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  1. #1
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    DIY: MSD Ignition System Install

    Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!

    Any additional/relevant information gained from this thread has been added to the first 2 posts.So all the info you need is in the first 2 posts.No need to look through the thread for any additional information.

    MSD Ignition Website!

    Aim:

    To Install the aftermarket ignition system/MSD Ignition system.This DIY is universal and applies to any and all cars.I am installing the system on my d16y4 Automatic.

    Many of you know I have had this system in my car for a couple of years.It recently was causing misfire (settle down all you MSD haters ) BUT that was because of a sub par install due to lack of knowledge in this area on my behalf So I ripped it out,fixed up the wires and installed it and did a DIY while I was at it

    The MSD system,gives 'Multiple Sparks',so instead of 1 or 2 sparks every rotation of the crankshaft,you get 6 or 7 sparks,when it is above 4000 rpm it gives 1 BIG spark.

    Different cars,different engine setups,different results.

    I have had the system hooked up and I have had the stock system hooked a few times each and I can tell you on my d16y4 automatic it made my car run smoother.It revs smoother and just feels better with the system hooked up.I think being an automatic it makes a difference.On BIG setup's it would definitely be a good mod,promoting good combustion.On these setup's I would imagine a gain in performance,there maybe on mine but without a dyno,you would never know BUT certainly my car is more enjoyable to drive,smoothly revving out each gear,there's more response in my auto with it too.The note the exhaust makes is far better,it's deeper and fuller,purring even.Tops!

    Required:

    * MSD Ignition box (You will have to check what one is the correct one for your car.
    * External coil.
    * MSD distributor cap OR modify your stock cap with as I have done.
    * 47,000µ capacitor optional

    * 20A Fuse
    * 2 metres of Red and black wire + connectors
    * Some knowledge in the electrics helps.If you aren't too confident having a go yourself,I would ask a friend to help.

    I used:

    * MSD-6AL box Link

    The blurb on the MSD-6AL box is worth quoting:

    "MSD 6AL, PN 6420 The 6AL shares the same proven circuitry of the 6A with the addition of a built-in adjustable rev limiter. The combination of powerful sparks with the safety of a Soft Touch Rev Control is what makes the 6AL the most popular ignition control in the world. MSD first developed the Soft Touch rev control to prevent over rev damage to your motor in the event of a missed shift or driveline failure. The rpm limit is adjustable in 100 rpm increments with MSD’s plug-in modules. When the engine reaches your selected limit, the Soft Touch circuitry begins dropping the spark to various cylinders. On the next cycle, these plugs are fired again to prevent fuel from loading up in the cylinder. The result is a smooth and accurate limiting action without backfires or roughness. The Soft Touch Rev Control also opens the door for you to add rpm accessories such as a Two Step Rev Control. A Two Step allows you to set two rpm limits, one for a holeshot rpm and another for over rev protection. The 6AL is supplied with rubber shock mounts and modules for 3,000, 6,000, 7,000 and 8,000 rpm."

    * Crane cams LX-91 external coil.'dsp 26' has conducted tests and concluded this coil is superior to other coils like MSD blaster coils
    * 47,000µ capacitor
    * Modified my stock distributor cap

    Firstly,an overview of the system,all hooked up:



    And installed:



    Steps:

    If your gonna spend sometime breaking ya back leaning in the engine bay,put it on jacks!



    Firstly,on the side of your MSD 6AL box there's a small black plug that's screwed in place.You'll have to remove that plug and cut the two wires that are looped together,the blue and red.These are used for the box to recognize your engines size in cyl numbers.With those two red and blue wires connected,the box thinks that you have a 8 cyl,cutting just the red wire makes it think you have a 6 cyl and finally the blue and red being cut makes it recognize just 4 cyl's.

    We need to mount the MSD.Find a suitable spot,not easy but it fits suprising well,right here!:



    The rubber mounts:



    From underneath,make sure you use lock nuts or double up on the nuts to lock them:



    I wedged a piece of rubber in here,locks it in real good:





    Next,mount the capacitor.The capacitor protects the MSD box from any surges or spikes in electrical current:



    Then the 20 Amp fuse.This protects the MSD box from blowing up! $15 from Jaycar.Just cut the wire and join to both ends:



    Then mount the coil somewhere,here is good:



    From behind,as you can see,2 bolts was enough.I cabled tied the other side,it's strong as.



