Carbureted LSX forum - Anyone have a msd box go bad?

6012 box
For the last week I've been chasing a misfire on my boat. I know what cylinder it was because I could feel the header tube after running it. Then on Saturday I was running and all of a sudden it shut off and wouldn't refire. I ruled out all the easy stuff like fuel, grounds, connections, etc. the only thing I can think is the box went out. Does msd rebuild these?

Ive heard of it, never experienced it. I know you can send most if not ALL MSD stuff back to have it 'refreshed/rebuilt'.

If msd can't get there quality control figured out then that mallory LS box looks better every day...

I had to send my 6010 back for repair/replacement. Luckily it was still underwarry, they sent me a new one within a few weeks at no charge.

Few weeks? That's what worries me. My buddies burned up, I had one on the shelf for my build, so I put it on his car to not miss any races. Sent his back and no word yet. Now I'm a couple weeks away from needing one. Hope they get it soon.

That Mallory unit is pricy
What's the warranty on a 6012 box?
The thing that's really upsetting is this box lasted a little over a year, but it's on a boat that only sees use six months out of the year, 2 days, every other weekend. So it has a total run time of maybe 40-50 hours tops.:bang:

The turn around time is why I bought a spare box to use if another one fails. I got a pretty good deal on one that I bought from another ls1tech member. It sucks having to spend money on a spare but a bad box won't keep the car off the track/road now....its just other stuff lol.

Just talked to msd, he thinks it may be a crank sensor. Also 6012 boxes aren't repairable.
The boat is in AZ, I'm in CA. It will be a few weeks until I can test it. It will be an awesome weekend if I go out there and the crank sensor is good and the box is bad with no replacement.

hook a laptop up to it and see if it communicates. when the one in my car shit the bed it started hitting the wrong cylinders while cranking, started smoking and then nothing. hooked a laptop up to it and no communication.

brought it into sk and they got me back on the road right quick.

Dont know the warranty time on these. I have never had one go bad and i use more than anyone of this site probably, had a friend fry one due to bad ground. MSD warrantied the 6010, they did not rebuild/repair, they sent a new one. So now i have a spare 6010 harness, LOL.

The quality of them is damn good as far as i am concerned, other things an go bad. A coil, crank sensor, ect. The 6010 is not repairable i assume if they replaced the one my buddy used. I have personally built 7 or 8 cars with them and none went bad, jus the one a friend used because he tried to ground it poorly. A boat is different, but if it was direct to the battery with a simple solenoid and cut off, then that is probably unusual. No water hot in it i assume? I had a missfire from spraying mine. It cleared up though.

we thought we had a problem with our msd box. chased the problem for a week. we found it.. talked to msd tech line 4 or 5 times last friday and edgar really knows his chit. now its off to callies.

we thought we had a problem with our msd box. chased the problem for a week. we found it.. talked to msd tech line 4 or 5 times last friday and edgar really knows his chit. now its off to callies.

Ouch! Was that making any noise?

That would peace me off.....

Ouch! Was that making any noise?

couldnt tell on the noise its in a race car with open headers. you could barely see where it was rubbing the main cap, kinda left a shinny mark on it. talked to callies friday they said they had gotten a bad batch of wheels from gm that went on these cranks from november of last year till march of this year. so were having a billet one put on. we got about 12 passes on it before we went to commerce for the chp race, first pass at about 1000 ft. mark it sounded like it hit the rev. limiter he backed off and let it coast till the turn off. made it to the trailer and shut it off hasnt ran since. till i talked to edgar at msd tech we went thru some stuff, then he had me set the inital timing to 45 degrees straight across the board and it fired up and ran. i tried setting it at 35 and 55 degrees all it would do is backfire thru the carb. thats when he came to the conclusion it spun the reluctor wheel. pulled the crank and there it was.:bomb:

hook a laptop up to it and see if it communicates.

I was thinking the same thing. When you hook up a lap top it gives you total run time on the box.

Thanks for all the replies, I'll have to wait a few weeks until I can get back out to the river to test. I'll come back with my findings

If msd can't get there quality control figured out then that mallory LS box looks better every day...

I looked at the mallory box, the problem with it is you have to add the distributor system to your Ls for it to work, it is not a plug and go like the MSD.

now as for the problems with the msd box, Yes i have had mine go bad! it stopped telling the coils to spark. I sent mine in and got another box pluged it in and as soon as i did i heard a pop from inside the box. I dont know what it was but I am very lost now trying to figure out what is causing the problem with the box. I have been on with MSD trying to figure out testing of any thing that plugs into the harness and I still cant find a problem. the only thing we can figure out is the I have a shorted out coil and it is back feeding into the box. but the only way I can test the coils is to power them up with the box. If I do that again it may pop the box again so now I have to replace all the coils to eliminate that possibility. sorry about the rant got carried away with my problem.

MSD 6010 Limited Warranty
1 year from time of purchase, under normal use when properly installed and purchased from an authorized dealer.
Warranty is VOID if purchased through an auction website.

I have been chasing a skipping condition @ 5,000RPM with my car. Talked with MSD last week and they suggested another ground. Have not done a road test yet to see if it helps. Checked every other thing I could think of as the culprit. My 6010 has only 46 hrs on it, can't imagine it could be bad, motor runs like a champ up to that rpm point. Really frustrated with it!

UPDATE: the extra ground did nothing, still no good. Pulled it today and off to MSD to check it out

. but the only way I can test the coils is to power them up with the box.

Should be a simple matter to test the coils individually using nothing more than 12V power and a 9V battery as a trigger signal.

Try a youtube search, I'll be a dollar someone has posted a video.

Should be hellaciously cheaper than replacing the full set of coils.

Where is it grounded? If it is to a painted surface, that can do it.

Should be a simple matter to test the coils individually using nothing more than 12V power and a 9V battery as a trigger signal.

Try a youtube search, I'll be a dollar someone has posted a video.

Should be hellaciously cheaper than replacing the full set of coils.

I have done a tube search and all the off motor tests have been done with a frequency generator and Osc scope, nothing as simple ass giving power.

Where is it grounded? If it is to a painted surface, that can do it.

It is grounded directly to the battery.

Why size wire?

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q213/WhatsADSM/CoilSwap/ls2_coil_schematic.gif

For an LS2 coil hook terminals A&B to a ground and +12V from the battery to terminals D. Then touch a 9V battery across C+ and ground. That ought to fire the coil.

Probably not a 100% test, the coils could go weak when hit at a high rate, but this will definitely find a dead bad one.

Why size wire?

the wire size from my MSD box to battery is a 10awg wire and the run is about 6 ft.

i finally figured a way to test my coils. here is a video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdjtZ9X2FA8

I ground mine to the block.

my msd block is inside on my dash.
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s233/fizzer46/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_4131.jpg

get a big block Kevin......then you can get out of your own way on the river. lol

If its carbed why not just run a distributor?

Im considering carbing my race car

get a big block Kevin......then you can get out of your own way on the river. lol

Haha the goal will be to run with you if not pass ya

Haha the goal will be to run with you if not pass ya

Wont happen, its getting a freshen up.....you can run with the new boat all day...if it will run haha

Just because I hate to let threads die without solution. The problem with all the misfires ended up being a faulty crank position sensor.

nice to hear ya got it straight....:guns:

guess I should update that it in fact was not the sensor but a broken piston.

guess I should update that it in fact was not the sensor but a broken piston.

yea, that usually is not so great for power making.

Haha but it still started and ran fine for months. It was just a V7

Well, how did it do? Lol

Surprisingly well. It was down on rpm and you could tell something wasn't right but I drove the snot out of it from may through October like that. Still did over 60 mph