Does MSD measure up?

[lineslinger]

IMHO,
Every so often I read about an MSD ignition system/box failing. If it performed as well as acclaimed we would not read about it at all. It is obviously a very popular system but is that reputation earned?
A chip, a circuit board, a connection, a wiring harness. For those of you running an MSD6AL or something similar, give an opinion, do you like yours or would you do it differently if given a second chance?

[DAVID GAGNARD]

I've been running an MSD ignition in my 65 Mustang street car for about 10 years now, narry a hitch............
Note: I did burn up the first MSD box after only a few months, but it was due to a faulty voltage regulator, that when it went bad, had the alternator putting out 22 volts to the MSD box, and they don't like that much voltage, car still ran for a few miles like that before the MSD totally fried, not the MSD's fault............

Been running the same thing in my 65 Mustang road race car for almost 2 years now, same results, guess I've been lucky...........

The street car has the MSD box under the hood and not in the best location to keep it away from the heat and elements, so, I'm kinda surprised it has lasted this long....

The one in the race car is mounted inside the passenger footwell and out of the elements and almost directly under an air vent, so it should actually do better under the conditions........

I have found they are easy to install and have very minimal wiring to fuss with............

David

[lineslinger]

Dave,
As with any other part do you think by keeping it away from the heat has helped? Or would you mount it differently the next time around? You sound like a satisfied customer.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

The MSD box does get hot all by itself and anything you can do to help keep it cool has to be a plus.........My street car was once used for shows alot and I did not want it inside the car for that purpose only, so I mounted it in the engine compartment,trying to hide it from veiw, after driving around a little I can hardly hold my hand on it, it gets that hot!!!!!!!!!!!

The one in the race car does get hot, but I can generally hold my hand on it as long as I want.......

If I remember right, in the instructions with the MSD box, they recommend to keep it away from engine heat as much as possible....

There is enough wiring to mount the box pretty far from the engine, and I would suggest doing so if you have room, I've seen some mount the box in the glove compartment, I almost did that with my car, but the glove box was full of junk!!!!!!!!!!

I use the MSD distibutor as well as the coil in conjunction with the box and so far, have had good luck with their products, I'm sure the other after/market ignition systems are also good, but I've never tried them........

David

[jdog]

Mine is mounted behind the dash where the glovebox would be, if I had one.

jdog

[G.R.]

I've been running MSD 6AL and a MSD dist. in my car for almost 4 yrs with only one minor problem when it wouldn't start due to a broken ground wire...my fault. My old SPF also had a MSD6 AL and Dist and it never gave a problem either. Both were/are mounted on the firewall in the engine bay on the passenger side. I know some guys prefer to mount them in the Passenger footwell because of heat but knock on wood I've not had that problem.

[lovehamr]

I'm running an MSD6AL in my Boss 302 with an Accel dual point. Same one since 1998, no problems. Used a 6A in my last Boss and never had a problem.

Steve

[spl310]

Interesting. Virtually everyone that I personally know that has an MSD box has had it fail. No common thread as to why they failed, they just did.

[Pete Munroe]

Guys,

My MSD 6AL BOX has about 11,500 miles on it over 4 years, works great.

It is under the dashboard, pretty much in the open for ventilation in a Cobra roadster, but out of site.

The MSD DISTRIBUTOR is a P.O.S...it works, in spite of massive corrosion on the magnetic pickup and the reluctor? wheel.

The ORIGINAL MSD cap had aluminum terminals and was also totally corroded at about 6000 miles, two+ years of use...

OK, the BOX works great...keeping it relatively cool has to help...I sure would not mount it next to a header tube, and would avoid under the hood installations.

The distributor seems to work in spite of being a corroded mess inside.

When you replace the cheap-o cap MSD provides to a new customer, get a cap that has brass terminals.

Someone did a thread on caps here a few months ago and NAPA? Echlin? have higher quality replacements available.

Pete

[Yetiman]

My limited experience...

My first 6al failed in the first few weeks and was replaced immediately by the shop I bought it from. It seems the rev limiter circuit had developed a mind of it's own and wouldn't let the car rev over 2300 rpm.

I had installed the first one in the engine compartment on top of the passenger foot box.

When I got the second one, I mounted it inside using the same mounting holes, adding a hole and gromet for the wiring to pass through.

This one left me stranded, and when I returned it to the shop where I bought it they tested it and it worked perfectly.
I then ordered a Crane Hi6 based on recomendations on this site and because it has diagnostic modes and will try and tell you what failed.

Before it arrived I diagnosed the REAL cause of the problem to a faulty alternator wire.

I am still running the Crane box and in nearly two years not a hiccup.

Would I do it again ? Yes.

The car has better drivability and mid range response with the MSD box (noticably better than the Crane box too !).
I also got measurably better fuel milage with it too which I have never really heard anyone else claim.
Also, the REAL reason I bought it was the rev limiter, and I want to keep that.

I kept the Crane box in place because it has an input to retard timing with my nitrouse system which allows safer operation. I am probably going to remove the nitrouse this year as I never really use it, and will go back to the MSD 6al at that time.

