My new MSD 6AL has no spark! Please help.

[valley firearms]

I just installed a brand new MSD 6AL in my 68. I have the Accel points eliminator kit installed in my dist. I mounted the box on the firewall. I ran the hot wire to the battery and the neg to the neg on the battery(last). I bypassed the pink resister wire and ran a new wire from my ignition to my + on the coil(maybe this is where I went wrong? Is this how you get rid of the resistor wire?) Anyway, the orange wire to the + on the coil and the black to the - on the coil. I cut the green neg wire from my dist and connected it to the white wire from the 6AL box. I even ran a new ground wire from my block to the firewall. No spark! I followed all their troubleshooting tips with no luck. I even bypassed the 12V and went directly to the battery and still no spark. The troubleshooting guide tells you to take your coil wire from your dist and place it 1/2" from a ground. Turn your key(12V source)on take your white wire and touch it to ground then pull it away. When you do this you are supposed to see a spark from the coil wire to the ground. No spark. If I rub the coil wire on the ground you can see the tinniest little arc, but don't blink! Eveytime I break ground with the white wire, the box does a little beep. I hope this is not a defective box, but that's my luck. I also noticed my coil is heating up really hot when the key is on. Is this a cause of me bypassing the resister wire? It is a new coil I installed last week when I installed the Accel electronic ign. The coil is an Accel 8140C which is on the MSD acceptable list. Any ideas???

 

[10secgoal]

No, if it beeps the box is ok. The 12v wire should go to the smaller wire that leads to the MSD box. This turns the box on. Then the two wires go to the coil. You don't run a new wire to the coil.

 

[valley firearms]

I will try this in the morn. Right now I have the black and the red wire on the coil. I need to take the red wire off the coil (coil getting hot) and run it to the red on the 6AL box and the dist I gotcha. I will post the results.

 

[valley firearms]

update

STILL not working.

Here is what I have.

Accel points eliminator kit-green, red, and brown wires.
I mounted the MSD 6AL is a good secure location.
I ran the power and the ground directly to the battery.
I added a ground from the firewall to the engine.
12V wire from the ign direct to the red wire from the dist(made that change this morning). The red wire from the 6AL is spliced into this same 12V wire.
Orange MSD 6AL wire to + side of coil.
black MSD 6AL wire to - side of coil.
Green wire for the Accel kit to white MSD 6AL wire.
NO SPARK!
I have checked over everything 20 times. If I were doing the pre flight of the space shuttle I would have signed off already. Everything is correct.
I put a test light on the 12V wires with the key on and I have power. I put the test light on the white wire and nothing. Should there be power to the white wire when the key is on? Even when I crank there is no power to the white. Can someone test their wires on their dist using the 6AL? I know there should be power on the 12V when the key is on. Should I have power to the green wire as well(pertronix is black). Any and all help would be appreciated.

 

[10secgoal]

Not sure what the accel kit is. But the white wire from what I remember is only for points. The wires with the plug at the end is for aftermarket distributors with magnetic pickups. Which is the accel ? I would test the ground for the box since the firewall has paint on it. Put the testlight to a power source and ground the testlight to the point where you grounded the box. This'll tell you if that ground is good.

 

[brianj5600]

Did you ground the brown wire from accel unit?

 

[valley firearms]

Did you ground the brown wire from accel unit?

Yes, the brown is grounded. It ran up until the MSD 6AL install.

The white wire is for points or modules. I am installing the kit just like the pertronix instructions except my neg wire is green instead of black. The Mallory Unilite has the same wire color as my accel. I read these are the instructions to go by as per MSD tech support.

Here is a link to the MSD data.

MSD 6AL instructions

Thanks!
Mike.

 

[brianj5600]

Did you try it again w/o the MSD to make sure you did not short the dist module?

 

[10secgoal]

I go to start my car today, and I Have no spark

 

[valley firearms]

I didn't do it!!!

MSD responded to my post on their site today. One of their techs said the MSD is not compadible with the accel points eliminator kit. Summit states in their 6AL discription that it is compadible with virtually every V8 that uses a distributor. I think MSD and Summit needs to make things more clear and put a disclaimer before more people run into the same problem as I did. At least I won't be spending anymore time troubleshooting for nothing. Looks like pertronix now. Thanks for all the help and time trying to help me. I just wish I would have found out sooner. I actually e-mailed MSD last Friday and still have not received a response back. It's a good thing I started a post on their website and was able to have a tech inform me.

Thanks!
Mike.

 

[valley firearms]

Another tech from MSD answered an e-mail I wrote a week ago asking about the wiring of the accel. They only took a week to answer the e-mail. He said to wire it just like the Mallory Unilite shown on pg 23. I called accel and they said it should work and my problem was my coil. I told him I had an accel coil . He wasn't sure of anything in my opinion. Anyway, I went into Anchorage today and purchased a pertronix kit so I can see if it will work with the 6AL. Very easy to install, about 10 minutes. Guess what, IT STILL DOES NOT GET SPARK!!! So I figured, **CK MSD. I disconnected the box and re-wired the dist and coil and she fired right up. I went into the house and called Schucks where I had purchased the box. I spoke to the mgr and she is going to replace it. I couldn't believe it! I guess spending tons of money in there helps. She said it was a MSD warranty issue but she would overide the policy and give me replacement. I do think it is the box since I was so darned carful. I guess I can start over again on Sunday. I am a glutten for punishment

Mike.

 

[10secgoal]

Have you tried it the way the instructions say. I just have a bad ground our something. Had a dead battery anyways, so i hooked the jumpers to the soleniod and ground. Then, it worked. Need to figure that out. But... I took a plug out and hooked it the the coil, and ground it. Then jump the magnetic pick, without the dist. SPARK

 

[mdjay]

Also if the battery is a little low (ie just under 12v) it can give you big problems as well.

 

[65fsbkhipo]

I have dealt with numerous MSD installations...the two main problems with faint or no spark, points to the magnetic pickup in the distributor. I can't tell you how many times this has failed (its a $17 part). The MSD's are very specific as how to hook up to HEI, OEM and MSD applications. Ensure it is correct. If your not getting spark according to the MSD troubleshooting tips...A. the box is bad (diodes) or B. you have already burned up the coil. Frying of the coil is usually the first indication that the pick up is bad in an MSD application. Hope this helps.

PS like I had a late response to this and you fixed the problem!

 

[valley firearms]

I have installed the pertronix and the car runs great and even idles better than before. I have a new MSD 6AL box in hand. Before I start, I need to know if the Accel 8140C coil is compadible with the components I have.

Thanks!
Mike.