No spark

[mach1mama]

Hello all. I haven't posted in awhile. But here it goes. I have a 1973 with a 351 Cleveland. The engine was pulled and rebuilt 6 years ago and has ran well. Now she won't start. I changed the distributor cab and the ignition coil. It is an MSD. distributor and ignition coil. I have the distributor out because there is an electronic controller that is being replaced..

I want to know if anyone has had a similar problem. The car has been down for almost two weeks and it is doing me a little crazy. :-/:-/

 

[judge]

Not sure about troubleshooting the msd, buy I typically use a timing light to see if my coil is energized I clamp the center primary on the cap. Also check voltage at the coil primary.

 

[72HCODE]

Check neutral safety switch just to make sure that is ruled out.

quote=mach1mama;269858]

Hello all. I haven't posted in awhile. But here it goes. I have a 1973 with a 351 Cleveland. The engine was pulled and rebuilt 6 years ago and has ran well. Now she won't start. I changed the distributor cab and the ignition coil. It is an MSD. distributor and ignition coil. I have the distributor out because there is an electronic controller that is being replaced..

I want to know if anyone has had a similar problem. The car has been down for almost two weeks and it is doing me a little crazy. :-/:-/

 

[turtle5353]

What box are you using to run the MSD dizzy?

 

[mach1mama]

I have the M.S.D. distributor and ignition coil, but nothing else.

 

[jbojo]

Which MSD distributor do you have, 8350?

 

[turtle5353]

If you don't have a ready to run dizzy like John mentioned above, you will need a box to run the system.

 

[will e]

If you do have a ready to run dizzy you can always try taking a wire from the positive battery post to the positive on the coil. Try starting the car. If it starts you have an ignition wire issue. If it does start you will not be able to turn it off, you will have to remove the wire from the battery to the coil.

 

[jbojo]

Sounds like you have the RTR distributor and you are replacing the control module. There are ways that you can test the module to determine if it's at fault if you haven't done so already. Also did you run a 12v switched pwr to the distributor? If you took the pwr from the coil you would only be getting approx. 10v and the distributor really needs around 12.5v. The control module failing is the most common issue with this distributor.

 

[mach1mama]

That turned out to the problem. We replaced the control module , reset the timing ( this took a couple of tries) a know it is running. I have to say that I am not really impressed with M.S.D. I have had to change the distributor cap once already.

 

[jbojo]

Good to hear that your car is running again

 

[mach1mama]

Good to hear that your car is running again

Thank you

 

[turtle5353]

That turned out to the problem. We replaced the control module , reset the timing ( this took a couple of tries) a know it is running. I have to say that I am not really impressed with M.S.D. I have had to change the distributor cap once already.

Glad the car is running again.

MSD stuff has went to sh*t over the years. If its the small diameter cap, they get a lot of oxidation inside. MSD recommends drill a couple vent holes in the cap to prevent this corrosion and help get the ozone out of the cap that can lead to crossfiring. I try to change my cap and rotor every spring. They have a lot of issues with crossfiring on the small diameter caps also. I think my next cap will be the adapt-a-cap and go with the larger diameter if I have the room. MSD just aint what it used to be....... On my 3 MSD 6AL box in 7 years.

 

[mach1mama]

This will be the second time I have changed the distributor cap, so three in total overy 6 years. She is a fair weather ride too, so not a lot of miles on the speedometer. I was thinking of changing to a direct injection system so I will need to research something more reliable.

 

[4mm]

I completely agree with the above two statements. I always try to buy an older NOS Mallory or MSD distributor or ignition box. Much better than what's currently being made.