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Hold 2bb's hand with ignition basics for the 23rd time

2big bronco

2big bronco

Og irate
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
188
Messages
4,137
Loc
Prunedale ca
Crawler died a month or so ago out of sight on my property so i just left it there. It was as if the ignition got turned off not a fuel (propane) issue.

I went up today and verified no spark. It has an msd 6a ignition, blaster coil, and msd distributer.

I Tested the 6a, and the coil, and both work and are sending power to the distributor. I tested this by jumping the pickup wires with the ignition on and got spark out of the coil wire.

Next i verified the distributer actually spun which it does and then pulled the cap and rotor looking for anything obvious with no luck. I guess this leaves me with the pickup being the issue correct?

Do pickups normally go bad? Should i order a spare or is it just bad luck.... or good luck it happened in my back yard.
20210724_144215.jpg

With only a very slight grasp of the basics and very little hands on this is the place i run my stupid problems through.
 
Replace it with a standard HEI that you know works and bypass the potentially defective parts that you cant score parts for now.
 
2big bronco said:
Is mine not an hei distributor? :homer: :confused:
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You dont show the entire distributor, from the pic it looks like a MSD distributor.

From memory and looking at the HEI's that came from my square bodies they have a larger diameter where the cap goes on.

HEI's have 4 twist lock cap attachment points.
 
It is an msd... is that bad? Or non ideal? I believe i have a D.U.I distributer in a box somewhere
PAE said:
You dont show the entire distributor, from the pic it looks like a MSD distributor.

From memory and looking at the HEI's that came from my square bodies they have a larger diameter where the cap goes on
Click to expand...
 
Its more technical so the HEI is easier to diagnose, you dont have one laying around ?

I must have at least 1 extra HEI.

The idea also is most APS's don't have parts for MSD stuff but do for factory distributors
 
No that's not an hei distributor, if your sure you have power coming out of the coil and box then I would lean towards the pickup like you said.

Make sure you have power coming out of the coil not just going to it, same with the box.
 
Brian468 said:
No that's not an hei distributor, if your sure you have power coming out of the coil and box then I would lean towards the pickup like you said.

Make sure you have power coming out of the coil not just going to it, same with the box.
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Yeah, i hooked up a little light up spark tester thing in line between the coil wire and the distributor
 
2bb wtf is that thing?

Is that a Ford engine?
 
2big bronco said:
Yeah, i hooked up a little light up spark tester thing in line between the coil wire and the distributor
Click to expand...
Okay and your sure the box is sending power to the distributor?

If yes then it's almost certainly the pickup.

As far as hei goes the DUI distributor you have would be a drop in since the coil and electronics are all contained in the distributor, literally drop it in with the rotor in the right spot, give it 12 volts and crank it.
 
I dont ever want to agree with PAE but I run an HEI dist in everything I can.

They are 1 wire, drop in simple, always work.

I love them and recommend the shit out of them.

Your DUI one should be an HEI, at least all the ones I have ever seen were.

Just drop it in, connect the wire to a switched positive, and spark away it does.
 
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crispins said:
I dont ever want to agree with PAE but I run an HEI dist in everything I can.

They are 1 wire, drop in simple, always work.

I love them and recommend the shit out of them.

Your DUI one should be an HEI, at least all the ones I have ever seen were.

Just drop it in, connect the wire to a switched positive, and spark away it does.
Click to expand...


No ignition control box or coil? I can toss all of that?
 
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I know its a job because I have done it myself but remove the box.


for testing reasons.
 
I cant believe it could be that simple.... and i fucked around with all this other shit
crispins said:
yes, just the dist, connect it to switched power and it works.

I have ran them in tons of different shit from boats to muscle cars, never had a problem.

Love them
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pickup ohm out to something? no idea what it should be but if it's like open or a brazillian ohms it's prolly bad
 
2BB, isn't that 2.3ish motor in your Sammi fairly built, like circle track motor high RPM stuff? HEI distributors are stupid simple and work well but tend to suck donkey balls at anything over 6k RPM. Putting that in will get you running but may hurt performance vs the MSD.
 
Did you check the button inside the distributor cap? Sometimes they stick.
 
Good to know. All the fun is over 6k with this
SLOWPOKE693 said:
2BB, isn't that 2.3ish motor in your Sammi fairly built, like circle track motor high RPM stuff? HEI distributors are stupid simple and work well but tend to suck donkey balls at anything over 6k RPM. Putting that in will get you running but may hurt performance vs the MSD.
Click to expand...
 
A little thing I learned with a Unilite outta high school, If you lose a ground (distributer wise) it kills the "eye".

Make sure your grounds are good, sometimes they are the bane of our existence:laughing:
 
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