11 Days ago I decided to refresh the HEI distributor in the 53. I purchased an MSD coil and Accel module fired her up and she ran like a top. Today I went to start it and nothing, has fuel no spark. So my question is before going to far into this , has anybody had any early failure with the brand of parts I'm using? If so I will use something else if that is the problem. There is power to the distributor so I'm sure it is inside. Bob H.
I've had very little luck with the new Pertronic stuff. Different but similar. Wouldn't think its the coil. I spent a lot on time trouble shooting until I went back to the points and it started right up.
When I started building my car in 2008, I had to purchase many parts that I wasn't ready for just yet, but I needed them for mock up purposes. I remember telling the guys at work that all of the parts made by MSD, Mallory, etc. were made in USA, unlike the the parts that we get for the vehicles that we we are repairing at work. Fast forward 10 years, all of the parts from Summit, MSD, Mallory, etc., are all now made in China. And guess what? None of the prices have come down. I called FAST technical assistance about a problem and they answered the phone "Competition Cam". I'm pretty sure that FAST, Competition Cam, Mr. Gasket. Moroso, Holley,Accell, MSD, Mallory, and probably more, all owned by the same company. I chose a Hurst shifter over the B & M for almost double the cost because I knew that the B & M's were made in China. Guess what? So are the Hurst's.
Check the coil and coil to distributor wire. I fried two coils due to the coil wire popping loose and the boot pushed up. (resistance off the charts and the coils overheat.) (Old style push in wire, not HEI snap on) It was a new engine, new Pertronix and a Pertronix coil. So, I was concerned and suspecting the non-point stuff as well as the 12v wire eliminating the resistance wire and what not. (I never dealt with aftermarket ignitions, always used points style stuff). Or that I left the ignition on too long when static setting timing. Then I used an OEM style coil while waiting for the RMA on the Pertronix and it went, so that was when I started looking at everything and disassembling slowly to see if I could find anything and found the wire had popped out of the contact socket in the coil. After two times this occured (all in less than 100 miles), I pulled an old coil side boot off an old set of wires, and used that. Has been fine for almost a 1000 miles. I had made certain I had good grounds for the coil, distributor etc. May not have anything to do with yours, but it is easy to fry a coil under the right conditions.
I have seen the wires from the pickup break internally. wiggle them and if it will start, you need a new pick-up.
I thought I found the culprit, the tach I disconnected it and she fired right up, I hooked the tach up while it was running and it died. So I disconnected the tach fired her up and started to back out of the shop and it quit, just like someone turned off the switch? So I pushed it back in the shop and took the coil cover off, got my tester out turned on the switch and there is power to the coil. Weird I tried it again and it fired right up, let it idle for about 15 minutes moved the wires around to see if it would quit, nothing kept right on running. Is there a HEI haters club anywhere? Anyway it's late will figure it out tomorrow. Bob H.
This. Put an ohmmeter across the pick up coil and move the wires around. The wires flex with the VA and develop an intermittent open condition. It will give you fits.
In the retail world, you replace module and pick up together. Granted, you have to pull the distributor and remove the drive gear to do it, but it solves almost all ignition issues. Warning... do NOT use cheapo parts, they will fail you every time. Standard/Blue Streak seems the best. Accell is junk, as are most other brands. The only thing worse than accel is bwd stuff. I don't trust msd stuff either.
I agree about the MSD stuff. Went through 3 Ready To Run distributors on my Fords FE. They's run for awhile and just quit. Finally sent them all back and bought a DUI.... Hasn't missed a bit in 8 years!
Well the 53 is alive and well again, I didn't totally nail down the problem but am fairly sure it was the pickup coil. Doing an ohm check even though it read in the range considered normal it wouldn't stabilize. There was mention of a loose wire possibility as in broken inside the insulation. This also could have been the problem. It is all new now so hopefully it stays healthy. When Carmen built the distributor he used an Accell module and an MSD coil which I did as well. These brands were possibly better when Carmen used them than they are now, I hope not but we will see. Thanks for the help. Bob H.
