I think I've typed up individual parts of this upcoming post before. However, RiverRat's thread about MSD TL made me make it into a thread.
I feel the number one problem with MSD TL, particularly with dual channel systems, is the triggers. They have a very bad habit of breaking.
The trigger is just a one or two loop coil in a block of black plastic.
First, those broken triggers can be fixed in most cases. Usually, the wire breaks just inside the plastic block.
Grind away the plastic until you have the wire exposed. Try to determine where the break is, and cut the wire. Make sure you have enough plastic ground off to have about 1/4 inch of wire (at least) exposed that's still attached to the plastic block. Solder a new piece of wire on, and heat-shrink the joint. Make sure the connection is sturdy.
Next, you need to seal the block again. I use epoxy resin with thickener for that. It doesn't need to look pretty, but you do need to make sure that you do not raise the height of the block at all. It's a good idea to use the epoxy to make an extended wire guard. See, the reason the trigger broke in the first place is simply that the wire goes into the plastic block without any wiring protection. Wriggle the wire around enough, and it will break. This is particularly the case with the trigger that has to mounted with the wire going backwards away from it.
You can just as well use 5200 on the wire-plastic joint - anything that's a stress relief.
Heat-shrink both wires of the individual triggers together now.
The trigger on the left side of the mounting plate needs to be reversed. As mentioned before, they make you mount it to where the wire is going backwards away from the trigger. This will break the wire in short order.
Unscrew the plastic block from the small metal base plate and reverse the trigger.
Next, make sure the grommet through the mounting plate is good.
A very important thing: Use a good case grommet to seal the flywheel area!!!
It is essential for bendix and starter health to keep water out of the flywheel area! I have had very bad luck using the grommet MSD gives you, and using the OEM gromment.
I am currently using the custom grommet Jetskisolutions sells - it looks like it will do an awesome job at keeping the water out.
When you mount the trigger mounting plate, make sure you do not pinch the pickup wires. I would heat-shrink all four wires (if you have two triggers) from the mounting plate on. Use some sealant on the case grommet. Do a quality job here, it will pay off in the long run.
MSD has you use a lot of bullet connectors - I don't like them. Yeah, they're convenient, but they make the wires rot over time.
Solder and heatshrink wherever and whenever possible.
The Deutsch connectors are fine - they do a good job.
Keep your wires as short as possible, heatshrink them, and wrap them in protective sheathing of some sort.
Ground your coil(s)!!! Very important to proper operation. If at all possible, retain your OEM start/stop switch connectors. Simply solder/heatshrink them onto the MSD system.
Keep your wiring nice, neat, and out of the way of moving parts (coupler). Nothing sucks more than losing a day of riding because of a disconnected bullet connector that you cannot find in that rats nest of TL wiring.
Lastly, keep the brain box at least 5-6 inches away from the coils.
I feel the number one problem with MSD TL, particularly with dual channel systems, is the triggers. They have a very bad habit of breaking.
The trigger is just a one or two loop coil in a block of black plastic.
First, those broken triggers can be fixed in most cases. Usually, the wire breaks just inside the plastic block.
Grind away the plastic until you have the wire exposed. Try to determine where the break is, and cut the wire. Make sure you have enough plastic ground off to have about 1/4 inch of wire (at least) exposed that's still attached to the plastic block. Solder a new piece of wire on, and heat-shrink the joint. Make sure the connection is sturdy.
Next, you need to seal the block again. I use epoxy resin with thickener for that. It doesn't need to look pretty, but you do need to make sure that you do not raise the height of the block at all. It's a good idea to use the epoxy to make an extended wire guard. See, the reason the trigger broke in the first place is simply that the wire goes into the plastic block without any wiring protection. Wriggle the wire around enough, and it will break. This is particularly the case with the trigger that has to mounted with the wire going backwards away from it.
You can just as well use 5200 on the wire-plastic joint - anything that's a stress relief.
Heat-shrink both wires of the individual triggers together now.
The trigger on the left side of the mounting plate needs to be reversed. As mentioned before, they make you mount it to where the wire is going backwards away from the trigger. This will break the wire in short order.
Unscrew the plastic block from the small metal base plate and reverse the trigger.
Next, make sure the grommet through the mounting plate is good.
A very important thing: Use a good case grommet to seal the flywheel area!!!
It is essential for bendix and starter health to keep water out of the flywheel area! I have had very bad luck using the grommet MSD gives you, and using the OEM gromment.
I am currently using the custom grommet Jetskisolutions sells - it looks like it will do an awesome job at keeping the water out.
When you mount the trigger mounting plate, make sure you do not pinch the pickup wires. I would heat-shrink all four wires (if you have two triggers) from the mounting plate on. Use some sealant on the case grommet. Do a quality job here, it will pay off in the long run.
MSD has you use a lot of bullet connectors - I don't like them. Yeah, they're convenient, but they make the wires rot over time.
Solder and heatshrink wherever and whenever possible.
The Deutsch connectors are fine - they do a good job.
Keep your wires as short as possible, heatshrink them, and wrap them in protective sheathing of some sort.
Ground your coil(s)!!! Very important to proper operation. If at all possible, retain your OEM start/stop switch connectors. Simply solder/heatshrink them onto the MSD system.
Keep your wiring nice, neat, and out of the way of moving parts (coupler). Nothing sucks more than losing a day of riding because of a disconnected bullet connector that you cannot find in that rats nest of TL wiring.
Lastly, keep the brain box at least 5-6 inches away from the coils.
