Msd Sucks

[Big Kahuna]

mine was doing the let off the button trick where it would through the spark when you let off. swapped the wires and it started sparking like normal.

 

[hangtime]

mine was doing the let off the button trick where it would through the spark when you let off. swapped the wires and it started sparking like normal.

Mine did the same thing cause it was hooked up wrong .
It made the biggest backfire I have ever heard but didn't destroy anything :biggrin:

 

[sjetrider]

I Had This Same Problem

well on my setup it is pretty much impossible to f-it up. you can only connect each wire to the correct wire because of the terminal ends.

my problem is i only get a spark when i let off the start button. if the boat catches and runs it runs fine. but other than that it just sparks only when you let go of the start button. i had tj spend 4 hrs going over every possible thing he could think of, he bypassed the start stop, he grounded the boat directly etc, etc. everything leads to the cdi.

but if you put a stock cdi in it sparks like normal. you tell me what the problem is?

IT ENDED UP BEING MY START STOP SWITCH, and yes it worked fine with stock CDI too. Dont ask me how but it did. Might be worth looking into.

 

[sjetrider]

IT ENDED UP BEING MY START STOP SWITCH, and yes it worked fine with stock CDI too. Dont ask me how but it did. Might be worth looking into.

mine was doing it on an existing MSD enhancer and I thought enhancer was bad. Switching wires makes sense though because it would do the same thing as start stop switch being bad.

 

[keefer]

IT ENDED UP BEING MY START STOP SWITCH, and yes it worked fine with stock CDI too. Dont ask me how but it did. Might be worth looking into.

i had tj spend 4 hrs going over every possible thing he could think of, he bypassed the start stop, he grounded the boat directly etc, etc. everything leads to the cdi.

He has bypassed the start / stop and it did not fix it. A couple of post ago he found that it was a failing starter motor that was pulling down the voltage when cranking. This must have caused the borderline situation where the MSD would not work due to low voltage but a stock CDI would fire. I will bet there is a weak ground in the loop somewhere also. If the voltage drops below 10.5 or so then you start getting into circuits behaving badly....

 

[Gilligan]

I had the same issue with mine last summer. I bought it new in June installed it and it did the "spark as you let go syndrome" unhooked and tried again. Same thing. So after getting an RMA # and their :bs2: I packaged it up in the original box and sent it all back to them get it back (in July) and it is just the enhacer. No instuctions and NO hardware Took me calling them twice just to get the hardware. So needless to say It is just sitting on a shelf in the garage.

Did someone from Vilder go to work at MSD or was it someone from factory fire's deptment?

 

[hangtime]

I had the same issue and it was because it was hooked up wrong .
Check and double check your connections .

I hooked mine up with the JSS battery stud kit and got one of the red wires mixed up under the pile of wires and never hooked it up .
Works mint when hooked up correctly :biggthumpup:

 

[Mouthfulloflake]

mine was doing the let off the button trick where it would through the spark when you let off. swapped the wires and it started sparking like normal.

thanks for that tip!

Im going to try it .

my msd box that got drowned last fall stopped working, and would only fire when you let off.

I swapped it out, but still have it, I will try swapping the white wires and trying it again.

I need to find a schematic and see how that helps though?

 

[Mouthfulloflake]

according to this diagram, one white wire is from the stator plate, and one from the start stop switch.

IM not sure how switching them would fix anything?

I wonder if simply the act of disconnecting them, and reconnecting them would have the same outcome?

 

[Matt_E]

If it works like I think it does, it wouldn't matter at all. They probably use the lanyard kill switch to interrupt the pulse signal from the stator. Polarity should be irrelevant.
Maybe not?

 

[Mouthfulloflake]

If it works like I think it does, it wouldn't matter at all. They probably use the lanyard kill switch to interrupt the pulse signal from the stator. Polarity should be irrelevant.
Maybe not?

thats what I am thinking, I just wonder if that 4-5 volts is so little potential that any corrosion or resistance in those connections will make it intermittant.

and simply unhooking them, and plugging them back in buys it some more run time.

 

[superramjet]

I've mis-diagnosed an ignition one time because the power wire coming off the main positive cable had broken inside the shrinkwrap and corroded. The msd pulls power off that while the oem cdi does not. It wouldn't fire with the msd but if I put in the oem one it would run. I've also had to make a jumper wire for the white wire. You've probably checked that but I thought I'd let you know.

 

[Gilligan]

okay I have installed the "fixed one" and same thing. Only sparks when you let off. I tried switching the white wires with no luck...I even disconnected all of the white wires and had the same exact outcome.

I would say it may be the start/stop switch, but I replaced it last summer with a new unit.

Any other ideas? I am getting ready to go pull it and box it back up so I will try anything.

 

[keefer]

Take a volt meter and test the red pigtail wire that comes off of the red battery cable that is attached to the solenoid. Ground the meter from the ground lug inside of the elec. box. You should get the same voltage as you would measuring across the battery. If not then you have either a bad ground wire or bad pigtail off of the main hot. You can test the ground by moving the meters negative test lead to the negative post of the battery. If it now tests good, then the black wire from the stator is not making connection somewhere. Like superramjet said, the MSD runs off the battery voltage and not the stator. I had a blaster that was freaky and it ended up being the ground wire from the battery to the engine block being corroded and providing a weak ground. I have had my enhancer for nearly 10 years and it is running strong. I find it hard to believe that they would send out multiple bad units. MSD's customer support reps are not much in the personality department but in think the product is solid IMO.

 

[Gilligan]

I cleaned all of the grounds in the box. I will need to pull the engine later this week to see if the main ground is loose. I will check it with voltmeter at that time.

I may try to put it in the blaster since I have hooked and unhooked it 6 times in the last 2 days.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Gilligan]

I installed it in two skis one with a msd currently in it and one with the stock cdi. And it was the same outcome with both skis. So I am conviced it is the unit.

One thing I have learned is that if the white wires are left unhooked it still does the same exact thing.

 

[Mouthfulloflake]

gilligan, what are your plans for the bum unit?

Id love to tear an enhancer apart.

 

[Matt_E]

x2

 

[Gilligan]

I plan on sending it back to them. I really don't know I am so mad I could probably throw it to them!

 

[waxhead]

I have pulled one apart
they are alot different than a stock one with some big ass capcitators in there

It took ages to do it