Trying to resolve a persistent ignition control issues with my car. On my original 350 I tried to run an MSD 6 digital plus. It ran great for several months then one day while driving it completely died, instantly. Troubleshot and couldn't get the box to cooperate so assumed the box was bad. I bought another identical but with same result. Fought it for some time then gave up and threw it back to stock. Now, I am trying to get the car to work with an MSD 6010 (LS1 controller). I'm having similar issues, the box acts like it is bad and troubleshooting steps don't lead to anything definitive. The one thing I haven't done is replace the battery ground cable. My thought has been that if it cranks, and all the electrics work then the ground should be good. Now being at my wits end with my 3rd box I'm starting to doubt the basics. Does anyone know or have had any issues with the stock corvette grounding setup, MSD insists you ground the battery straight to the block, and the vette obviously grounds to the frame. On the previous boxes I ran a heavy ground from the frame to the block as a test with no effect but admit I haven't tried it with this new box. I'm considering just getting some bulk 0 guage wire and ditching the factory ground and running a new one to the block. Does anyone have more advice before I try this? I get 12v to the box so until now I've never considered my history of issues to be as basic as a + - thing but I don't know what else to do. Thanks as always.

 

I had problems with the digital box also.It seemed to not like to read my hei pickup coil.I also had a bad box once.Then I switched to a different brand and installed it inside the car not near the engine.It lasted 8 months and then it failed.2 msds and one mallory all digital boxes.At that point I went right to a custom hei distributor and never looked back. I am in the Automotive field and I am ASE certified in electrical.I tell you this because I want you to know that there were no installation errors.Good luck,have you used there trouble shooting aids by msd?They can tell you usually where the problem lies.run a direct ground from the battery to the box as a tester if you doubt your ground.

 

What distributer are you running and how are you getting the signal to the box. The grounding issue is not the problem. I ran mine for years with the battery ground cable done to the frame. A cable from the frame to the block just like stock. I ran the ground for the box to the bellhousing bolt. Never an issue.

 

To clarify, this is now the LS1 controller I'm trying to get working, previously it was the digital 6 (well two of them). I suspect a common issue due to the similarites in the install and function of the boxes, both control boxes etc but may be a false assumption. I did not try running power and ground straight to the battery but I guess that should rule the ground out. I made the mistake of doing my final wiring before the car was running- soldered, shrink wrapped, loomed, and zip tied everything. I admit this made for some lazy troubleshooting today as I didn't want rip everything apart. Tomorrow I'll do what I need to get it running and make it pretty again once everything gets loud. I've done many ignition box installs and am handy with a multimeter so am frustrated something I should feel comfortable with is giving me so much grief.

 

And how is all this better than the stock setup? You could always go "back" to the stock setup, if you want to get out from under all this hassle. The old stock setup sure must have been better than what you've been dealing with more recently.

Heck, I'm running Mallory dual points on my 540, and it made just under 800 hp on the dyno with those points. Yeah, its old school, but it still works perfectly too.

 

Again, to clarify this ignition box is an LS1 controller. Returning to stock involves undoing a motor swap so not exactly gonna do that. Previously on the stock 350 I did jsut that, I said the heck with the box and went back to an upgraded HEI and life went on. Not really an option now, no ignition box no run. I'm not assuming this is an LS specific issue yet, the ignition box carb swap for the LS1 gets that normalley complex setup down to as basic a scenario as a normal box install. I've tested the 2 sensors (crank and cam) it uses and both test OK, other than those two connections it's switched 12v, and ground, the other connection is a weatherpack connection to the coils. I know you may be thinking I should have posted this in the LS swap thread but the thread started out concerning my question about the ground situation and an ignition box.

 

Ground problems are common with our cars. If that doesn't get it, most ignition box mfrs (including MSD) suggest short power leads from battery to box. If you extended the power leads did you maintain/upgrade the wire gauge.

 

I used a 16 or 18 guage wire to the fuse block. Also verified I had 12v with key on and while cranking. Also used same wire straight back to the battery, also ran ground and power straight back to battery just now with no change. I know a weak battery can cause issues, but if I'm able to crank the motor with ease I assume the battery still has enough to power the box. I'm gonna throw a charge on it tomorrow just in case.

 

I don't think weak battery is your problem. I went through similar problems - shipped box back to MSD, wired directly to the battery, etc. Turns out mine was the box but they were very specific about wiring it directly to the battery. I see that you have tried that with no luck so I'm struggling a bit for something else that would cause this. I think I used 12 gauge wire from the battery + and - to the box because of the longer length of travel, MSD recommended I do this too.

Could it be the coil(s)?

 

I'm gonna call their tech line shortly. Coils is possible I guess but I thought it unlikely I have 8 bad coils though they are used. The MSD branded box has all these great troubleshooting tools with the software, while the Edelbrock branded box is stripped down of all these features, those would come in handy right now. I'm gonna try grounding the block better, then grounding the heads to the block. I don't see this helping but their techs on their web forum insists this can be needed. There was also a mention on the tech forum about checking the date code, that some early boxes had trouble starting the motor under slow cranking or with "radical" engines. Not sure if mine qualifies as "radical" but it is definitely hotter than stock.

 

they also sell a shielded wiring harness connector, sometimes that alone does the trick....

 

Problem "solved" . Worked with Edelbrock tech line, I need a firmware update! I have to ship it to them and wait 15 business days. The first batch of controllers wouldn't fire the motor unless cranking rpms were over 250rpm. That was their reference to "radical" engines could have issues. Mine is 11:1 with a stock starter and it won't crank that fast. They told me to pull all the spark plugs out and crank it and I got spark right away once the compression was removed and it would crank fast! This is good news I guess? Although I guess I won't be crusing my car this weekend like I hoped. I'll have to place a summit order for some other project to keep me occupied while I wait. I'm so close this sucks!