MSD Ignition

I have a 1979 Bronco with a 351 windsor. I am having all kinds of problems with getting mine started. I was using a Duralast ignition module, new dist. cap, new coil, etc. The coil gets extremely hot. Maybe it's wired up wrong? Any ideas? I never had enough spark to get the engine to fire up. Finally fried the igniton module. Put in another one and fried it also. Should I do the MSD Ignition route? Will the MSD get me enough power to fire up the motor? I have a trip coming up in mid June and need to get it to fire. I need a very basis wiring diagram if anyone can help!!! PLEASE!!!

socronaut said:

I have a 1979 Bronco with a 351 windsor. I am having all kinds of problems with getting mine started. I was using a Duralast ignition module, new dist. cap, new coil, etc. The coil gets extremely hot. Maybe it's wired up wrong? Any ideas? I never had enough spark to get the engine to fire up. Finally fried the igniton module. Put in another one and fried it also. Should I do the MSD Ignition route? Will the MSD get me enough power to fire up the motor? I have a trip coming up in mid June and need to get it to fire. I need a very basis wiring diagram if anyone can help!!! PLEASE!!!

Click to expand...

Check your wiring to the coil and make sure it is right. Also has the motor been replaced?? The motor should be either a 351m or a 400 ford motor. If you have a voltage tester you can test the voltage going to the ignition module. Search around on the forums I know there is a wiring diagram posted somewhere I've seen it just not sure where. You also may have a short causing loss of voltage from going to the module making it fail and causing loss of spark.

lets see, the ignition coil sends the power to the cap and rotor, then to the wires, then to the plugs and theres your spark. if the coil is getting hott, then obviosly its getting somesortof power but its not sparking you say?....not even cranking. might be wires set....do you have 8mm or 9mm? and the right cap andplugs

In an earlier thread... BeBopMan had a problem with coils getting hot and burning out.

<snip>

After the events of last weekend (not starting, coils burning out), I took it into a local shop, and they had it for a week. They also toasted one of their coils, then started tearing stuff apart. They found that there was a couple wires that had melted and were rubbing up against the engine block. Replaced them, and everything seemed to work ok.

<snip>

Here is his ealier thread.

You may want to read through it, it has good info on how to test the primary ignition system including wiring to and from the coil

http://broncozone.com/forums/index.php?s=&...ost&p=72467

Good luck

joe

Keep in mind that the coil doesnt produce spark when voltage is applied it produces it when the voltage is removed . Theres actually 2 coils inside your coil a primary and secondary winding . When you take voltage away from the primary winding the breakdown of the magnetic field excites the secondary coil producing the high voltage for the spark . If you doubt this take a coil and run a couple wires off it hook one to the battery ground then plug in a coil wire and lay it close to the ground now take the positive one and touch it to the positive side of the battery when you remove it the coil wire will spark . Now if your coil is getting hot it is getting the power but not breaking . The magnetic pickup in the distributor is a reed switch when the rotor gets in front of it it turns on and in doing that sends power to the coil through the duraspark box . An easy way to check yours for this might be too lay a plug wire ontop of the motor with a plug in it and make sure the body of the plug is grounded and unplug the distributor plug at that point if the switch is stuck on it will spark if there is no damage to the duraspark that time . Something also interesting is the pickup in a ford distributor is the same as the one in an MSD so other than being supported by ball bearings , being balanced for higher RPM,s and looking cool the MSD distributor isnt going to do much for you . You can replace your duraspark box with an MSD box of your choice though and the stock ford distributor will fire it just fine . /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Check out this wiring diagram for the duraspark /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

http://www.bronco.com/cms/node/1017

Did you find anything ? /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

BLADE262US said:

Did you find anything ? /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Click to expand...

Starting to get the feeling that you are talking to yourself?

It appears that Socronaut hasn't logged in since May 1st.

It appears that he has been looking for a wiring diagram since Dec 2007.

Have a nice weekend /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

joe

BroncoJoe19 said:

Starting to get the feeling that you are talking to yourself?
It appears that Socronaut hasn't logged in since May 1st.

