MSD question

[eran tomer]

i got a 6AL MSD system and when i removed it oil was coming out of the coil box. should there be there any oil?

 

[GoToGuy]

Coils have oil inside as a cooling fluid. Shop 101. Should be sealed.

 

[eran tomer]

what do you mean by "shop 101"?

 

[kennythewelder]

what do you mean by "shop 101"?

Shop class, 101, entery level class, the first semester of a class, or the first year, where you learn the basics. 101.

 

[Schurkey]

i got a 6AL MSD system and when i removed it oil was coming out of the coil box. should there be there any oil?

How much oil?

A drop or two, the coil may still be usable. More than that, and it's a failure waiting to happen. The coil should be sealed. Depending on how it's constructed, it may be held together with a crimped band (no servicing) or a few small screws (you could try to tighten them.)

The one I had that leaked, leaked from a screw deep in the coil-wire socket. By the time I tried to tighten it, the internal windings had already begun to short. Coil was scrap.

The prognosis is not good--but--you could try it and see what happens. Carry a spare, and tools to change it. Or just scrap it now, and put on a known-good coil.


I had an MSD 6T on my truck for awhile. When it died, I went back to the ordinary TBI ignition, and never noticed a difference in how the truck ran or started. MSD is over-rated.

 

[eran tomer]

more than a drop or two...
so is it useless? i'm going back to the factory ignition anyway and thought of selling it.
my distirbutor was so rusted god knows how the car was still running.

 

[Aeroscream]

IMO contact MSD to send in to have repaired. Great product to what else is out there. If purchasing watch out for counterfeits/knockoffs.

Even though I think there good. I always kept one or two 7-AL2's in the trailer. Running low 9's with 1.30 e.t. 60ft times really pounded on them.

In the late 70's when traveling out of town I carried a module, coil, rotor and tools to change out temperamental GM HEI ignitions. that included the tow vehicle and the family truckster on vacations.

Most replacement parts are a day or two out at the most. MSD is usually longer. Buy one used, send it in for repair to MSD, and keep it on the shelf for that day.

Best of luck.

 

[Schurkey]

1. I wouldn't expect MSD to repair coils.

2. SOME MSD spark boxes are repairable. Some are not. The ones that are potted for vibration resistance are throw-aways. MSD repaired my '5 the first time it popped; that was 1988. I nearly sent in the 6T in...2014--2015; at least at that time it was considered repairable. Whether they're still fixing the old boxes, I don't know.

The second time my MSD-5 failed, I fixed it myself. It works, but has never been installed on a vehicle. The 5 is WAY less complex than an old, analog 6-series. I've never had a modern digital 6 series apart. I know that some of the digital units are potted and non-repairable, as well as some of the old analog boxes.

Failed MSD-5. Note burned section of circuit board.

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Jumper wire across burnt circuit board traces. Also repaired solder joints at transistor (not shown.)

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Repaired box connected to MSD "Counter Display" as a test-stand. Note blue arc below pointy brass contact and top of coil. I ran the box for hours on the test stand. Then it went in a little stonehenge of red boxes on a parts shelf.

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[Schurkey]

My failed MSD coil--the one originally installed in that test-stand. Coil had failed insulation between coil wire terminal and primary terminal, produced weak spark. Note "coil oil" in jar.

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[thegawd]

I got to see my first coil melt down last night on a 1988 Kawasaki 4 wheeler.

it is my buddies and he let it warm up for like a half an hour out in the cold last night.

when he went to ride it it died and he couldnt get it to start. I noticed an electrical burning smell and saw bellowing smoke coming out from under the gas tank above the engine.

I dont think he should have let it idle for so long as the air cooled engine was quite hot and the fuel seemed to be vaporizing in the carb.

I thought the damn bike was going to blow up.

then I noticed where the smoke was coming from and asked him if he shut the machine off with the key.... as soon as he did the smoke stopped and I could see the oil dripping out of the coil and all over. it looked like melted plastic. it could have been.

anyways I knew it was screwed and it was probably original.

do you guys with lots of experience have any idea why a coil melts? is it a symptom of another problem? I was in disbelieve that the wires were absolutely fine so the problem seems to be isolated to just the coil.