I'm currently running an MSD distributor with external coil. I'm pretty sure the rotor is loose or something on it cause I get random sputtering while driving sometimes and the dizzy is also just loud and rattles on cold startups. Here are my two questions:

1) Is it likely that the rotor be the problem or would it be the coil or the bearing itself?

2) Could I simply remove the MSD cap, rotor, and coil and just replace them with a stock OEM cap and rotor with internal coil? Would this mess with my tune at all?

 

1) could be the rotor, could also be the plugs. It's always best to replace them together. If it were the coil, in many cases, the car wouldn't start at all.

2) Yes, but you would need to replace rotor (OEM is fine) but not the coil or the cap. Chances are the rotor alone is fine to replace.

 

I changed the plugs recently and it didn't change anything. Could a bad rotor account for power loss?

 

i had the same problem on my em1. no matter what i changed it still sputtered with the msd module, my tuner told me to ditch it and put it back to oem. runs great now looks better too, it was really a waste of money for me. most cars dont really need it.

just my 2cents.

 

Though I like the MSD module myself (well, at least an aftermarket ignition system), cleansi has a point if the module itself may be bad. Try replugging back to stock and see what happens. If the module is bad, it could cause a lot what you're experience

 

By "replugging" it back to stock you mean putting an oem distributor on? Should I change the whole distributor or just the cap, rotor, and coil? Cause I assume the base must be the same for both the MSD and OEM, no?