For as wonderful as the MSD electronics are, in my opinion, their distributors leave a lot to be desired mechanically.  We curve a LOT of distributors, of all makes, and some of the worst out of the box performance distributor curves have been found in the MSD units. We won't sell one, or install one without putting it on the distributor machine to check the curve first. We advise all customers contemplating distributor purchases that that all distributors need to be checked, we check what we sell for free, but we will charge for the proper curve labor/parts. We have seen only a handful of their dists thru the years that the curve was how much and where it was supposed to be out of the box. I have notified the company several times thru the years, and every time I was told that they have few complaints, so they keep on keepin on. Meanwhile, you folks without a dist. machine use factory and aftermarket distributors, and leave HP and fuel mileage on the table. This is such a basic "first thing to do" deal that we will check anybody's dist for free, we only charge for the recurve if required. The MSD advance mechanism is that of the 1955-1978 chevy, the pickup assy is from a mid 1980s ford, and the rotor and cap are also early chevy. The weights almost always hit/interfere with the rotors two alignment pins on most of the chevy design units (even from GM!), causing less advance, and the required, powerful trigger coil magnet (not used in the points-type original units) magnetizes the weights and pivot enough to hold the weights in their non-advanced position delaying the onset of the mechanical advance as set-up for. NOTE: a brand new dist. has usually not had the weights magnetized yet because it hasn't been used! Only after use will that happen! We modify everything to minimize the magnetic effect in the future also. After curving any dist. we install the rotor and run it up on the machine again to verify proper operation with the cap in place. We have to charge more to curve the MSD units due to the amount of mods required for proper operation. The above post is just my opinion, I could be wrong.  TIMINATOR

i dont know the answer to your ? but try here
http://www.msdignition.com/forum/

did you keep your procomp box?

No, I got rid of that crap!

I have the switched +12v from the ignition ran to the + term on the coil, along with the red wire from the dizzy.  Black ground wire ran to the terminal block ground on the back of the motor. Grey wire ran to tach. And the orange wire ran to the - term on the coil.

I have the switched +12v from the ignition ran to the + term on the coil, along with the red wire from the dizzy.  Black ground wire ran to the terminal block ground on the back of the motor. Grey wire ran to tach. And the orange wire ran to the - term on the coil.

Just thinking, but double check, then maybe run the ground directly to the block, not the terminal bus. Bad ground??? 

Ray

you've just proved that you have a grounding problem.  Where do you have the engine ground hooked up now?

i usually use one of the bellhousing or starter bolrs, or both,  it wouldn't hurt to run one to the intake either, but shouldn't be neefef

hope this works for you good luck





                                                               rusty

I have been texting him back and forth all day trying to help...i was gonna help him on thursday, but now i got called into work...he now has a solid spark but no fire...he was using the terminal block to ground the dizzy...and from the terminal block he didnt have a clue where the ground went...i told him i would ground it on the cylinder head...i believe he did and thats when he got spark...also after reading what he is running i dont believe he needs a ballast...im sure you guys can shed some light on that...right now i told him to bypass it but no fire...plug gap is at 44...im thinking as of now it might just be a timing thing...

Again?  I run all Mallory, no Ballast required (Or wanted) with a Hyfire. I would assume MSD is the same.

I'm with Pat tho. I put 3 grounds on my boats. One to a bellhousing bolt, one to a starter bolt, and one to the terminal block, and also ground the ignition directly to the block as well. I think on Moo I actually did it at the VC bolt. 

Ray

PS, good spark, no fire and timing somewhat near to close to correct (Or even backfires if 180* out).........is he getting spark when cranking the thing or just when turned on?  Wouldn't be the first time I've had this happen with a bad ignition switch (Moo..... ) or a bad starter solenoid.......(Every other Ferd product I've ever had......)
 

I think my problem might lay int he grounding.  I got spark once I grounded the dizzy to the head with a much shorter ground wire.  I have a single ground wire on the battery going to the engine block.  I feel like I should run another one directly to the starter itself.  Isn't the bellhousing itself aluminum so shouldn't it not be a good conductor? Ill also run a fresh 10 gauge line to the terminal block while i'm at it.  I appreciate all the help guys!! 

Yes, but the bolt goes into the engine block.......

Ray

I don't mean to hijack your thread Vegas and I'm sorry to hear about the issues your having but after reading about them I've decided to bite the bullet and spend some cash to have someone that's done this a few times do mine. My current setup is a bbf with a points dizzy and a ballast resistor. I just bought a Pertronix billet marine ready to run. I rewired the boat pretty recently so all wiring is in good shape.All worked well before the old presto took a crap so it should be pretty straight forward.Can anybody recommend a shop or just a good wrench here on the boards who can help me out with this?? Thanks GottaJet


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Alright so today we got it figured out.  It was the pickup on the dizzy, we swapped in a mallory unilite, and with alligator clips being used as grounds it fired right up haha.  I'm going to send in the MSD for a warranty claim.  Would you guys suggest running the unilite or the MSD? I appreciate the help guys ! 

vegas try msd web site under trouble shooting





                                                          rusty