    Modifying the stock distributor cap.If MSD does not have a distributor cap for your application,then you will have to modify your stock one.

    Here is the full DIY - Modifying the stock distributor cover to accept an external coil

    MSD sell a 'MSD power tower' Here's what they look like:



    I bought one and had to modify it to suit my dizzy but you can see in the pics,you don't need to buy it and can make it up ya self,just as good,better,from these 3 parts:



    It's just the tip of a sparkplug:



    You will need to find the appropriate thin drill bit for the job.Then you need to drill a hole straight through the cap and screw the screw through there,like so:



    Put the other bits on:



    Use some gasket sealant or silicone to seal it up/insulate it,or you'll get zapped,like I did



    Inside aswell:



    You will need to file a section out so that the 2 wires can run through there:



    John had a better idea -

    "I used a razor to cut some rubber away from the seal where the main loom enters the dizzy. Only remove enough rubber to allow the MSD wires not to get crushed by the cap."
    Last edited by beeza; 25-08-2010 at 06:01 PM.

  2. #2
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    Here's the distributor.Wires from the MSD connects to the ICM (under the cover) and the stock coil removed:



    And here it is again,all installed:



    Make sure you Reset the ECU after any modification.

    Sponge bob says,Job well Done!



    Extra Comments:

    Running the MSD system will allow you to advance the timing 2 or 3 degrees.

    So you can play around with advancing the timing to see if it yields any results or just set it at stock/factory setting.

    Adjusting Ignition Timing

    Now there is a lot bad stuff out there on the MSD system and I believe the reason lies in:

    * Sub par install causing many problems like misfires,cutting out and many other random electrical problems all caused by a sub par install.

    * Ignition parts wearing and causing problems,examples are:

    - Rotor wearing and not producing a good spark.This can cause the timing to go out because of rotor pitting/burning Link
    - Plugs wearing making the gap too big and causing misfire
    - A modified distributor cap if not done correctly will cause problems

    I think this happens and the MSD gets blamed a lot.I know in the industry MSD are known as MS where's the spark D but my system has been going strong for a while now.The thing is to keep an eye on the parts and keep the crap off them so they spark well!

    So routinely I do the following:

    Remove plugs,clean the spark plug holes,sparkplugs and set the gap:

    The handy tool



    Put 2 or 3 tissues on the end and swirl em' around:







    NGK Iridium's all the way! 60,000km and going strong!!

    EDIT: On one of my NGK's,it was allowing oil up into the sparkplug cylinder because the crush washer was completely flattened after taking them in and out a few times.This was causing misfire.It only happened on one plug and I took them all out and in a few times...just know this may occur cause I have had misfire problems on and off for a while and now I finally know what was causing it.



    atm it's a 1.6mm gap.I have ran it smoothly at 1.9mm before,misfired at 2mm:





    Give the edge of the rotor a light sand with fine sand paper to take the carbon deposits off and expose the metal edge:



    Clean the carbon deposits off the points on the inside of dizzy with a flat head screwdriver and fine sandpaper:



    Now,the only other part in the system is the leads.I was running MSD leads,they worked great,I changed too OEM leads for something to do,works great too.You could upgrade to Vision triple core leads and a Solid Vision rotor (off ebay).These items won't give you any performance but rather recover performance lost from the parts degrading if you have any.
    My stock rotor is fine and for the leads you will need to check if the impedance is gaining in them to see if they are holding up alright.Both leads I have used have been fine.

    More???

    Other components in the Air/Fuel/Ignition System and what to do to ensure Maximum benefit from the MSD system:

    - Good Cold air feed.

    - Walbro 255lph fuel pump,not a must but better to get that 10 yr old pump out of there!

    - Insulate fuel lines to keep the fuel cool,proven power gains 2-3 kws.

    - Change that old fuel filter and get ya fuel tank drained and cleaned.

    - Stick to BP 98 octane fuel.

