So got this MSD to go with my AEM EMS since a few people on here have used it. Well I put it on my car and I quickly noticed my idle improved. But my speedo never worked and I had a hard time starting the car sometimes. I figured it had to be the dizzy, but I just let it go for now. 200 miles later car dies on the side of the rode. Thought that the coil driver blew or maybe a ignitor or maybe even main relay. Car would start and after 5-10 minutes of sitting it would just die. After it died it would not start for ateast 10 minutes. Checked the fuel pump, but that was okay, plus I heard it prime. That kinda ruled out the main relay. Anyways, got a stock dizzy from my friend, "haha the friend I sold my old dizzy too" and I rebuilt his old one and put some new wires on there and bam everything works. Speedo works, car drives great, and even starts much better. Not sure if the setup had problems to begin with right off the bat. Kinda sux after all this work switching over the MSD dizzy. Don't know how to even diagnose the problem, but all I know is when it's installed the car won't run for a long period of time. Kinda like how AEM's 4 channel ignition would get hot and would shut off. Maybe the coil is fucked up.

Same thing happened to me when my MSD box took a ****, and plus that was really the only thing I changed. So either the coil or the dizzy took a ****.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BodyKits NW &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So got this MSD to go with my AEM EMS since a few people on here have used it. Well I put it on my car and I quickly noticed my idle improved. But my speedo never worked and I had a hard time starting the car sometimes. I figured it had to be the dizzy, but I just let it go for now. 200 miles later car dies on the side of the rode. Thought that the coil driver blew or maybe a ignitor or maybe even main relay. Car would start and after 5-10 minutes of sitting it would just die. After it died it would not start for ateast 10 minutes. Checked the fuel pump, but that was okay, plus I heard it prime. That kinda ruled out the main relay. Anyways, got a stock dizzy from my friend, "haha the friend I sold my old dizzy too" and I rebuilt his old one and put some new wires on there and bam everything works. Speedo works, car drives great, and even starts much better. Not sure if the setup had problems to begin with right off the bat. Kinda sux after all this work switching over the MSD dizzy. Don't know how to even diagnose the problem, but all I know is when it's installed the car won't run for a long period of time. Kinda like how AEM's 4 channel ignition would get hot and would shut off. Maybe the coil is fucked up.

Same thing happened to me when my MSD box took a ****, and plus that was really the only thing I changed. So either the coil or the dizzy took a ****. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I am starting to wonder what your coil settings are on the AEM, because man, you seem to destroy every MSD product you've touched That sucks though, because so many guys here have reported smoother idle, awesome part throttle response and a much smoother running engine; on the otherhand, you had the complete opposite. I am at the point that I recommend the MSD dizzy for almost everyone I've dealt with to solve their short-lived OEM ignition components and choppiness above 8500 RPM, with or without an AEM EMS.

Why wouldn't your speedometer work though? Perhaps some wiring problems with the car?

 

I highly doubt it was a wiring problem because everything worked just fine before the MSD install. There isn't much wiring for the MSD dizzy, everything is basically plug and play. **** the only thing you really have to do is wire + and - on the coil and plug in 2 plugs. The only time my speedo didn't work is with the MSD dizzy. I installed the OEM distributor back in and no problems at all. Speedo started to work, car started just fine, and no more car shutting off out of the blue.

Also this is a much newer box. I run the 1050 now and not the 1010 anymore. My dwell settings have always been correct. I have only had success running the stock dizzy, but I had a lil ignition breakup in the upper RPM range with it. Everyone I have spoken to have used the stock honda dwell settings "Honda Internal Coil (92-01) in the wizard when running the MSD Distributor. When I wired my MSD box directly and bypassed the ignitor I would run the "ALL CDI SYSTEMS" in the EMS software. But ofcourse the box took a **** on me after awhile. That is the reason I went back to the OEM dizzy at first.

Not sure what is going on, but I did notice the improvement the MSD made, but it sure didn't last long. Did I miss something? Cause installing this thing is that easy. But I felt like something was wrong right off the bat since my speedo was already acting up.

 

I would understand that the tachometer wouldn't work, but speedometer though? Maybe there is some wiring problems within the harness itself (as in your actual chassis wiring), but man, speedo is completely separate from the distibutor. I am out of ideas...

I am using the factory coil dwell settings for Honda internal coil as well just to let you know... Your settings are on the spot as far as AEM tuning goes.

 

those things are really hit or miss man... out of 10 i have used this year 2 were DOA, 2 died within an hour of being installed and 2 others have lasted a few weeks, the rest work perfectly.

i increased the dwell on a friends car to see what the coil could take, i had the dwell factor up at 65, the coil lasted about 1000 miles before it cooked itself. i didnt see any more power from the car by increasing the dwell, the car was only making 360hp though.

but yeah, the speedo and distributor stuff are COMPLETLY seperate, the speed sensor gets its power from a fuse under the dash, its a 12v hall effect, the ecu only gets tapped into the signal wire. the ground on the vss isnt even a sensor ground, it goes to a chassis ground.

 

Are you sure about that guys? Cause I beg to differ. When a dizzy is going out I have seen it affect the speedometer. Anyone car to elaborate on this a lil more. I've checked the VSS, as well as the wiring. That's just too weird that the speedo went out right when I installed the MSD. There should be no wiring issues since the dizzy is plug and play. Now I put the OEM dizzy back in, and BAM speed works? WTH?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BodyKits NW &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Are you sure about that guys? Cause I beg to differ. When a dizzy is going out I have seen it affect the speedometer. Anyone car to elaborate on this a lil more. </TD></TR></TABLE>

im sure about it.

the ecu gets a speedo signal direct from the speedo, the power comes from 12v key on, then the ground goes to the thermostat housing.

if i recall correctly.....

if you have an OEM manual. look it up. it takes like 10 seconds....

