MSD 6 ingition problem
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From: ALABAMA
MSD 6 ingition problem
I have the MSD 6 ignition box with a msd blaster tfi coil and msd billet distibutor on my 85 351 h.o. the truck ran perfect for three months or should i say better than stock. now when it gets up to operating temperature or runs about ten miles it sputters and dies until its cold or until i give it a jump start, the battery is a new optima 1000 cca unit so i know its getting plenty of juice and the alternator is fine. could it be a bad msd box or coil? i think its the box myself. HELP!
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From: END OF THE OREGON TRAIL
Where did you locate the MSD box. They don't like heat. Check the installation instructions I think you can bypass the box by switching the wiring around. That might help you diagnose the problem. 
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From: ALABAMA
the box is mounted on the fenderwell behind the battery and stays pretty cool with lots of airflow, i eliminated all the stock wiring and dura spark box so its not reversible now. i have had two local opinions on this issue, one was a bad coil that acts up when hot and the other is a bad cap in the box that doesnt like heat? the coil is new and the box is about two years old? do i need a cap or resistor on the tfi coil too? like used on the stock system? i am not running one as of now but never seemed to need one at first! maybe its the tfi coil losing voltage? should i run a standard cannister style blaster coil instead? im fustrated after spending 3 hours to travel 20 miles last night! oh and how can i bypass the box? i have no instructions on how to do this?
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From: Los Angeles
if you suspect your tfi try this...
http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/flats/3349/test.htm
which sounds like a tfi problem, unless if you relocated your tfi from the dizzy. Have you checked for loose connections? cap rotor, ground cable, etc
http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/flats/3349/test.htm
which sounds like a tfi problem, unless if you relocated your tfi from the dizzy. Have you checked for loose connections? cap rotor, ground cable, etc
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From: ALABAMA
I have checked all connections, i even rewired some doubtfull connections, new msd cap and rotor, new belden 8.5 mm plug wires from napa, new autolite plugs, voltage regulator. another question is should i use a pick up coil or capacitor, whatever it is called that normally is wired to the negative side of the coil? i dont have an ohm meter to test the the coil but i assume its good because it is almost brand new? when the truck acts up it sputters and loads up, backfires too. when it runs good it goes like a banshee out of hell with no hesitation at all! i just picked up two brand new holley carbs for it too, still running the factory holley 600 on it now. the new carbs are a 870 cfm street avenger with vacumm secondarys and the other is a 830 cfm double pump with mechanical secondarys, i will jet whichever i use down to 66 primary jets for street use. which is my best bet for a daily driver? the 870 i assume, correct? i have a mild cam, big valve heads, 10.5 compression, headers, and a high rise with a auto trans. this is the 351 h.o. engine by the way. thanks for all your help guys!
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From: Los Angeles
Originally Posted by tHeCoS
which sounds like a tfi problem, unless if you relocated your tfi from the dizzy. etc
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From: ALABAMA
brand new fuel filter and the pump works fine, it loads up just before dying due to decreased spark i assume. it will fire back up with a jump when hot, or wait till its cold then it fires back up on its own. that cant be fuel related? i wonder if the tfi coil is not what i should be using on this combo? maybe i should use a standard blaster coil? its fustrating the hell out of me is all i know!
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go to msd's web page and go to the tech section to look for your answer. if you don't find it there you can e-mail them your ? or call them(i think) and they will answer your ?
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From: ALABAMA
i did that and the guy was not much help, he said to jump the magnetic pick up leads and see if im getting spark. of course i am or else it wouldnt run at all, maybe i need to climb under the hood and have a buddie drive while i wait for it to cut out during the jump process! lol! he just said he thinks its the coil? guess i need to find a donor coil and give it a try before buying more new parts.
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i thought they'd be more help than that. ignition problems can be a real pain. i've got the same basic ignition msd-6,blaster 2, mech. adv dist and msd wires. i was having a problem with it cutting off the engine completely and not restarting until it cooled so i got the test procdures from msd and now it won't quit on me to test it when it does. talk about murphys law. anyways good luck finding the cause and when you do let me know because i'm curious what it is.
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From: ALABAMA
man! you had the same problem i do! sounds like you run the same set up i have also other than the the coil maybe? what coil do you have? the cannister style or the tfi? what springs are you running on your advance? i run the silver springs on mine. it sure works great when it works huh! lol!
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i've got the blaster 2 canister coil and i believe that the distributor has the big silver springs which i think are the sock equivalent. yes it does run good and the only time it acted up was that 1 day last october. that is what realy has me confused. it quit 3 times that day and none since. maybe it was just a freak deal, i don't know. all of the msd stuff is about 5 years old with maybe 30,000 miles on it. other than that one day it's worked flawlessly and i've been very happy with it.
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From: ALABAMA
right on! glad to hear it runs good for you too. MSD is the best in my opinion, they are the original founders of multiple spark discharge anyways. all the others are just copies and wanna be's. I am beginning to think the problem is moisture inside the box now? i pressured washed my engine and engine compartment several times in a month right before this problem started, thanks to a power steering hose that blew off twice making a hell of a mess. i fired the bronco up today and drove it after it sat for a week here and now it runs better than ever!? maybe moisture finally evaporated out of the box? i hope so!