having severe problems with msd ignition?

[badbug3]

I put a digital six and hvc 2 coil and billet dist with magnetic pickup on my engine and the problem is it wont start unless you have the timing around 10-15 degrees. Timing is locked. It will buck, backfire, spit through the carburetor, and so on if it is on 36 degrees. I just pulled out a msd hei distributor that runs perfect and timing was locked at 38 degrees. No problem cranking at all. I even held the magnetic wires in my hand made sure they werent even close to any other wires(as per msd advice) and still the same problem. I put the hei back in the engine and no problems. I ran this exact ignition 2 years ago and took it out when i sold the motor. I need to run it so i can have rev limiter and nitrous retard features. What in the hell is going on with this ignition. Msd says nothing is wrong with dist or box and they haven t even checked them. Is there any way possible the magnetic pickup in the msd dist could even cause this. Its such a simple device. Help??

[mytmouz]

MSD had problems with retard feature on the digital 6 when they first came out. They sent me a new one to replace the one I had. This was in 2000. Don't know how old your box is or if this is the problem. I'd borrow someones known good box and try it to see if it's the box or the distributor.

[68bbnova]

I tried using the start retard on my digital 6, which I purchased in 2002, and had the exact same problem. I tore up about three starters before I just put back in a advance into the distributer, and used the normal V8 setting on the pot. MSD never said anything about having problems two years earlier, as stated in the last post. If you can figure out the problem, let me know. Sean
http://www.racingjunk.com/profile/27490

[obsessedtruck]

Sounds like the same ordeal that i had. I had oopsed and had the dist. phasing off a little to much. Take and double check that it is phased correctly. Have the crank trigger at 36* and line up the dist rotor on #1. Thought i would mention that.

[badbug3]

there should not be a phasing problem in the dist with the magnetic pickup in the dist.

Like i said earlier, i ran this exact ignition 2 years ago without any problem. Its after it sitting fo r2 years i put it back in and now the problem. I guess i will have to borrow another box to see what the deal is.

[billhendren]

Check the polarity of the mag pickup.look at what your timing is set at then unplug the dist and take two short pieces of wire,plug one end of the wire into the loom, cross the leads and plug them into the dist .start the engine and look at your timing.with the digital box the most advanced position is correct with an analog box its the most retarded one thats correct.Bill

[badbug3]

that was the problem Bill. Someone cut the pigtail off and put it back on backwards, but there is not color on the pickup wires to match. works fine now. I cant believe all the problems caused by this.

[davis419b]

You forgot to say " Thank You Bill" youre the man !!!!!!!!!

[badbug3]

THANK YOU BILL, YOUR THE MAN

[billhendren]

Glad to help anytime guys,you would be surprised that one out of 5 cars that rent time on my chassis dyno to diagnose problems has the polarity backwards or the mag pickup wire running parallel or in the same loom as the coil orange and black leads,lot of wounded engines out there because of that problem.Bill

[edvancedengines]

Bill,
I usually find that most MSD problems aren't.

Usually it is;
noise entering in the low voltage trigger wires because they run in side by side with higher voltage wires.

Crank Trigger Pick-up Gap is too wide, causing hard starting and kick-back.

Distributor rotor is not correctly indexed and in phase so the wrong plug is getting the spark to the plugs instead of the #1 plug. It only takes appx 30 degrees off to do it.

Distributor rotor was put in phase for a nitrous engine when runijng it on motor and gets big time out of phase when the retards are hit. Phase the distributor and rotor together in the degrees of advance the engine will be mostly running at. Do not set rotor distributor phase at TDC like some people do.

Not checking and re-setting the timing when changing from one box to another box. Even with same model number each box will be different.

IF you have a Digital Box from MSD or from anyone, You need a Voltage Spike Protector called a Noise Filter in-line between your battery and your box. Voltage spikes of instant high voltage or amperage can kill a Digital Box. They can kill your computer at home too, that is why you have it hooked through a Voltage Spike Protector that was not supplied, You bought it extra.

The Older AL and Regular MSD Boxes were very suseptable to water damage, from pressure washing the engine or other sources.

ED

[Robert1320]

The Older AL and Regular MSD Boxes were very suseptable to water damage, from pressure washing the engine or other sources.

ED

And still today you see so many ignition boxes mounted under hoods, on fenders and just in place they should not be.....

Glad some good advice fixed the problem.