Yes, per MSD's instructions, I pulled the lead wire from the coil of at the dizzy, and placed it ~1/2" from ground. I then turned on the ignition and shorted the two wires on the lead from box to dizzy. There was spark present.
?? did you check spark while cranking? i had a bronco for a while that checked out fine, 12v at the coil while sitting, but dropped when the engine was cranking causing ignition failure and a no fire. for a while i ran the coil off a relay tied directly to the battery, later i found that a new, heavier wire from the switch to the coil was all it needed. somewhere i remember reading that for put a resistor in the stock wire because the older coils liked 9v? took me for ever to find that one out, might be worth a look if you haven't
Are you sure your are getting spark? Pull a plug and ground it to the block while somebody turns the ignition. Or hot wire it and do it at the solinoid. (I do it on my points ignition don't know if it would hurt the electronic MSD!!) Have you moved the dist. around while cranking to see if it will even try to fire?
zookeeper said:Also, check the spark at the plug by removing a plug and holding it against a header bolt or some other bare metal on the engine while someone cranks the engine over.
The coil is wired from the MSD ignition box, and the ignition box is wired to the battery, so I assume that a voltage drop at the coil can't be the problem. I will throw a meter on it when I get home...Thanks!
The MSD box has to get switched 12 volts, usually you will tap into the ignition switch. A lot of guys use the old wire that runs to the coil for this, but as someone else pointed out, these wires carry a resistance from the factory preventing a full 12 volts. You should measure the voltage on the wire you are using and confirm you are getting at least 12 volts or the same amount as straight off the battery. Also, look in your MSD instructions, there is an easy way to test if you are getting spark to the coil. Installed one of these in a firends 67 last weekend, so this is all still fresh in my mind.
THe resistance wire is only in circuit in the "RUN" position of the switch. THe ign gets power from the right hand small post on the solinoid in the start pos. FUll 12v in start, curent limited in run. Look for the wire there at the solinoid first. It may not be attached.
OK, am really having trouble with pictures. THought I had EVERYTHING on photobucket but the wiring folder is empty, others are .tif, and the rest are too big, and the laptop has trial Office 2007 which expired...geeze. Try to visualize this. THe coil + post gets fed from two places. In the RUN switch pos, it comes from the ign switchvia a pink resister wire, in the start pos, itcomes from the brown wire on the second (right hand) small post on the solinoid. THese two wires are connected and feed the same place, the ign switch is where the split is made. If the brown wire is NOT conected, the coil will not get power when the switch is in the start position.
If you are putting the switch in the RUN position, and jumping the starter, and the car starts, the pink wire is good from the switch to the coil. If you turn the switch to the start pos, and the starter cranks the engine, but won't start, the coil is not getting power. Youcan prove this by hot wiring the car. run a jumper from the battery pos term to the coil + term, try to start the car with the key. If it starts, the coil is not getting power from the brown wire at the coil.
Oh wow! the attachment showed up! Look at the brown wire from the soliniod and follow it back. Wire 262 brown becomes16B which is the ign wire Red w/ greenstrip
Your only connections to the coil come from the MSD box. As I recall, the orange wire connects to the + terminal, I forget the other coler wire, but it is paired with the orange wire. Check your instructions. Then, connect the small red wire from the MSD box to the red wire with green stripe. This should put you in good shape. Let us know how you make out.
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