unit pulls the ignition voltage down from 12.44V to 2.44V.

I've lost confidence in MSD Distributors. I've gained confidence, though, in my ability to remove and install a distributor---I've lost count, but I think I've installed a distributor over ten times now. All in the last two months!

I'd rather be out (confidently) driving my Cobra!
DD