First time MSD Total Loss Install & Setup

[Pablo]

If u have even spark on both plugs the brain is not fried. I've fried a brain before with battery mixups...not a fun lesson.

 

[BrightE's]

Well that's a relief then. Yeah it's still sparking like crazy when I turn it with the plugs resting on the head.

 

[BrightE's]

So I rode today, it went OK at best. I was able to get from the ramp to our dock. But there is some very serious hesitation happening. I can pull full throttle and it just goes at a snails pace and then all of a sudden 10-15 seconds later grabs and go heavy. I docked my ski and pulled the spark plugs and only the rear cylinder seems to be experiencing combustion. The front cylinder is getting a heavy spark, but I don't think it's igniting, the front plug was brand new and had absolutely no color or browning after running for 10 minutes. The rear brand new plug looks normal, lightly browned. It has to either be a fuel or serious timing issue right?

 

[speedysprocket]

Carbs or reeds..?

 

[BrightE's]

I'm going to check for a clog in the front carb. The only thing it could be with the reeds would be that it simply isn't opening right? All of this stuff came out of my running Superjet last season, which makes me question why it would all of a sudden not run. The only difference being the ignition that's on now.

 

[Philip Clemmons]

Check all of your connections. Sometimes the pins push out of the housing and one coil will be dead. An inline spark tester works great for testing. You can also short the input for the pickup signal and verify spark on each channel/coil.

Be sure the coils are grounded properly. Normally the right terminal when looking at the coil front is the one grounded. The newer ones are labeled.

 

[BrightE's]

Hey man thanks for all the leads. I do know I have spark on both plugs. I pulled them both out and left them on the cylinder head and they both hit hard with multiple sparks. Should I actually be testing each component though? The coil, the pickup, etc? Or is a good solid spark able to show that in the first place?

 

[BrightE's]

I didn't find anything wrong with my carbs. I blew them all out with WD40 and tossed a new gasket under them when bolting it to the intake manifold. Still no dice.

Would I still be getting a full spark on the front cylinder if its coil or pickup was faulty? If not, can I conclude that the coil and pickup are OK, but that maybe the pickup is shifted out of sync with where it should be and its not sparking at the right time?

 

[Pablo]

Its a stretch, but I had a brain that would drop a channel when it got warmed up or I put a heavy load on it. My ski would fire and sound good on the trailer and have spark on both channels but ran like a turd. Basically was a dying channel. If u have a 3 channel brain u can swap the trouble cylinder over to the spare channel. That's a easy diagnosis if u have the correct brain. My old brain starting doing that after my battery came loose and laid against the bed plate and rapidly discharged...reversing polarity against the brain. It eventually died completely. U can individually check each component. The coil and pickup. When I had trouble with mine I emailed MSD over their help forum and an actual dude called me and gave me all the specs for testing each component. I don't have the specs anymore but they were way helpful. Surprisingly because I had dogged them out before ever trying them and I was 100% wrong about their support.

 

[D-Roc]

Did your fuel pickup for front plug come undone in the tank?

 

[BrightE's]

Did your fuel pickup for front plug come undone in the tank?

I'm only running one fuel pick-up, but the front carb is a slave to the rear carb for its pump and fuel.

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[D-Roc]

Are the carbs synced and both opening. Can you verify fuel flow to both carbs.

 

[BrightE's]

The carbs are in sync together, that was my first thought too. They are in sync, I'm not sure how to verify that both carbs are getting fuel. When I took them apart, they both leaked all their fuel out heavily. I blew all the passage ways out with WD40 and there was no blockage. My pop-off pressure is about 55psi on both carbs. Should I be able to verify I'm getting fuel in the front cylinder if the spark plug is wet? (there is no color on it yet, but I could check if there is fuel on it right?)

In all honesty, it feels like it is only running on one hole, up till some X RPM where all of a sudden it will hit and run normally. It's odd, man..

It runs great when out of the water, I think because it is able to get up to that X RPM spot where all of a sudden it kicks in good.

 

[Nate_D]

I would look at the TL first and verify that is 100%. If a setup works, then you change one components and it no longer works, start with that component. I've spent countless hours chasing ghosts because I didn't look at the simplest explanation first.


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[BrightE's]

Is there a way to test with a volt meter each component? I see that there is a trouble shooting guide in the install directions about testing the coils and pick-ups, but I am getting spark on both plugs so it leads me to assume that they are both working.

 

[hink320]

Did it back fire by any chance when you first fired it up? I just had the same issue on a new motor, but it back fired on the first startup (I think I primed it too much) and put a hole in the reeds. I put in new reeds and it runs great.

 

[Pablo]

Did it back fire by any chance when you first fired it up? I just had the same issue on a new motor, but it back fired on the first startup (I think I primed it too much) and put a hole in the reeds. I put in new reeds and it runs great.

That's definitely a easy thing to check. Like Nate said test the basics first before u go off chasing ghosts.

 

[speedysprocket]

Is 55psi not a little high? Do both carbs have their own fuel pump?

 

[BrightE's]

It's easy to check reeds? lol. Took me 40 minutes just to take the carbs off when they were in the ski. There's zero space in there! I'll take a look though.

 

[BrightE's]

Is 55psi not a little high? Do both carbs have their own fuel pump?

55 is stock pop-off I think. No the rear carb supplies the other carb with it's fuel through only one pump. It ran fine on my Superjet forever this way.