Christian_83
Xscream
- Location
- Denmark
Josh, what were the outcome of that situation, did you get it replaced or did MSD do nothing?
Custom/Hybrid No spark on a new msd total loss pro digital ignition
- Thread starter lakeboy183
- Start date
D-Roc
I forgot!
- Location
- Dirty River Rider
Yes you can use your spare channel if you connect to that twin set of wires. You will need to switch the coil wires too I believe.
Completely possible to fry a channel. That's exactly what happened to me last year. I had to walk through the system with the msd tech guys and they diagnosed it pretty quick. All I did was switch to the unused channel and bam it was back to normal. It's a easy swap and check for a diagnosis.
GIL
Power In The Hands Of Few
- Location
- Cullman AL
Been there and done that myself! Thats the great part about the 3 channel setup-you have a spare to fall back on!!!
Put S4 of switch bank one (far left) to the on position (timing led mode). Take the plugs out and rotate the couplers by hand. In a full 360 degree revolution of the engine, you should see the light on the side of the unit come on twice at 180 degrees apart. If so, your pickups are both fine. If you only get one light, one of your pickups (or wiring to) is faulty.
Next, turn the above S4 to the off position. Disconnect the harness that runs into the flywheel area, and with a piece of wire, staple, paper clip, push it into the plug on the ignition side and short across the two greens (try side by side wires, or up and down...just depends on how they wires enter the housing of the plug). Push the jumper in one side than touch the other side to the pin and quickly remove it to discharge the coil. If you determined that your pickups are both working as above, you should see spark on both plugs when shorting out the two banks of green wires (jumping across two of the correct green wires will spark one coil, so the other two wires will spark the other coil).
If you still only get spark on one, either one of the coil drivers in the ignition is no good, or you have a faulty coil. Start by disconnecting the working coil from the harness, and plugging the non working coil into it it. Jump the same green wires that produced spark on the coil earlier and you should now have spark on this coil. If not, you have a faulty coil driver (channel) in the ignition. Where the wires run into the back of the coils, you should have a white running to both coils, and a yellow, brown, or orange (these are your channels). If you are using the yellow and brown wires as the channels to your coils, determine which of these runs to the coil that produces no spark, and then replace it with the orange (this is the spare channel people are referring to - used for 3 cylinder engines, but can be used as a spare in singles). You should now have spark, unless there is a un-related problem elsewhere.
*Note* - The above assumes that the ignition is wired as per MSD instructions
That's how I go about it anyway!
Next, turn the above S4 to the off position. Disconnect the harness that runs into the flywheel area, and with a piece of wire, staple, paper clip, push it into the plug on the ignition side and short across the two greens (try side by side wires, or up and down...just depends on how they wires enter the housing of the plug). Push the jumper in one side than touch the other side to the pin and quickly remove it to discharge the coil. If you determined that your pickups are both working as above, you should see spark on both plugs when shorting out the two banks of green wires (jumping across two of the correct green wires will spark one coil, so the other two wires will spark the other coil).
If you still only get spark on one, either one of the coil drivers in the ignition is no good, or you have a faulty coil. Start by disconnecting the working coil from the harness, and plugging the non working coil into it it. Jump the same green wires that produced spark on the coil earlier and you should now have spark on this coil. If not, you have a faulty coil driver (channel) in the ignition. Where the wires run into the back of the coils, you should have a white running to both coils, and a yellow, brown, or orange (these are your channels). If you are using the yellow and brown wires as the channels to your coils, determine which of these runs to the coil that produces no spark, and then replace it with the orange (this is the spare channel people are referring to - used for 3 cylinder engines, but can be used as a spare in singles). You should now have spark, unless there is a un-related problem elsewhere.
*Note* - The above assumes that the ignition is wired as per MSD instructions
That's how I go about it anyway!
Christian_83
Xscream
- Location
- Denmark
Watty nice sum up.
Anyone have any idea what can cause the channel to get fried?
Anyone have any idea what can cause the channel to get fried?
- Location
- Kennewick, WA
I am curious about this too.
- Location
- Kennewick, WA
Have you figured out the problem? Lose a channel? Can I put rabbit ears on mine to get more channels in case of random failure?
- Location
- Kennewick, WA
Sweet. I get the feeling I'm going to regret getting mine.
u won't if it works correctly...best bang for ur buck performance upgrade in a single package.
D-Roc
I forgot!
- Location
- Dirty River Rider
It's the reason we put up with dropped channels and fried brains. The performance is that good. Stupid msd's.
- Location
- Kennewick, WA
Well school starts up for me soon and my time to screw with it is going to go to zero. That's why I literally have 2 hours on my motor that was built last year. I want to ride... not f%$k with at the dock all day. I need it to just work or it will probably sit in my garage again all summer. Seems like an expensive gamble with really chitty odds.
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Don't stress, if it's a new unit and it's faulty out of the box, I'm sure it will be taken care of. It's very easy to trouble shoot, and will take you the best part of 5 minutes. Here in Oz, we have to wait 3 weeks between diagnosing a problem, and getting a replacement (from MSD)
Christian_83
Xscream
- Location
- Denmark
well i allmost allso regret getting that MSD TL now with all these stories about faulting 
Maybe i should bench test it before installing it, if the unit is faulty.
Maybe i should bench test it before installing it, if the unit is faulty.
D-Roc
I forgot!
- Location
- Dirty River Rider
I am going onto season 5 with out any problems from msd related. I may have a dead brain when I go to install in for this season but it worked when I stored it for the winter. I also had to flip the starter ring around because it was getting ugly in two major spots from years of engaging. Only my brain is going on 5 years, the rest is older than 5 years. When they work, they work great!
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Christian_83
Xscream
- Location
- Denmark
What does a new brain cost in the US and how are MSD warrenty on PWC parts (and for that sake, the buyers policy/normal warrenty in the US) ?
D-Roc
I forgot!
- Location
- Dirty River Rider
I sent back a brain that died and under a year old. Once you get the Return number from them it's just a matter of writing that RMA# on the box and shipping it out. They sent me a new brain. You will want to make sure it is fried befor you ship it because you don't want them to just send it back saying it tests out fine.
- Location
- s florida
FYI, One very important thing to know about MSD is to have a good ground. Many failures or fried brains are caused by poor grounding.
I always run 2 grounds with all my set ups and never had any issues
I always run 2 grounds with all my set ups and never had any issues