Many problems where people initially blame the MSD box (including me myself and I) are actually caused by other electrical issues. The people at MSD and the shop I bought mine from told me this, and in the second case they were right.

[Rick Parker]

I have used the same MSD 6T box without ANY issues since 1987. Mounted in the same place. My opinion is that vibration (as well as severe heat) is a detriment to (any type) of electical components. The 6T box is primarily marketed as a Circle Track product. Unlike the others it uses a separate rev limiter box and also has rubber isolators that it mounts on to reduce the amount of vibration it is exposed to. To date heat in this location has not been an issue. With my header setup there IS heat in this area.

[IMG][/IMG]

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Pete;

Had the same thing happen to me with my street car....one day it started up fine, but had a miss in it, I shut it down and checked everything, found that the terminals in the cap had some corrosion and I cleaned them,ran fine after that, did notice there was NO hole in the cap where the vent was supposed to be, so I drilled it out and now it is 100% better.... Both my caps have the brass terminals....

On another note; I was running the Ford Motorsport 8.5mm plug wires in both cars, I thought they ran just fine, then I bought a set of 8.5 mm MSD plug wires for the race car, as soon as I cranked it up the difference was noticable, started a lot faster and idled a lot smoother and the motor seemed smoother through out the power band.......

David

[Goober]

My first one (6AL) lasted about 3 years and then let go. Basically the car would run for 15/20 minutes and then quit. Cool down and then go another 15/20 minutes. Had the box checked out and it was bad. Had it mounted in the engine compartment near the side vents. From what I have been told, David is spot on. They don't like excessive heat. Remounted mine under the dash out of site and knock on wood, no problems so far. Ditto on the FMS 8.5 wires. Went to taylor and it seems like it's better.

just my 2cents
Mark

[blykins]

6AL user here. I had a bad one right out of the box....swapped it out and haven't had a problem since. I also use their coils, dizzy's, and plug wires. Pretty pleased overall.

Would use them again.

[Bill Wells]

being electrical - some work and some don't . kinda like light bulbs rated at 10,000 hours ( or whatver ) with some burning out at 1,500 hrs and others lasting to 15,000 hours. go figure .

While i have heard of MSD failures it seems to me that other brands have a higher failure rate - but I have no stats to support that . Reading some negative examples here has me puzzled over my MSD success .

I have MSD ignition, box mounted behind glove box area in cockpit to reduce heat from engine compartment ...and MSD distributor . I have had no problems in 13,000 mi since i switched to the MSD ignition and no trouble with my MSD distributor added a couple thousand miles ago after my Accel distrib failed.

Some say MSD = Mighty Sorry Device ....but for me , so far, no problems !! knock on fiberglass ! Bill

[patrickt]

When I was up visiting ERA last year Doug told me that they had found that the key to preventing failures with the 6AL unit was to always use the noise reduction capacitor close to the MSD box (and to put them over the passenger’s feet to isolate them from the heat). Without the capacitor, even a “jump start” had the potential to blow the unit. Mounting above the passenger’s feet also made it convenient to put my adjustable rev-limiter in the back of the glove box. Here are a couple of shots:

[Cobra #3170]

There is a reason NASCAR teams have two boxes and a switch to select a different system, they fail. MSD took forever to go from analog to digital and there design and construction was not the best in older models. I understand that the newer digital designs are using more modern techniques and are less prone to failure. All the electronic systems do provide quicker starts, and much better ignition performance than the old points and coil systems.

[lineslinger]

Originally Posted by patrickt

When I was up visiting ERA last year Doug told me that they had found that the key to preventing failures with the 6AL unit was to always use the noise reduction capacitor close to the MSD box (and to put them over the passenger’s feet to isolate them from the heat). Without the capacitor, even a “jump start” had the potential to blow the unit. Mounting above the passenger’s feet also made it convenient to put my adjustable rev-limiter in the back of the glove box. Here are a couple of shots:

Patrick,
Please fill me in, a noise reduction capacitor? Not familiar with this, maybe I need to do some more reading. Also is that an adjustable rev limiter I see mounted with the dial indicator box?
Thanks

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by lineslinger

Patrick,
Please fill me in, a noise reduction capacitor? Not familiar with this, maybe I need to do some more reading. Also is that an adjustable rev limiter I see mounted with the dial indicator box?
Thanks

Yes, you can see in my photo that it is a rather large capacitor (it's that red coffee-cup sized object to the left of the MSD box). MSD sells it primarily to reduce radio interference, but it also protects the MSD box from voltage and current anomalies. And yes, that is a variable Rev-Limiter in my glove box (also from MSD) -- it lets me conveniently turn the engine's rev cap way, way down for the valet .

[patrickt]

Info on the MSD adjustable Rev Limiters: http://www.msdignition.com/rpm_13.htm

And info on the Noise Reduction Capacitor. Note that it casually mentions that "A side benefit is that the Capacitor will protect the MSD Ignition from voltage spikes or current surges."

http://www.msdignition.com/pdf/tech%...adio_noise.pdf




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