All Small Six Diagnosing with air/fuel meter
- Thread starter DON
- Start date
This relates to all small sixes
Did they give answer to the problem?
They did one one of the boxes. They told me there was a problem with both boxes. The one box had a sheet attached, it is like a trouble shooting guide. It has some interesting info on it. I will post a picture of it
This is the plug I am using. It’s rated at 40+amps. A couple of issues:
The male plugs: the wires can be crimped and then inserted into the housing- no problem.
Female plugs: the wires have to be inserted THROUGH the housing, then the terminal crimped, then pulled back into the housing.
No instructions included
Also I can figure out where the gray wire lock goes.
. I looked extensively on both halves separately and clicked together. Don’t know ??
The male plugs: the wires can be crimped and then inserted into the housing- no problem.
Female plugs: the wires have to be inserted THROUGH the housing, then the terminal crimped, then pulled back into the housing.
No instructions included
Also I can figure out where the gray wire lock goes.
. I looked extensively on both halves separately and clicked together. Don’t know ??Attachments
Yep, MSD: distributor, wires, 6 AL-2, coil.
Bad miss at 2k under light load. Won’t do it without car in gear. Creating a shutter and no more acceleration, power loss. Will do it power braking. I nursed it higher one time but difficult. New: plugs, wires, cap rotor, coil. 6AL box just back from MSD repair shop. All wire connections new or cleaned. 10 gauge wire supply ground at block, hot supply at starter solenoid with terminal right next to terminal from gen3 alternator. Duplicated problem with alternator disconnected.
Don’t think I forgot anything
I have the trigger out of the distributor now, completely cleaning and reinstall. I’m not hopeful that will do anything. No aluminum oxide, clean under sensor to dizzy body, I had treated lock nuts yrs ago they weren’t stainless. But have to try. All this and miss happening at exactly the same rpm. Starts great, idles fine.
Bad miss at 2k under light load. Won’t do it without car in gear. Creating a shutter and no more acceleration, power loss. Will do it power braking. I nursed it higher one time but difficult. New: plugs, wires, cap rotor, coil. 6AL box just back from MSD repair shop. All wire connections new or cleaned. 10 gauge wire supply ground at block, hot supply at starter solenoid with terminal right next to terminal from gen3 alternator. Duplicated problem with alternator disconnected.
Don’t think I forgot anything
I have the trigger out of the distributor now, completely cleaning and reinstall. I’m not hopeful that will do anything. No aluminum oxide, clean under sensor to dizzy body, I had treated lock nuts yrs ago they weren’t stainless. But have to try. All this and miss happening at exactly the same rpm. Starts great, idles fine.
Thanks. Seems the pick up may be bad- not familiar with MSD, it's magnetic pickup? Is there any other module or box between the distributor pick-up and the MSD box? Is the distributor grounded? All systems assume it will ground through the distributor body into the block, but I've had them loose ground, incredibly. Just happened for the second time (40 years later) recently. I now run a dedicated ground wire from the distributor body to a known ground source. On my points/TFI vehicles the distributor grounds on the same lug as the TFI module, keeping a closed-loop circuit. The primary side is dealing with very low amperage, loosing ground contact is rare and hard to believe, looking at a distributor bolted into the block- but I know first hand it can happen. The diagnosis is very difficult because we assume the points/pickup have a grounded base to circuit to. Quite the story first time the distributor lost ground, left me stranded on the interstate for many hours before I figured it out. Redid the points repeatedly, then walked a couple of miles and bought a coil- to no avail. I didn't learn my lesson, because when my wife's daily shut off on her couple months ago, I replaced the module, etc and couldn't get it going. finally put a jumper cable on the vacuum can-to-battery negative, it fired right up. NOW all my distributor-equipped vehicles have a ground wire.Yep, MSD: distributor, wires, 6 AL-2, coil.
Bad miss at 2k under light load. Won’t do it without car in gear. Creating a shutter and no more acceleration, power loss. Will do it power braking. I nursed it higher one time but difficult. New: plugs, wires, cap rotor, coil. 6AL box just back from MSD repair shop. All wire connections new or cleaned. 10 gauge wire supply ground at block, hot supply at starter solenoid with terminal right next to terminal from gen3 alternator. Duplicated problem with alternator disconnected.
Don’t think I forgot anything
I have the trigger out of the distributor now, completely cleaning and reinstall. I’m not hopeful that will do anything. No aluminum oxide, clean under sensor to dizzy body, I had treated lock nuts yrs ago they weren’t stainless. But have to try. All this and miss happening at exactly the same rpm. Starts great, idles fine.
Slight chance it could be fuel, but doesn't sound like it. . A simple but effective test I use to determine if spark is at fault is: hook a timing light to the coil to distributor wire where it flashes all 6 sparks. Shine it at a reflective surface and run it. Any break in the near-constant light= ignition.
Attachments
It is a magnetic pick up, two wires. no other anything. I have always been under the “assumption” that with the two wire pick-up it doesn’t need a ground. The sensor actually sits on top of the magnet and is bolted down thru the magnet. If it does need a ground- a bad way to set it up. I don’t think a good ground would go through the magnet, MSD calls for a bead of silicone between the sensor and the dizzy body (?). Another ground inhibitor.
I was thinking I might check the amp draw when miss happens. If there is less spark, bad ground, it should show in current. Do you know if that type of sensor needs a ground thru the distributor?
I “x” what is not being used.
I was thinking I might check the amp draw when miss happens. If there is less spark, bad ground, it should show in current. Do you know if that type of sensor needs a ground thru the distributor?
I “x” what is not being used.
Attachments
I'm no pro on electronics. Only response I have is, the DS2 Ford Magnetic distributor has three wires from the pickup, and one is a direct ground. Obviously MSD knows their stuff. My overall point is simply, bad grounds= confusing diagnosis. And sometimes they happen in an out of the box place or way that misses the mental list.
Sorry Don, not much help.
Sorry Don, not much help.
Thanks Frank! There is still avenues to proceed. I have even thought to get a 4 prong module, wire it up. It would eliminate a lot. Some of it is grasping at straws, but not sure what other direction I can go. I have thought about gas, but nothing but ethanol free in it and new in the last 3 months. Always the chance of bad from the station, but have been using it in the mower….
I think at this point, just start eliminating components. Will get the distributor back together Monday, and go from there. That should eliminate all grounding and power supply points.
I think at this point, just start eliminating components. Will get the distributor back together Monday, and go from there. That should eliminate all grounding and power supply points.
Attachments
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