msd 10+ no spark help

good morning. need a little help troubleshooting msd 10+ no spark while cranking. i can make it fire at coil by jumping mag pickup at both the box and at end of extension cable. verified 12v at box while starting (actually connected separate battery). nonmagnectic pickup ohms to 75 ohms which is within spec. i used ohm meter and turned pickup wheel by pickup and ohm meter picked up connection. tried moving a different pickup over the magnet wheel and no spark...just now thought that it wasn't grounded not sure if that matters.

do you know of anything else to try, I know msd will probably say that if it fires with jumper it is ok...have race in 2 weeks so probably wont get back from msd by then??

thanks for your help.

 

you can also short the white whire to ground as thats a points input. Cheers

 

I had a tempermental 12lt. Chased it for multiple weekends. It turned out that the "new" slightly bigger, valve springs slowed the cranking rpm down just enough to "not pick up" a spark. You couldn't hear a change in the rpm...it was that slight!! Hooked 24 volts to it and it started EVERY time, in the middle of our issues. Rebuilt the system with a 16 volt battery, and didn't have hickup after that. I know you are ringing out your connectors and stuff, and my story doesn't apply (yet), but it is pretty easy to check. Maybe the current you see isn't strong enough to get through the cap, down the wires and make a spark. If the car starts when warm (thin oil), on a really fresh battery...this may be your problem.

 

good ol' mike

once again mike saved the day (and shipping to msd)...

however still have a few probs that I will call msd with tomorrow.

so pulled the plugs and spun it over and viola...we have ignition! so blew some heat on motor for about an hour and tried to crank...no fire???

pulled plugs and it fires, maybe its like the wildcat suggested but sure seems to be spinning fast enough. check out below link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQSCWS00j14

we tried adding jump box too...no help. what i will talk to msd is the fact that I use rcd degree wheel on hub and can magnets get weak? and also my pickup lines up on the leading edge of the wheel, so it is this positioning absolutely critical? Do I need to machine bracket so they line up exactly?



I was already thinking of the 24V start deal.

 

I would diffently get that transducer centered, has to be weakening the signal.
More voltage for starting would be a plus for sure.

Blessings.........Ron.

 

Cranking Speed

I had about the same problem with my cranking speed not being fast enough to fire the magneto I use. See my post in the other thread about 24 volt starters. Might save you some headache.

 

First Casey is not using a Mag but a 10 plus, thus cranking rpm is a non-issue. Second...Casey check each of the four magnets in your crank wheel with a small screwdriver or paper clip to make sure they all four are good and strong. After a rebuild once my engine guy overheated the crank trigger wheel to expand it to ease the fit on the crank snout and killed two of the four magnets and weakened one other. Hope this helps.

 

this place is awesome

I'll call you tomorrow but that is a very good possibility because i set the hub on the heater to re install after rebuild this winter...i can't remember though if I had the crank trigger wheel on it then or not.

I'll check them.

man i probably would never have figured these things out on my own

thanks

 

No problem...it's tough to do this with help from others....could'nt and would'nt want to do it by myself.

 

I run the same setup with 12 volts and have no issues. I have run it with a slow 1.9 HP starter and 3 HP starters and it will start each time though the 1.9 HP starter is on the edge with 12 volts.

I run a Leahy pickup and yours looks to be a MSD, don't think that is a big deal though. I would center it if you can as suggested. When I first got my pickup and tried to start the car, it would not start. Tried and tried but no go. At the time, did not know what the issue was as I had changed a lot of things and the pickup was only one of them. After cranking it a lot and dumping a ton of juice in the injector, I decided to close up the gap on the pickup from the .090 Leahy said to .045 like I used to do years ago. At the push of the button the engine starts, shoots flames across the inside of the garage and starts my paperwork on the countertop on fire and melts my the window shades on two of my windows. Damn zoomies, they shoot fire in both directions. Well, after I shut the engine off and put out all the fires, I thanked God that I didn't burn the garage down along with the car.

I moved the gap around and it seems to not like to start when over .060 so I keep it around .045 - .055. Not sure if this is your issue but it definitely was mine.

Tom

 

I agree if he was using a Mag, but he is running a MSD 10 plus and insted of triggering with a dist. he is using a crank trigger. He may be turning a little slow ( too slow for a mag) but just about any rotational speed at all should fire a 10 plus. I never had an issue with a ten plus not firing no matter how weak the batt.

 

The crank trigger wheel isn't on backwards, is it?

 

call it like it like it is

i'm gonna call bs on msd's story that if it fires then box is good (sorry mike i know you disagree). after lining up pickup still no fire unless plugs out and a weak hit at that...installed spare box from zombie (shout out to my main man jody) and changed nothing else and bam, car finally cranked after a week of screwing with it. checked coil fire and it is considerably hotter.

i have heard of the 10 having issues but i will have to continue to use it as its all my budget will allow at this time. glad i have a spare now.

thanks for everyone's suggestions

 

The crank trigger just generates an AC voltage signal. Hook up your volt ohm meter and crank, then center the pickup and recheck the signal voltage. This will surely point to centering the pickup or cranking speed.
I'd bet dollars to doughnuts it is lack of center on trigger.
Remember, set your meter to AC VOLTS.
Wags