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  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-

Who has had their MSD Ignition go bad?

  • Thread starter Thread starter mattsclean90
  • Start date Start date Jun 15, 2007
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mattsclean90

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May 3, 2007
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Jun 15, 2007
#1
  • Jun 15, 2007
  • #1
I just went to start my coupe and yet another MSD Digital 6 box has gone bad on me. I had one die on my 331 car a couple years ago and now this one has kicked the bucket too. Just wondering who has had theirs die as well and I just needed to vent a little as well......
 

Ozz

I think I have a problem here.
Founding Member
Jul 27, 2001
3,514
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109
Canton, MI
Jun 15, 2007
#2
  • Jun 15, 2007
  • #2
Bottlfed and I both had distributors go on us. I made a thread about it and got a crazy response with lots of people who had the same experience. No word on the Digital 6 box though.
 

alanw6

Member
Dec 19, 2002
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16
memphis, TN
Jun 15, 2007
#3
  • Jun 15, 2007
  • #3
Yep, lost my 6al after about 2 years and no more than 1500 miles!
 

jrichker

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Jun 15, 2007
#4
  • Jun 15, 2007
  • #4
Don't you know that the initials MSD stand for May Suddenly Die?
 

fastimes69

Founding Member
Jun 27, 2001
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San Benito, Texas
Jun 15, 2007
#5
  • Jun 15, 2007
  • #5
Yep. I've gone through 1,my cousin 2,and a close friend is also on his 2nd.Wonder why they don't last.I was told you could send them back to MSD for repairs,run about 40-60 bucks.Any truth to this?Beats paying $200+ for another new one
 
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mattsclean90

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May 3, 2007
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Jun 15, 2007
#6
  • Jun 15, 2007
  • #6
My previous one that died was fixed for free by MSD. But this one is out of warranty I'm afraid, so looks like I'll be calling MSD monday morning and seeing how much they are going to hit me for. Hopefully they will fix it for a good price beings that a new digital 6 plus costs $320......
 

89five.o

Member
Jul 8, 2005
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Jun 15, 2007
#7
  • Jun 15, 2007
  • #7
Yeah mine crapped out under warranty and they sent me a new one. It's a 6a though so I think I'm going to send it back so that I can get a 6al
 

87ttopstang

Member
Apr 14, 2003
342
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Ontario, Canada
Jun 16, 2007
#8
  • Jun 16, 2007
  • #8
Mine went for a crap 7 hours away from home the morning of the All Ford Nationals in Carlisle.
 
L

lang williams

New Member
Jun 11, 2003
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cleveland, oh
Jun 16, 2007
#9
  • Jun 16, 2007
  • #9
I guess now I know why the nascar guys have a back up mounted in plain view of the in car camera, to warn us!
 

dmeads311

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Nov 2, 2005
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Jun 19, 2007
#10
  • Jun 19, 2007
  • #10
i worked in a shop for three years and we had 5 or 6 go bad. 2 or 3 went bad due to welding and the arc messed up the box. but we recently bought one new for a s10 and it was bad from the dealer.
 

N8Miller

I need NOS....make it 2 of the big ones
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Jul 26, 2000
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Kingston, PA, USA
Jun 19, 2007
#11
  • Jun 19, 2007
  • #11
my 6al died 2 years ago after 4 years of service.
 

onefstsnake

New Member
Nov 25, 2005
792
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Northern VA
Jun 19, 2007
#12
  • Jun 19, 2007
  • #12
It would be interesting to see out of everyone thats had one die how many were mounted under the hood.

Heat+Electronics=Bad...

Ive had my 6AL for 2 years and no problems. If it dies I can always just plug in the stock ignition and keep goin.
 

89five.o

Member
Jul 8, 2005
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Jun 19, 2007
#13
  • Jun 19, 2007
  • #13
I highly doubt mine was from heat. It was mounted out of site on the actual front bumper of the car behind the fascia. Vibrations?
 
S

speedytang

Founding Member
Jul 28, 1999
765
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17
Marengo,Ohio,US
Jun 20, 2007
#14
  • Jun 20, 2007
  • #14
Digital 6 is $89 to repair and I have been thru 6 of them in 6 years. They are junk and will never repair anything MSD again. I am going Crane or Mallory since I don't need all the option since I don't use Nitrous anymore.
 