It appears that he has been looking for a wiring diagram since Dec 2007.

Have a nice weekend /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

joe

Click to expand...

Sorry for not getting back to you guys any sooner. You guys have helped me out alot. But, I have more questions. On the pickup coil on the distrubutor, which wire is the hot wire? Orange or Blue? I am in the works in installing the MSD box and coil.

I just installed an msd setup on my jetboat today with a hot 429. the orange wire was the hot one for the coil. the msd website has a downloadable instruction manual and tech support.

Well I have installed the new MSD box and coil. Did the test light thing. I have power coming from the ignition but nothing to the coil? Anyone know why? I bought a used MSD box and I had the same problem. I didn't have any fire to the plugs. So, I bought a new box and voila, the same thing. NO F___ING POWER TO THE COIL!! Yes the battery is low, but I still had power to do the test light. Now when I turn the key, NOTHING!!!!!!! I did hear the solenoid kick in. Other than that, nothing. Can't just be the battery. I would have had some turn on the engine. I also would have had the test light come on. I'm about to take this damn thing to a mechanic and spend the but loads of money to get it running.

socronaut said:

Well I have installed the new MSD box and coil. Did the test light thing. I have power coming from the ignition but nothing to the coil? Anyone know why? I bought a used MSD box and I had the same problem. I didn't have any fire to the plugs. So, I bought a new box and voila, the same thing. NO F___ING POWER TO THE COIL!! Yes the battery is low, but I still had power to do the test light. Now when I turn the key, NOTHING!!!!!!! I did hear the solenoid kick in. Other than that, nothing. Can't just be the battery. I would have had some turn on the engine. I also would have had the test light come on. I'm about to take this damn thing to a mechanic and spend the but loads of money to get it running.

Click to expand...

Socronaut,

What test light thing did you do?

When you say that you have power coming from the ignition, do you mean the ignition switch?

Where did you test for power... i.e. where do you have power going, if not to the coil?

OK, I think I got the picture now.

You turn the key, and you hear the starter relay and or the solinoid click. So you know that the ignition switch is working, and you have power at least to the starter relay, perhaps the solinoid.

When you turn the key on, and you put a test light to the bat side of the coil, does the light go on? I'm guessing that it does not.

(If that's the case, then you have a break in the wire that is going from the ignition switch to the bat side of the coil. I'm not sure if there is a fuse between the ignition switch and the coil, so just for the sake of it, take a look at your fuses and replace any that are blown)

You can temporarily (for testing purposes) run a wire from the battery to the bat side of the coil. Now turn her over and see if she starts. IF not, check for spark. If none, pull the cap and have someone else crank the engine and see if the rotor is turning inside the distributor.

DId you change the pick up coil that is INSIDE the distributor? In the diagram linked to above, it is called the "stator assembly".

DO NOT put the test leads on the coil ( if you value your test light ) this doesnt work like a duraspark box . Once an input signal is sensed from the magnetic pickup ( by the way how did you wire that part ) the box will begin its output cycle . What you should do is verify that the heavy black and the heavy red are hooked directly to the battery ( fuse the red ofcoarse ) then you must have the coil plugged in and then the small red wire must have power on it when the key is on ( all the time not cranking ) now if you take the magnetic pickup wires the small square plug with the black purple and black orange I think it was and short the 2 pins together with a ***** driver or a piece of wire the coil should spark everytime you short and remove because this is simulating the magnetic pickup rotor going around and you will probably hear a very distinct ping when it sparks ( DO NOT touch the coil or the wire it hurts ALOTT ) Try that and if that dont work tell me in detail where every wire you have hooked up goes and what box you ended up getting I have a bunch of these and am running them with soft touch rev controls and timing computers but what I described will make it spark if it can . Let me know what happens /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

my dad burnt an MSD box out with a test light...he had called MSD spoke with someone in their tech dept and they told him not to use a test light on it because they can damage something inside the box you are supposed to use a volt or multimeter...someone please correct me if im wrong