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msd?
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:29 pm
by sh0rtlife
what would it take to put an msd igniton box into a gtv6?(specificaly a 6-al).....reason i ask well everything else i own has an msd in it and well ive got an extra one sitting here..also im on my 3rd igniton box in the car already ...the previous one works when it wants to and the 1st one was DOA from previous owner
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 10:41 pm
by Mats
Get it in as in to get the engine working or as in get everything exactly as it is now but with MSD?
The first one is easy, +, -, trigger and coil... You might wanna remove the cable to the Tach from the std position on the coil...
Is there no wiring table on the bottom of the box?
The tach is the problem, it doesn't seem to work well with the tach-out on the MSD. I don't trust my Tach at all in the racer for instance.
Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 8:01 am
by sh0rtlife
ok maybe the better question to add to this is will it eliminate the stock bosch ignition box?.....ive wired up dozzens of msd's over the years but never to a EFI car....not to mention do i need to worry about what it may do to the computer or anything?...its an 83 2.5
Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 12:43 pm
by Murray
No it will not eliminate the Bosch ignition ECU.The GTV6's ignition advance curve is controlled by the ECU.I have a similar unit to the MSD in my car but I no longer run it.I decided to go back to the stock Bosch coil based on researching this subject and concluding that what we're talking about here is largely "smoke and mirror" stuff.If the OEM ignition system is good (the Bosch unit is) there is probably nothing to be gained by having a "hotter"spark.Ultimately one of the best solutions is to use an aftermarket ECU (like Megasquirt) which allows you to create your own ignition curves and maybe get a little more power.
Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 8:21 pm
by sh0rtlife
well ive got a feeling my bosch unit is dieing..im getting eradic readings on the tach and i get what feels like the rev limiter kicking in at 5k at times....sooooo i need to start looking into going away from the stupid aluminum box under the hood.....any way of useing an 86's unit...i just so happen to have one
Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 1:11 am
by Mats
Smoke and mirrors? I have first hand experience with this box being the difference between a somewhat fast car with a little misfire problem and an absolute monster!
Then again on a bone stock GTV6 it might have absolutely no effect what so ever. The car in the above example was a turbo car with raised boost and rich mixture.
You don't remove anything from the original installation. What you do is that you put the MSD between the original coil and ECU. Take leads from the coil and trigger the MSD with those, put the leads from the MSD on the terminals on the coil (remove the std tach drive!) and off you go!
By the way, do not use "race plugs" or narrow electrode plugs with the MSD as they will simply erode away, after the first race of this season I had a slight misfire problem in low speed sharp lefthanders and when I pulled the plugs 3 out of 4 were severly eroded and had about 5mm gap. The car still fired up and ran great though...

Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 7:50 am
by sh0rtlife
wont that setup leave the stock ignition modual controling the rev limiter???i mean the whole thought of an AL-6 is that you could raise the rev limiter
you will have to forgive me i confuse the ECU and ignition modual back and forth alot...ecu has never given me an inch of problems..its those stupid under hood ignition moduals that seem to hate me
Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2006 10:20 am
by Mats
The whole idea with the 6 AL is to get a HUGE, FAT spark.
If you don't have a rev limiter (like me) you can use the box to set one.
Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 10:11 am
by sh0rtlife
perhaps i got slightly off track on this....murry said something about removeing the ECU...nooo i dont want to remove it..just the ignition module under the hood