JH96GT

Founding Member
Aug 20, 2000
1,526
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124
Twilight Zone, TN.
Jun 20, 2007
#15
  • Jun 20, 2007
  • #15
My 6AL died shortly after I got my car. Car would not crank, but could bypass and it would work fine. It was probably on a while, but I junked it and only use the factory ignition w/ a JMS tune. Works well for me now.

I don't plan on using them again anytime soon.
 

QUICK91LX

Founding Member
Dec 7, 2001
968
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39
New Jersey
Jun 20, 2007
#16
  • Jun 20, 2007
  • #16
not an ignition box, but i bought a set of MSD wires for my cobra a few years ago and 2 of them were bad, brand new. i went to napa and got their top of the line whatever its called wire and the car ran perfectly
 

Ike83

Member
Sep 27, 2006
0
0
17
St. Louis, Missouri
Jun 20, 2007
#17
  • Jun 20, 2007
  • #17
HOLY smokes! You guys are starting to worry me. I thought MSD was top of the line. I haven't had ANY problems with my MSD 6al but NOW I'm a little worried. What in the world is going on here?
 

ill advised

Member
Apr 29, 2003
656
10
19
West L.A.
Jun 20, 2007
#18
  • Jun 20, 2007
  • #18
mattsclean90 said:
I just went to start my coupe and yet another MSD Digital 6 box has gone bad on me. I had one die on my 331 car a couple years ago and now this one has kicked the bucket too. Just wondering who has had theirs die as well and I just needed to vent a little as well......
Click to expand...
(hand goes up) Yep, add me to the list. Mine lasted about 6 years then one day just quit.
 

50GTCONVERTIBLE

Member
Nov 16, 2006
21
11
13
Alabama
Oct 14, 2007
#19
  • Oct 14, 2007
  • #19
MSD TROUBLES

mattsclean90 said:
I just went to start my coupe and yet another MSD Digital 6 box has gone bad on me. I had one die on my 331 car a couple years ago and now this one has kicked the bucket too. Just wondering who has had theirs die as well and I just needed to vent a little as well......
Click to expand...

Add me to that list too. Only difference was mine would work sometimes and wouldn't work other times. I just ended up bypassing the 6AL box and hooking up the factory system. Took it to the local dealer in FL and they sent it out to be fixed. I think it costs about $40.00 for repairs, but that was back in 2002. I too thought MSD was quality stuff and also thought that type of thing was rare until i stumbled across this thread. Now it just sits in my garage i didn't really need it anyway because my set up is just a KB 2200 on a stock block with a 6lb pulley.
 

Woodrow

Founding Member
May 19, 2002
183
0
0
Atlanta/Auburn
Oct 14, 2007
#20
  • Oct 14, 2007
  • #20
This might be helpful, off another forum
... We all know what a disappointment the Digital 6 has been for some of us here...many of us here actually.. I have had 3 returns to MSD, alot of you have had the same woes ...and that is where my story begins...I found an obscure reference to this company while perusing the MSD Technical Forums... Long story short.... I send an e-mail describing mine and many of my SCF colleagues woes, trials, and tribulations concerning the Digital 6 and ask if there was anything that could be done with it...They specialize in every other MSD ignition... I expect to get a response Monday or so... Wrong... 1.5 hours later I get a response asking for a contact number to discuss what can, cannot, and could never be done with the Digital six... I send my contact info..9:30 last night my phone rings... It's Techwest following up on the e-mail... I learned more about the inherent problems and upgrades of the MSD 6 series ignitions in 30 minutes than I ever learned anywhere else... Educated responses, technical but not baffling... Customer Service like it used to be.... and I haven't even spent a penny with these guys... As for my Digital 6...well... it is toast and "Not Economically repairable" as MSD would put it but now I have a good direction to head in IMHO. so here it is:http://www.techwestracing.com/index.html ... Hope that this may help some of you out...What have we got to lose anyway? I know this...based on just my personal experience I WILL NEVER BUY A DIGITAL 6 AGAIN... Analog for me thanks...
Click to expand...
 
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