{"id":5464,"date":"2015-07-16T11:38:29","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T18:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/?page_id=5464"},"modified":"2020-06-04T08:29:22","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T15:29:22","slug":"msd-troubleshooting","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/msd-troubleshooting\/","title":{"rendered":"MSD Troubleshooting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Links and articles courtesy of <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.msdignition.com\">MSD<\/a>:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.msdperformance.com\/support\/troubleshooting_techniques\/\"><strong>Checking The MSD Ignition For Spark<\/strong><\/a> <strong>&#8211; [Revised October 2017]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/MSD-7AL2-Installation-Guide.pdf\">MSD 7AL-2 Installation Guide and Wiring Diagrams<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/MSD-6A-and-6AL-Installation-Instructions.pdf\"><strong>MSD 6A &amp; 6AL Installation Guide &amp; Wiring Diagrams<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/MSD-magnetic_trigger.pdf\">Testing The MSD Magnetic Pickup<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"lyte-wrapper\" style=\"width:560px;max-width:100%;margin:5px auto;\"><div class=\"lyMe\" id=\"WYL_8Qb9JxX-mLg\"><div id=\"lyte_8Qb9JxX-mLg\" data-src=\"\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/8Qb9JxX-mLg\/hqdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/8Qb9JxX-mLg\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/8Qb9JxX-mLg\/0.jpg\" alt=\"YouTube video thumbnail\" width=\"560\" height=\"295\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:560px;margin:5px auto;\"><\/div><\/p>\n<p><strong>For quick field tests, I recommend the affordable MSD 8998 tester. It takes the place of your distributor pickup and harness. If you have excellent spark when using this tester, look at your distributor pickup and harness for the no-spark problem! If you still have no spark, next look for a bad coil or open coil wire.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/MSD-8998-Ignition-Tester.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5796\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5796\" src=\"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/MSD-8998-Ignition-Tester.jpg\" alt=\"MSD 8998 Ignition Tester\" width=\"640\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/MSD-8998-Ignition-Tester.jpg 640w, https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/MSD-8998-Ignition-Tester-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/MSD-8998-Ignition-Tester-600x360.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>I want to share with you a problem we had with our &#8217;57 Chev years back. It had a high RPM miss &#8211; above 7400 &#8211; which also showed in the tach. After pulling our hair out and virtually replacing our\u00a0entire 7AL-2 ignition, adding a shielded pickup harness and MSD power supply filter, we FINALLY traced the source of the misfire to a bad fuel pump relay that was arcing and disrupting the MSD ignition! \u00a0The arcing relay was feeding back into the MSD box via the ignition switch circuit! &#8211; <em>Roger<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Ignition patterns<\/span>:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5724\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Firing-line.bmp\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5724\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5724\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5724\" src=\"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Firing-line.bmp\" alt=\"Spark firing line from Pam's S-10, conventional electronic ignition\" width=\"800\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5724\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Spark firing line &amp; coil oscillations from Pam&#8217;s S-10,<\/strong><br \/><strong>conventional GM electronic ignition<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5751\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Firing-line-coil-pack.bmp\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5751\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5751\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5751\" src=\"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Firing-line-coil-pack.bmp\" alt=\"Firing line &amp; coil pack pattern on 3.3 V-6 with distributorless ignition\" width=\"800\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5751\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Firing line &amp; coil pack pattern on 3.3 V-6<br \/>with distributorless ignition<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The following two patterns are from Paul&#8217;s Mustang with the MSD 6AL ignition. The upper photo captures four\u00a0cylinders showing 4 to 5 sparks per cylinder for approximately 6ms, compared to the 2ms firing line shown above in Pam&#8217;s truck with the GM electronic ignition. The second photo below shows the MSD magnetic pickup pattern.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>With the <em>Snap-On Shop Stream<\/em> software you can see all eight cylinders in a streaming video on your computer. The images below were captured by our <em>Snap-On Vantage Ultra<\/em> diagnostic equipment.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5780\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/MSD-Firing-line-4-cylinders.bmp\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5780\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5780\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5780\" src=\"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/MSD-Firing-line-4-cylinders.bmp\" alt=\"MSD secondary pattern showing 4 cylinders\" width=\"800\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5780\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>MSD secondary pattern showing 4 cylinders<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5779\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/MSD-Pickup-Pattern.bmp\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5779\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5779\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5779\" src=\"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/MSD-Pickup-Pattern.bmp\" alt=\"MSD pickup pattern showing three cylinders\" width=\"800\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5779\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>MSD pickup pattern showing three cylinders<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>For much more, please see our page on <a href=\"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/electronic-diagnostics\/\">Electronic Diagnostics<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Links and articles courtesy of MSD: Checking The MSD Ignition For Spark &#8211; [Revised October 2017] MSD 7AL-2 Installation Guide and Wiring Diagrams\u00a0 MSD 6A &amp; 6AL Installation Guide &amp; Wiring Diagrams Testing The MSD Magnetic Pickup Watch this video &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/msd-troubleshooting\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5464","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5464"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8922,"href":"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5464\/revisions\/8922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}