My MDA with no spark

[Chris Headon]

Thought I would let people know the current situation with my MDA. About two months ago on the way out of the garage it just stopped and would not start again. Since then I have done a fair bit of investigation and with the help of experts have narrowed it down to this - We think the alternator regulator has packed up and overvoltaged the MSD ignition box (all power going in, nothing coming out). I have a new MSD unit to go in and this weekend the alternator is being checked out. What a pain to get to the alternator - seats out, rear bulkhead off. I'll let you know whether I have a runner again next week, but I expect it may take a little longer to get everything sorted and it back on the road, really frustrating what with the good weather we have had just lately, we don't get much in the UK.
If anyone knows an MSD repair house in the UK please let me know, I may as well get it fixed as a spare.

 

[Martin]

Good luck Chris,
This is the season for uncovering our cars and finding all the sleeping dogs.
Cheers,
Martin

 

[John]

Chris,

Mine packed it up the other day - your case was better - mine stopped on a superhighway! After towing it in and inviting a friend of mine over, we found out that it was the pick up coil in the distributor. If you're not getting any spark to the plugs, the problem is likely in the coil or distributor not in the alternator!

Indeed the car should start without the alternator!

John
:chug:

 

[RichardH]

not if it has mucked up the MSD unit.

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

If it's a 6AL - there is a protection fuse in the unit on the circuit board.

Or at least there was on the unit I looked at some time back. Replaced the fuse and all was well again.

Might be worth a look if not under warranty.

 

[Chuck]

John:

I also had the pick up coil on my MSD distributor on our 427SO fail after two years and 5000 miles. Replacing it was the easy part. Figuring out that was the problem took a bit more time.

Struck me odd that it would fail after such a short time.

Chuck

 

[John]

Chuck,

My distributor had less than 1,000 miles on it when it failed. The bearings on the pick up coil apparently went bad and the coil was rubbing against the distributor base until it shorted out. Luckily, a friend of mine quickly observed that I was not getting any spark from the distributor, and then pin pointed the pick up coil. Had it not been for him (he has a lot of experience as a trained mechanic), I would still be trying to figure out what the problem was!

John
:thumbsup:

 

[Chris Headon]

As said, our diagnostics have shown that there is permanent 12v, permanent ground, ignition 12v all going in to the MSD box, but no low volts on the coil. I wired in a new MSD unit last night and tomorrow the alternator will be out and checked. I will let you know what happens. My MSD box is riveted shut so I do not want to split it, but will send it to MSD for repair if not too costly, it's always worth having a spare!

 

[Chris Headon]

Update: "She's alive, alive!" :thumbsup: after a refurbished alternator and a new MSD unit we turned the key and she sputtered into life, followed shortly after by a throaty roar as the fuel caught in all 8 and the walls shook. Now all I have to do is tidy up the wiring and put the rear bulkhead back in plus the seats and i'm back on the road. Smile? I nearly split my face.

 

[Chris Headon]

Took her out for a spin on Friday last week, after putting everything back and checking (and rechecking) that all was well and in place. Sounded better than ever with the new MSD giving more spark power than the old one. Roll on the summer :thumbsup:

 

[Chris Headon]

More bad news I'm afraid, while driving her the other day I lost most of the gears. turned out to be the inner gear cable outer sheath coming out of the crimp housing at the gearbox end. Fundamantal design flaw IMHO when there is only 1/2 inch of crimp onto a plastic sheathed outer, it was bound to fail:furious: After a chat with Mark Sibley the course of action seems to be to make a clamp bracket that clamps both the crimp housing and the cable at the same time thus stopping any future movement. Bought the material today and going to hit the garage tonight. really infuriating, all this bright sunshine and can't enjoy it. :sad: For all the other owners with cable change I will post a picture of the fix when I know it works.

 

[Rick]

Chris: The MSD boxes do not like vibration. If you have not already done so, seek out on the MSD site the rubber isolators that mount on each corner. (available other places too) They are round and about 3/4" long , and use a 10-32 stud and similar attaching screws. 22 years on MSD 6T without a problem.

http://www.msdignition.com/Products...es/8755_-_Vibration_Mounts,_MSD-7_Series.aspx

 

[Frank Catt]

Chris, I have lots of used cables (free) if you want to pay P+P, Frank

 

[Chris Headon]

Rick, my MSD was and is mounted on the rubber feet, I'm sure the problem was the alternator overvoltaging the MSD, both changed, ignition working well now.
Frank thanks for your offer and I will gladly pay for P&P. Please let me know how much it would be. I will send a private message to you with my address in so you can check and advise. I must make the effort to come and see you sometime anyway as I believe you can do storage boxes for the engine bay area.

 

[Chris Headon]

Work all done and it seems to be better than before. I have completely reset the gear locations and can now shift between them more surely. As promised here is a photo of the double clamp I made to hold both cable sheaths in place to the housing.