Wire routing, timing mishaps

[mvierow]

I've mounted my Digital 6+ inside the car for easy access to the pot's, and have routed the pickup and coil primaries through the same hole in the firewall, and they continue next to each other as they route under the intake manifold (RPM airgap) up to the distributor and coil, both in the front of the motor (Ford 302 small block).

I've read in the techsupport section that the magnetic pickup lines should be routed away from the coil primaries. I've stabbed and re-stabbed my distributor atleast 10 times, and am possitive I've timed the motor properly, but I've been getting a very very poor idle, and occational back fire. Even when I can get it to chug for a few moments, it seems that timing adjustments don't help. Could my wire routing be the problem?

On a side note, I've extended both the pickup and the primary lines to reach their respected locations from inside the car. I believe I used something like 12 guage to do this. Also, since this problem, I've done a little more permanent mounting of the unit, including using Molex connectors for quick removal. The primaries and pickup are not using the same molex connector.

I'm trying to keep my car as show quality as possible, so making swiss cheese out of my firewall isn't all that helpful, but neither is a car that doesn't run.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

Mike

[mvierow]

I went ahead and tested the magnetic pickup, which reported 500ohms, and varied between 600-450 if I spun the shaft.

Mike

[msdtech1]

Mike,

The resistance on the pickup is within the specification range of the magnetic pickup (400-1300 ohms). What I would check is to see that you kept the polarity correct when you extended the wires. The Black/Orange wire on the pickup should be connected to the Violet wire on the MSD Digital 6 and the Black/Violet wire should be connected to the Green wire on the MSD Digital 6. Also, make sure that you twisted the two magnetic pickup wires around each other as you routed them to the distributor. Twisting the green wire around the violet wire allows it to act as a shield against EMI noise that may be generated from the spark plug wires. Make sure that you are not using a solid core spark plug wire as well.

MSD Tech 1

[mvierow]

Thanks, I did twist the pickup leads by placing one end in a vise and the other in an electric drill, a trick my friend in car audio taught me. For a while I was contemplating undoing this, as I though it may have led to a problem so it is good to know that this was actually beneficial.

I'll go ahead and check those leads though. Especially with twisting the wire, it could be very easy to mix match the wires.

By the way, the diagnostic light on the front of the 6+ was blinking as I cranked the motor, a feature which according to the documentation indicates the unit is receiving signal from the pickup.

If all else fails, I plan on temporarily mounting the unit in the engine bay using short but adequately spaced leads to eliminate any possibility of interference.

Mike

[msdtech1]

Keep use posted with what you find.

MSD Tech1