318 msd 6al, msd blaster ss coil, msd distributor not working

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slidey06

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Back with probably another dumb question. Just put a full msd ignition system into my 318 duster. The blaster ss coil, 6al, and pro bullet distributor. Had the car running with it all. I pulled the distributor to replace the advance bushing with the purple bushing and the springs with a light blue and light silver spring, put it back in and it doesn’t work anymore. It doesn’t sound like I’m getting any combustion at all now. The battery is at full charge and I’m getting 12.7 volts

Do I need to play with the distributor position? Maybe I’m not cranking it fast enough for the msd? I’ll watch the notifications so I can reply quickly with any additional info needed.

Thanks!

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Maybe you forgot to plug the distributor back in.
 
Top Dead Center TDC up on #1, on compression stroke.

Distributor rotor pointing forward left to the last intake bolt driver's side.

Could be 180 degrees off?

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Mopar HEI conversion, Use an E-coil that you run straight 12 volts to.



Simple, Simple....

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The msd rotor at TDC on the compression stroke on piston 1 will either point toward the back passenger side or front drivers side. I have it facing forward toward the driver side . The coil is brand new and worked before playing with the mechanical advance yesterday
 
Rotor tab to cap gap? Sometimes you bend it down when pulling the rotor off the shaft. Do you have the little card that came with it to verify the gap?
 
slidey06 said:
The msd rotor at TDC on the compression stroke on piston 1 will either point toward the back passenger side or front drivers side. I have it facing forward toward the driver side . The coil is brand new and worked before playing with the mechanical advance yesterday
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But, you could have put it back 180 out since the shaft key index slot is universal. In the top of the oil pump drive shaft that is.
 
slidey06 said:
The msd rotor at TDC on the compression stroke on piston 1 will either point toward the back passenger side or front drivers side. I have it facing forward toward the driver side . The coil is brand new and worked before playing with the mechanical advance yesterday
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The distributor can go in 180 degrees out. Check that next.

And the shaft and the rotor don't always line up. So you have to look at the rotor relative to the drive tang and use that to line up oil pump drive.
 
Newbomb Turk said:
The distributor can go in 180 degrees out. Check that next.

And the shaft and the rotor don't always line up. So you have to look at the rotor relative to the drive tang and use that to line up oil pump drive.
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They are a couple degrees off from one another, when I drop it in I still just use the rotor to guide where #1 goes correct?
 
slidey06 said:
They are a couple degrees off from one another, when I drop it in I still just use the rotor to guide where #1 goes correct?
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If the rotor is in line with the tang or at least close to it then yes, you can line it up that way.

More often than not, the rotor and the tang don't line up. And that can throw guys off.
 
dusterbing the peace said:
Rotor tab to cap gap? Sometimes you bend it down when pulling the rotor off the shaft. Do you have the little card that came with it to verify the gap?
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Okay I just got home and pulled the cap, it looked like the tab was pressed down almost to level with where it’s mounted. I’ll play around with pulling it up a bit in the morning when I don’t have to worry about sleeping neighbors. Thanks!
 
slidey06 said:
Okay I just got home and pulled the cap, it looked like the tab was pressed down almost to level with where it’s mounted. I’ll play around with pulling it up a bit in the morning when I don’t have to worry about sleeping neighbors. Thanks!
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Hope that’s it!!!
 
slidey06 said:
The msd rotor at TDC on the compression stroke on piston 1 will either point toward the back passenger side or front drivers side. I have it facing forward toward the driver side . The coil is brand new and worked before playing with the mechanical advance yesterday
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This is not true. Only one direction is no1 compression. 1/2 turn off, otherwise known as "180 out" is NOT on no1 compression stroke, but rather on the exahaust stroke. There are two ways to get the dist in correctly and KNOW that it is so. One is to pull no1 plug, stick in your finger, and bump the engine til you START to feel compression. Then immediately start looking for the marks whcih will be coming up. Do NOT set the timing marks at TDC, but rather, where it is that you want initial timing, such as 15 BTC. Now slap in the dist with the rotor at no1, rotate the dist body retarded (CW) and slowly bring it advanced (CCW) until the points open, or the trigger is aligned as far as you can tell. The second way, if you happen to have the rocker covers off, is to bring the marks up to TDC, then look at no1 and no6 valves and find out which pair is open and which pair is near split overlap

Not having spark is a problem. Best advice is to go to MSD's website and wade through the tech manuals for the items you have. Somewhere over there is test procedures
 
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Make sure you didn't move the p/up coil in the dist.
[1] If the air gap to the reluctor tip gets too big [ should be 0.008" ], you get no spark
[2]....& if the there is no air gap [ rel tip is touching the pole piece ], you also get no spark...
 
slidey06 said:
Okay no luck with the tab, maybe I’m not getting enough out of my battery at this point
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Dang, sorry to hear that:(

Regarding voltage, put key in on position and jump across the starter relay to see if it fires. This can eliminate the voltage drop across the key circuit (installed a push button on mine for this reason…because I was too lazy to chase down the real problem)
 
I ran a separate battery to the starter with the key in the on position and it cranks but no spark. Doing an ohm test on the coil from the pillar to the negative side I’m only seeing 4.11 ohms and not the 4.7 it’s supposed to have, maybe shot the coil somehow??
 
slidey06 said:
I ran a separate battery to the starter with the key in the on position and it cranks but no spark. Doing an ohm test on the coil from the pillar to the negative side I’m only seeing 4.11 ohms and not the 4.7 it’s supposed to have, maybe shot the coil somehow??
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Might try reverting the advance bushing and springs to what it came with to see if that’s an issue
 
slidey06 said:
It’s getting power and ground straight at the battery, the ground is grounded to the motor and frame.
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Okay I just did the screwdriver check from the coil wire, the coil is giving me spark, leaving the distributor and wires now I guess
 
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