[whitepony]

ok, so when i bought my stang about a year ago, one of the first things i noticed while i had it on a lift was, in a very poorly choosen location, there was a msd ignition module. it is mounted in front of the front passenger wheel, under the fender. if the hood is popped, you can see the bolts on the flat area under my intake filter.


one day my car shut off in the middle of an intersection and i took it to ford to have them find out why it did that (i couldnt get it started back up). before they worked on my car (took them 4 days to get to it) me and a buddy went to the shop and decided we would take a quick look and see if we could find any hints. well we discovered that the msd isnt even hooked up.


which brings me to my ACTUAL question. (sorry you just had to read all of that, but i thought id share the story.) -----is there any way to test the module for working conditions before i go ahead and hook it up?? or is that the only way to see if it works? if i hook it up and its bad, will my car just not start or will it start and run poorly? any insite would be great. again, sorry for the long post.

i do not know what model it is, i am at sea right now on my destroyer, but if memory serves me correctly it has something to do with a 5. and i know most of you have a 6al. is this even worth messing with??

[WITELITENIN]

Here are the instructions for the MSD 5. There is a procedure for testing spark found in the troubleshooting section. I suggest you read it carefully (you must have plenty of time out at sea). If you follow the instructions exactly, you can determine if you have a bad MSD box or coil. I just ran through this whole nonsense with my MSD 6AL. I followed the instructions, and come to find out, my box was bad. I hooked it up wrong (trying to relocate it--if it ain't broke don't fix it-LOL), and the box started smoking. But get this: MSD charged me 32 bucks to fix it, and put the new updates in it. I was only without it for about a week.

In the test, it says "if no spark replace coil." I would suggest a high performance coil: MSD, crane, mallory, etc. I was foolish in performing my tests, and did not want to spend the money on a coil (cuz the old one was only 6 mo old). I had the coil tested for resistance and it was good. I even sent my MSD box back to MSD because I thought they didn't fix it right. They sent it back saying it was good. SO.......I replaced the coil. I must have fried it when I smoked the box. Anyway, my point was to follow the diagnostic/troubleshooting procedures EXACTLY!!! Check and double check your wiring. Use butt connectors, and male to female wire connections so it can be easily removed.

BTW, thanks for serving:thumbsup I am in the Army
Oh yeah, almost forgot.... Here's your instructions:

http://www.msdignition.com/pdf/5200_frm18162.pdf

[whitepony]

hey, thanks for the reply and the link. it hasnt been hooked up, i was just curious as to whether or not i should hook it up to test it, or if there were shops that could do a bench test. but hey, ill go as per the instruction and if no good, ill pull it and send it to msd. was yours under warranty or do they do in shop repairs like that? if so, 32 bucks is alot cheaper than a new msd. especially when i didnt pay for this one to begin with!!http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forum...ons/icon10.gif

and thank you for serving as well!!

[WITELITENIN]

Originally Posted by whitepony

was yours under warranty or do they do in shop repairs like that? if so, 32 bucks is alot cheaper than a new msd. especially when i didnt pay for this one to begin with!!

My car had the MSD on it when I bought it. It was not under warranty. But MSD will give you an RMA number for you to send it in, test it under a 7000 RPM load for 3-4 hours straight, and repair the problem at a reasonable MAX price (mine was 76 bucks, but it only cost 32...76 is the MAX if the unit is totally fried). They will also put in all the new updates for your unit as well.