    - Get those old injectors cleaned.For $40 an injector,you can have the flow rate and spray pattern calibrated.For example an injector may read flow rate -2 and spray pattern - 3.After calibration,they will read flow rate -5 and spray pattern - 5.

    - Fuel Pressure regulator,Only needed on bigger setup's.I have one but after trying different settings,I have decided to stay at stock pressure 36 psi.I have tried upto 44 psi and it seems to run best at stock pressure.Without a dyno it's difficult to know if there's an optimal pressure.

    Thanks to dsp26 for sharing your aftermarket ignition stories so I could learn.Thanks John (ECU-MAN) for the ICM that I blew.Thanks to CRXer for your knowledge mate.And finally thanks to the guys at Bundall auto marine electrical for hooking up a device to the terminals on the ICM,so we could determine which one was positive and negative.

    It ended up Black being positive and green negative...No wonder I blew the ICM,good one Honda
    Last edited by beeza; 03-10-2009 at 05:18 PM.

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  4. #4
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    just wondering does the box replace the ignition
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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by VTec1987 View Post
    nice diy
    u notice the difference?
    Thank U.

    Yes,as stated above (I added a bit):

    "I have had the system hooked up and I have had the stock system hooked a few times each and I can tell you on my d16y4 automatic it made my car run smoother.It revs smoother and just feels better with the system hooked up.I think being an automatic it makes a difference.On BIG setup's it would definately be a good mod,promoting good combustion.On these setup's I would imagine a gain in performance,there maybe on mine but without a dyno,you would never know BUT certainly my car is more enjoyable to drive,smoothly revving out each gear,there's more response in my auto with it too.The note the exhaust makes is far better,it's deeper and fuller,purring even.Tops!"

    Quote Originally Posted by Limbo View Post
    just wondering does the box replace the ignition
    Usually the coil is connected directly to the ICM.On the MSD setup,the MSD sits between the coil and the ICM,giving muliple sparks signals to the ICM.
    Last edited by beeza; 09-09-2009 at 09:52 AM.

  6. #6
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    bugger was hoping to bypass my icm
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Limbo View Post
    bugger was hoping to bypass my icm
    its possible limbo to make up a cheap fake ICM to sit between ecu & MSD with about half dozen cheap components like a few resistors & a few transistors,guess about $10-$20.

    BEEZA!!!

    u forgot one very important thing for the safety of your car.....

    wheres the fuse???

    dont like the cap setup either,see if u can insulate that power post a bit better,otherwise misfire here we come again.

    rep points when i see a pic of fuse installed.....

    btw...told u it was the black wire lol

  8. #8
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    It makes sense but it never mentioned a fuse in any MSD install directions...You would put it between the MSD and battery yeah?

    The power tower is 'alive',it zapped me,do you know if on MSD caps if the tower is alive? I think it isn't...

    I know I know about the black but I already blew 2 ICM's..

  9. #9
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    chop fuse into bat positive supply to MSD as close to battery post as practicable.

    wherever there is wiring that is not up to the rating of what the supply can dish out u should fuse it,otherwise all the wiring in that circuit becomes the fuse wire.
    if something goes wrong,causing overcurrent,the wiring could fail & who knows where that might be & how much current/arcing/heat/flames.... it will produce till its fails entirely.
    u get the picture?
    fuse is cheap insurance.

    i assume u werent silly enough to touch the post while the motor was running beez?
    leave that kind of thing to ronny,hes immune to it now lol,i think he actually gets a hit off it.
    if it zapped u after motor off,its a capacitive system & was prob still holding charge just enough to wake u up a bit.
    insulate that post or it will leak after a decent amount of dirt/moisture/etc builds up around that area.

  10. #10
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    Jase dude still need help with my one.

    I'm thinking of doing the CDI afterwards also
    Evo IX - THE FINAL EVOLUTION

  11. #11
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    Cheers CRX'er will do.Will the capacitor not prevent those things,obviously a capacitor is not a fuse?

    Yup! I touched it while the car was running,damn ya know about it,a mild electric shock!

    So I should insulate it where the post meets the cap?

  12. #12
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    pm limbo,beez'l crack a shit if we mess up his thread lol

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