Breakdown

[Steve]

It was a lovely day today so took the RR for a ride out.Everything was going great until 2 miles from home the engine died on me and I ended up being towed home.
The car is running an MSD 6AL.The engine is spinning over Ok but I'm not getting power to the coil or switching.How do I fix this please?

 

[george68hemirr]

It was a lovely day today so took the RR for a ride out.Everything was going great until 2 miles from home the engine died on me and I ended up being towed home.
The car is running an MSD 6AL.The engine is spinning over Ok but I'm not getting power to the coil or switching.How do I fix this please?

you should have a heavy red hot lead and a smaller red lead....the smaller should be fused...black lead should be ground.....check all connections from your msd box..also check all your fuses under your glove box to see if you blew a fuse there

 

[sixgunrunner68]

Are you still using the ballast resistor?

 

[Steve]

Thanks George will check fuse on red wire,didn't know there was one.All fuses in glovebox are OK,looked at those yesterday.No not using Ballast resistor Marty.

All this time the car's been stuck in the garage and as soon as I get to use it again the damn thing breaks down on me

 

[SomeCarGuy]

Do you still have the ECU on it? Not sure if you use one w/ the 6AL or not.

If you do, the orange boxes seem to be the biggest POS's on the market. No matter what kind it is, an ECU MUST be grounded well or it will cause weird issues.

 

[Steve]

Ok so it's not the fuses so I'm going to check if the msd unit has gone bad.Can you help with this,apologies if I'm being a bit slow but electrics are not my strongpoint.

2.Remove the coil wire from the Dist cap and set the terminal approximately 1/2" from ground.

Do they mean the HT lead when they say coil wire? Only other wires I see are the magnetic pickup wires which it says I also have to disconnect to do the test.
I understand all the rest of the instructions

 

[moparchris]

Ok so it's not the fuses so I'm going to check if the msd unit has gone bad.Can you help with this,apologies if I'm being a bit slow but electrics are not my strongpoint.

2.Remove the coil wire from the Dist cap and set the terminal approximately 1/2" from ground.

Do they mean the HT lead when they say coil wire? Only other wires I see are the magnetic pickup wires which it says I also have to disconnect to do the test.
I understand all the rest of the instructions

If you are using the white wire to trigger the MSD, this is the way to diagnose it.

1. Disconnect the coil wire from the distributor cap and place it approximately 1/4" from ground.
2. Disconnect the MSD White wire from the distributor or amplifier wire that it is connected to.
3. Turn the ignition key to the on position (not cranking).
4. Tap the White wire against ground and then remove it. Each time the White wire is touched and released from ground you should see a spark jump from the coil wire.
5. If no spark occurs, check to make sure you have 12 volts on the small red wire going to the MSD unit with the ignition key in the run position. If there is no 12 volts trace the ignition key wire back to determine why there is no 12 volts. If 12 volts is present, continue to step 6.
6. Check the coils primary and secondary resistance to make sure they meet the coils specifications or replace the coil with a known good coil and repeat the White wire test above.

 

[moparchris]

Here you go, I found the page for trouble shooting.

http://www.msdignition.com/page.aspx?id=3206

 

[Steve]

Here you go, I found the page for trouble shooting.

http://www.msdignition.com/page.aspx?id=3206

Got them Chris thanks,not using white wire,it's magnetic pickup.
Do they mean the HT lead when they say coil wire though :huh:

 

[Steve]

Well found out today reason for my problem,the Msd is a fake.See link below,sure enough mine has same number.
http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/sho ... art=1&vc=1

 

[moparchris]

Man! I am sorry to hear that. I have had some problems with my MSD distributor and in the past on other friends cars the boxes themselves. Every time MSD has stood behind their product and solved any problems we come across. The chinese knock offs are going to get what they deserve. Sucks when someone represents themselves as the real thing.

 

[69hemibeep]

Well found out today reason for my problem,the Msd is a fake.See link below,sure enough mine has same number.
http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/sho ... art=1&vc=1

That just plain sucks :chuck:

 

[glhcarl]

Steve,

Glad you found the problem sorry about the counterfeit box?

I recommend a Pertronix system as a replacement, they are easy to install, cheap to buy and reliable.

Or for the price of a MSD system you could get a proper Lucas system! Then when it quit working you would know why. After all Lucas worked hard and long earning the title "The Prince of Darkness". :wreck:

 

[george68hemirr]

Well found out today reason for my problem,the Msd is a fake.See link below,sure enough mine has same number.
http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/sho ... art=1&vc=1

where did you buy the fake box????

 

[Steve]

Well found out today reason for my problem,the Msd is a fake.See link below,sure enough mine has same number.
http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/sho ... art=1&vc=1

where did you buy the fake box????

It was supplied by the guy who built my engine and was all plumbed in at the same time.He bought and sold another 2 so says he will be expecting more phone calls when they eventually break.Got them off Ebay.

 

[SomeCarGuy]

Why not call the people and let them know they have fakes? I don't get the ethics or lack thereof by some "business" guys.

 

[george68hemirr]

i dont buy anything from ebay unless the guy has a 100 percent feed back of close to that.....you should go back and give him a bad feedback or demand your money back