My MSD box went bad on me, has been for a long time but never knew it was the box until now. I have been dealing with the engine missing, running bad, smelling horrible, etc. The other day, I go to start the car, nothing, it would not fire. I by-passed the MSD , it started right up and runs great. Is this common? I was talking to 2 differant people about my situation, and both said it is a normal accurance. I want to hear more feedback before I go with a differant brand ignition box...

Mine ran for 15 years.

Where'd you have the box mounted? I know alot of people with street cars mount them inside the pass. compartment to keep them away from all the nasty heat/moisture, but I'm sure you probably read all that when you installed it. I've personally never had buddies that went out, but I to have heard stories of this occurance. Now that I got the 4th gen dash in, I installed the box in the glove compartment-because it's there and I never had one before Anyways, do you have any extra pills you'd want to sell? I really need a 4-5K for my burnout and a 65-7K for the high end. I hate to spend ovewr $50 for 2 frickin pills. I keep askin everybody I know and nobody has the ones I need.

IHI, you know you can make your own pills?

I've heard they are just standard resistors, but have not checked much into it. GIVE ME INFO!!! I've got posts all over the world right now looking for 2 chips, must be searchin the wrong spots. If you know how to do it, PM me with all the dirt, as long as they fit tight and work, hey I'm all for it. We got a guy-eletrical wizard, that started making his own lauch control box that hooks into the MSD ignitions and line locks/tranny brakes, very nice units considering the guy makes them in his home. Here's a pic. He makes these for alot of the locals and recently got laid off from his job-because he makes too much and they're slow, so he came up with this cleaner design and is currently selling them on E-bay. These new units are alot nicer than the first ones he made, they work the same, these just look more professional IMO. He had boxes special made for packaging, includes all instructions, wiring, everything. Kinda weird knowing him personally cause he'll probably get rich when he starts trying to market to the speed catalogs by doing something he enjoys.

Everything I've EVER read about those MSD boxes failing mentions that they had them mounted in the engine compartment. Everyone that says "Mines been working for 10 years" says that they have them inside the car. I dunno where you had yours, but when I get one, its going inside....

I have more complete info at home that I can send later, but I found this doing a quick search: http://www.corral.net/tech/powerplant/arm

My MSD was mounted in the engine compartment beside the charcoal canister. After it died I replaced it with a 6AL, but I sent the dead unit back to MSD for repair. I had it back within a couple of weeks working as good as new for little more than the cost of shipping.

I have also seen 6A boxes die but they were also mounted in the engine compartment and may have been exposed to excessive moisture or engine heat.

I mounted my 6A just behind the brake booster on my '85 Z28 and it's been running without a problem for about 8 years and it was already a two year old unit when I installed it.

RU-Qwik - Is your a 6A or 6AL. If it is a 6AL did you try simply replacing the rev limiter pill and trying to run the car again? One of my buddies had this same problem years ago with his 6AL, he simply replaced the pill and he was back running again.

I don't know where I found this, but here's a chart someone made up showing the resistance of various pills:

<A HREF=http://members.shaw.ca/crussel/rpm_ohms.xls>RPM vs. Resistance Chart</A>