Hi I have a problem maby someone here more familiar with electronic ignition can help me out. I've got this 76' Grenada 302 in my 73' Comet and it seems to have a "miss" on excelleration. The plugs, wires, rotor and cap are new, and until I replaced the mufflers with glasspacks I though the transmission was slipping, but now I can actually hear the miss. I have no idea what to do with that little grey box that controls the electronic ignition. An old mechanic here who owns a Maverick, tells me to get a old points ignition and get rid of the box. Is there an after market ignition system that you guys would recommend?
I can't really help with the miss, but I say he's crazy. The Duraspark ignition (the gray box..) is a very good ignition system, as many on this board will attest.
replace a duraspark with points? Jeez, this guy is not crazy, he's friggin nuts!! LOL, seriously, you'll want to take a compression check to see if maybe one cylinder has some valve or ring leakage causing your miss. Normally, when a duraspark quits, it will not run at all. I run a factory duraspark module on the turbo maverick....and we all know that boosted motors need a hot spark to ignite under that much pressure. Works flawlessly.
Duraspark. I hope I don't make any enemies with this advice, but Were I you, I'd install that duraspark ignition box directly in the nearest trash can and replace it with an MSD 6A or 6AL box. The duraspark distributor is a wonderful, reliable, well engineered unit, but the brain for it loves to strand you on the side of the road when none of your buddies are availble to help you out. MSD boxes are relatively cheap, can be installed on just about anything that burns fossil fuel, and are as simple or simpler to install than a factory ignition. If you want something even better than multiple sparks per cycle up to 3000 RPM then long duration spark (20*crank duration), built in chip adjustable rev limiter and extremely easy tach hookup, you can spend about 75-100 more (depending on source) and get the digital six. This one has a two stage rev limiter, 20*start retard for locked out advance, switchable retard (think N2o) and even more reliable precise operation. There are many kinds of hot rod ignitions on the market, I just happen to like MSD stuff the best. They all have big advantages over stock systems like easier starts, better fuel economy, reduced emissions (more spark energy allows bigger plug gaps resulting in higher energy sparks that produce a more complete burn of the air/fuel mixture) and more power. The point is, you can do a lot better than the factory offerings without spending the kids' college fund. It's well worth the money, and it's really easy to install. A 6AL box installed in a Duraspark vehicle only has 8 connections (Battery+, Ground, Ignition+, Two wires to the distributor, the black one isn't used, Coil+, Coil-, Tach.) That's it. Other than that, all you have to do is drill 4 holes.
I recommend staying with the duraspark. You can buy a new one at your local parts store for $20. You can buy a remanufactured distributor for $30. Check the compression like mavman said. If its ok, try another box , then distributor. A 6AL is around $200 now. In the more than 20 years I've had tons of Fords with this system I've only had 1 box go bad.
Ray, All good information, but I 'think' Komet was saying the 'old mechnic' told him to go to a points-style set-up instead of EEC ("box"?). I have the 6AL also (along with a separate nitrous retard) while running my stock EEC. I also have the MSD distributor - that thing is absolutely one of the best purchases I've made for the engine. Great start-ups and excellent throttle response over the stock distributor. Maybe I misunderstood BOTH of you guys and should stay away from the meds for a while. :confused: Rick
I have to agree with not reverting back to the points ignition. That makes no sense. I would also agree with checking compression and if you have an internal problem causing fouling of one clyinder like a valve problem or oil fouling.. You never told us what your plugs look like if you pulled them. It's not beyond the realm of possibility for it to be as simple as a bad plug wire. If they are newer, does not mean that there is not a problem somewhere in one. It's a process of elimination to find the culprit if that's what the problem is. A good rule to follow is to stay simple and work to the more complicated after. Eliminate the most obvious possible causes and move on up the food chain if they don't pan out.
go with the msd. My box has left me on the side of the road than any thing its never been engin truble just the box
I cant believe that the duraspark boxes are failing that often. I've never had one quit on me....even after putting 150,000 miles on my old truck, it never failed me. Not to say they dont, though. A buddy mounted a spare one right next to the factory one, this way if one quits, he just unplugs it, and plugs in the new one. Even this way, its still way cheaper than MSD stuff.
I've had both and think the MSD is better but, the duraspark system is still good. On the maverick and the mustang it was easier to use the MSD than duraspark, on my truck I upgraded to the MSD when I had the money. The duraspark on it worked great and I had no real reason to change other than I wanted to. Points create more head aches. I had a miss once that was the wire to close to the mastercylinder, I moved the wire and it fixed it. One way to check wires is to look at them in total darkness you will be able to see the short.
Thanks for the input guys! I really appreciate it. Ol Stan has some odd ideas when it comes to electronic work, he claims the duraspark box kept blowing up on him all the time, and had to replace it 3 to 4 times. There was probably a "Reason" for this happening, but he just replaced it with an old points unit and that was that.
Ford had a problem with the horse shoe clamp that went around the coil if your still has it replace it they ark across and cut out had the same problem
Got to pin down the problem before deciding to make major change. If this is a stock engine you don't need an MSD just to fix the problem. I have run the Dura Spark setup with out a problem. I have also seen MSD , Crane and Excel equipment fail. They have nothing over the Dura Spark as far as reliability goes. Hell, even NASCAR cars have box failures on the track and they use better boxes than we do. As far as the old mechanic, he just never quite got up to the new world, same as those who havn't gotten beyond the carburator yet.