 

That's just crazy weird since the only times the speedo acts weird is when the MSD is installed.

 

only problem i had with the msd dizzy was a mechanical problem not a eletrical...the pin kept coming out but msd took car of it for me... my car ran so much better with the msd dizzy... never had a problem that people were having with them.. mine for sale btw

 

Could be the ground on the thermostat???

 

My car ran great with the MSD dizzy, but I don't think it was 100 percent when I got it. I am not sure what the problem is, but my friend is going to let me borrow his MSD coil so I can check to see if that was the problem.

I'm not sure why the speedo was acting up, all I know is that it fixed itself when I put the OEM dizzy back on, and it only started acting up when the MSD was installed. I know, weird.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BodyKits NW &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My car ran great with the MSD dizzy, but I don't think it was 100 percent when I got it. I am not sure what the problem is, but my friend is going to let me borrow his MSD coil so I can check to see if that was the problem.

I'm not sure why the speedo was acting up, all I know is that it fixed itself when I put the OEM dizzy back on, and it only started acting up when the MSD was installed. I know, weird. </TD></TR></TABLE>

hmm im running without a dizzy with my coil on plug setup, my speedo hasnt been working, now im wondering if my dizzy needs to be hooked up to get my speedo to work....

 

I have no idea, it just seems too much of a coincidence you know.

 

I've done tons of cars without the factory ecu or the factory dist and the speedo still works. It's a 12v and ground in, and a square wave signal out. I can't see how it would be related to the dist at all. Check continuity on the wires on the speed sensor and see if they're all going where they're supposed to be.

The other possibility is some kind of RF noise interference with the higher power ignition system hooked up?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've done tons of cars without the factory ecu or the factory dist and the speedo still works. It's a 12v and ground in, and a square wave signal out. I can't see how it would be related to the dist at all. Check continuity on the wires on the speed sensor and see if they're all going where they're supposed to be.

The other possibility is some kind of RF noise interference with the higher power ignition system hooked up?</TD></TR></TABLE>

i havent had a chance to troubleshoot it yet, i just know the speedo worked before the swap, and ive tried 2 different sensors havent gone any farther than that. i wanna get a multimeter out and check to see it its sending a signal.

 

That could be. I am just a lil lost. The speedo isn't complicated like you say. 3 wires and your vss sensor LOL. It's working now and I am just going to the dyno with the stock dizzy and just going to run some 8 plugs and gap them to like .030.

I think the MSD dizzy or a part of it was not working right from the start. Cause I would have a hard time starting it at first like the car would act if it was flooded. Even with SYNC on the ignition would take some time to finally spark. I thought it was a tuning error, but I know I did everything right. Slapped the OEM dizzy back on and now it starts without a hitch, and I can shut the car start the car off and on with no issues. Sometimes I would turn the car off and I would have to pump the gas or floor it to get it to start and crank forever. Now everything is back to normal and like OEM like it's suppose to be.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've done tons of cars without the factory ecu or the factory dist and the speedo still works. It's a 12v and ground in, and a square wave signal out. I can't see how it would be related to the dist at all. Check continuity on the wires on the speed sensor and see if they're all going where they're supposed to be.

The other possibility is some kind of RF noise interference with the higher power ignition system hooked up?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm about to fork out the damn money for your setup if I keep getting problems. Was wondering if there is a way to mount the trigger so that I can keep PS? Cause all my **** is intact, I ain't hardcore like some of you. I still have all my Power items.

 

It fits, just have to bend the power steering hard line up about 1/4", it bends very easily.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDogg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i increased the dwell on a friends car to see what the coil could take, i had the dwell factor up at 65, the coil lasted about 1000 miles before it cooked itself. i didnt see any more power from the car by increasing the dwell, the car was only making 360hp though.</TD></TR></TABLE>

sure way to cook the coil and possibly the EMS. with coils, when u past the peak dwell time, it gets saturated, overheated, and fails, alot of the time it also overheats the coil driver, causing damage to the EMS.

if its an inductive setup, using a common/popular coil (meaning not some rare 1 off coil/car) send the coil into AEM and it recieve the proper coil dwell testing.

 

it almost looks like tony was keeping the power steering option in the back of his mind when fabricating that

 

Damn Tony, that isn't too bad at all.

Any recommended settings from AEM for the MSD dizzy? Like I said I just used the "92-01 Honda Internal Coil" settings in the wizard. My coil did feel kinda warm, but I figured that is probably normal. I was thinking it's the coil cause I had a problem like this in the past with my MSD coil going out.

 

^^just curious, what year is your engine harness from? i have been doing alot of research and talking with people and it seems to be that 99 00 obd2b civics have the most trouble with distributors. any one else notice this?

 

Tony, ever thought about making an improved bracket to include the PS bolt and tensioner?

 

Not enough demand. I've sold over 50 kits and had 2 people ask about doing ps. It works like this. I can't see having a new bracked cnc'd for such a small quantity.

 

That mount doesn't look too bad, it would be awesome if there was a PS specific one.

My car is a 2000 Civic.