Guest kcambron Posted October 2, 2002 Share Posted October 2, 2002 I am going to upgrade my stock engine with a Petronix distributer kit and add the MSD-6 box with the Petronixs coil. Has anyone hear used this combo and where you pleased with it? I am on a tight budget so I hate to spend the bucks and not get what I expect! I did add a MSD6 box to a Corvette and was impressed with the improved starting and power. Will the electronic ignition burn up if I leave the key on and the engine is not running? Can anyone shed some light on that aspect of the ignition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deMideon Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 Ditto.. but I am using the HVAC coil. I did have a weird problem though. The wire that runs from the 6A to the ignition switch caused my windsheild wipers to go on. Just a little feed back through the system. I ended up having to disconnect it from the ignition circuit and install a separate switch for the 6A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Baldwin Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 I've got a Pertronix Ignitor in the distributor, and an MSD 6AL, w/ MSD Blaster II coil. No problems except my '71 current triggered(?) tach doesn't work. I really need to address that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kcambron Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 So, did you guys notice a power increase? Is it worth the bucks? How can you get the stock tach to work? Thanks! Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deMideon Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 Well, I changed my ignition system while upgrading everything else so I have no real idea. I know I am getting huge sparkes though. As far as the tach, here's an idea, from the 240z.org mail list. I am going to do it soon... well probably later, anyway here's the info! Here's a post from 240Z.org e-mail list, it's not the digital MSD but it may work the same way! After missing a functional tach after my MSD 6A install, I found a post on utilizing a modified 280z tach. I didn't swap the face (kept 280z tach face), I simply performed the following steps: Remove 280z tach from tach housing (280z units are attached to dash differently). While you have the 280z unit exposed, find the medium sized resistor under the tach signal/input feed and jump it w/a small wire using a solder gun (believe resistor was brown w/some stripes...but don't quote me). Install 280z unit into 240z housing. I am sorry for not documenting this more clearly, the resister was pretty easy to identify once I opened up the 280 unit. You could test your newly modified tach before completing the dash installation by wiring it up under the hood (near the ignition coil). The modified 280z Tach will now get it's input signal directly from the TACH output on the MSD box. After you verified that everything works, simply return the tach to the original dash location and you are smiling again. Don't grin too hard, manny 72DD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMS Posted October 5, 2002 Share Posted October 5, 2002 Hey, Kevin! I'll say nothing but good things about the MSD-6A box I'm running. In conjunction with an MSD coil, it puts out one hell of a fierce spark! I've managed to zap myself a couple of times, and I can assure you that it's a much hotter and longer duration spark than stock. Leaving it connected to power with the engine not running doesn't seem to hurt mine any. I wouldn't worry about it too much. One thing to be careful of though, is to make sure that your ignition box gets a good, solid ground. My car started kicking and bucking, then quit entirely on me a couple of times before I realized that I didn't have it grounded well enough. These boxes probably pull better than 10 amps when they're running, so the better power they can get, the happier they are. One other thing: If it were me (and it's not) I'd be tempted to get a good used electronic distributor out of a later L6 engine, and spend a little of the money I saved upgrading to the 6AL ignition box (includes the rev limiter). Not that I visit redline very often, but it would be nice to have, just in case. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A. G. Olphart Posted October 13, 2002 Share Posted October 13, 2002 aaib- Your concerns for the Pertronics box may be well founded... Mike C mentions cooking his in another post. Also, Pertronics has come out with a second version; one of it's selling points is that leaving the key on won't hurt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZeder Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 Sorry to bring an old thread back from the dead. I thought I would share my findings downunder with regards to the Tach issue. I have purchased a Pertronix pick-up, coil and a second strike unit so I knew that I would need to sort the Tach signal issue etc. Anyway knowing that our local 260z is basically a the same body as your 280z I thought I would just pickup a 260z tach (I assumed Nissan would have moved away from the loop + coil tach signal setup on these like your 280z.....wrong so wrong. You see our local 260z right up to 77/78 still had points so Nissan kept the old loop tach thing going...) So I thought I would share a few pics with you guys. The 260z tach was from a 1977 260z. For those 280z owner that want to have a 7000 Redline maybe (rather than your 280z 6500 rpm limit - if the font is the same) you could just pickup one of our tach's and swap the face over. You will see that the 260z tach has a single plug for the tach and all the lights to the tach (nice) and one the left is the stock 4 wire 240z tach. Now that I know that my tach's are no good in there current configuration I am off to see the local gauge guy who will convert these to the more common - coil pickup type tach. He installs a electronic board, mods the unit and then re-calibrates the unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Rowe Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Yes on my 240Z with the Crane Ign, a board was added by the electrician and all is fine, just needed to find the tach signal output from the Crane which in this case was green. The Electrician believes the same mod will work with the ECU from the RB, again once we find out what lead is the tach signal output - has anyone already established what lead out of the ECU? I will be using an Apexi so again will need to find the correct tach output lead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blu240z Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 Anyone running this on turbo with stock electronics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FricFrac Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 I've got a Pertronix Ignitor in the distributor, and an MSD 6AL, w/ MSD Blaster II coil. No problems except my '71 current triggered(?) tach doesn't work. I really need to address that... I spent about 5 hours reading about the MSD, coils, distributors and how to get my tach to work. Simple fix. Flip to page 10 of the instruction manual (well it was page 10 on the 6AL) and it shows you how to add a resistor across the input to the 6AL from the ignition. From what I can tell is it draws enough current to pulse the tach. I think its around a 5 or 5.5 ohm power resistor. After around 5K I did notice it not working so I suspect a 4 ohm resistor would probably fix the problem but it would be best to check with MSD before following my guess Regardless its way to easy to fix to get your tach working again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catalak Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 sorry to hijack this thread, but i have a problem. i've been running a couple of years on a pertronix setup (ignitor and coil) and i've recently purchased an MSD 6AL (6425) and installed it per the MSD manual (pertronix type install): no luck. I changed my coil to blaster ii coil, no luck. I called MSD and they said wire per 'page 10', which is the installing to a points/amp style ignition. This basically brings the original (+) wire to the ignition-to-MSD-RED(+) wiring. Still, no luck. Can someone verify if the RED LED on the 6AL box is supposed to light up at any point during cranking of the ignition? Oh, forgot to mention, the setup cranks, just doesn't fire up :\ Any advice or assistance would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if you need more info. Thanks all! '73 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dat260 Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 I bumped in on this thread through search because I'am looking to find a solution to my jumping tach. I have a couple of instalation diagrams for your petroniks and msd box that I will post. In the mean time post 11 mentions resistor of 4.0 or 5.5 ohm to be installed. I installed a 2.2ohm resistor at the passenger side under the dash and its still not working. (260Z/74) My question is; My ignition is stock and if I install a 4.0 or 5.5ohms resistor on my factory wire harness would it cause any harm? Here are the pic for you guys with petroniks and msd box; Ign upgrade 1.doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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