1970 510 Ignition

[SE 510]

I have a 510 Track car with L-18  I am having issues with the ignition at times I lose the spark. I am replacing the system with an MSD 6AL I have a Datsun Breakless distributor that has electric ignition in it and a module mounted on the side. I'm told by MSD that I need to connect the MSD system to the module but I think that is my issue. do I need to replace the distributor with another type of distributor?

 

Thank you

Steve

[banzai510(hainz)]

photos will help.

I assume its a matchbox distributor with the black module that has a c and a B written on there.

Now if that has a proplem I assume the MSD will not fix this. But Im not a MSD experts maybe it works enought to use as a trigger for the MSD.

 

MSD goes to one spark after 3 k anyways what I read.

[bilzbobaggins]

Had this problem.  Was a break in one of the wires from the coil to the distributor.  Could not see it. That was my solution.  

[datzenmike]

MSD is so over rated. Nothing wrong with the Datsun EI distributors.

 

Lose spark? like the car stops or the spark breaks up at high RPMs????

 

Check that the distributor is well grounded to the engine. Some EIs have a dedicated ground lug on them.

 

 

Breaks up...

The EI has a very high output so it will look for the shortest/easiest path to ground. To make the spark plug the easiest path to ground make the rest of the system harder by replacing rotor and cap with quality ones or at least inspect that they are not damaged, cracked or carbon tracked. Carbon tracking is a weak area where the dielectric has broken down and the spark has arced along the surface leaving the appearance of a crack and making it easier to arc again. Check also the top of the coil for arcing to the negative terminal and the porcelain on the spark plugs themselves. Avoid NGK plugs bought from Amazon, there are a lot of counterfeit ones out there. Wires are a lot harder to evaluate. If they look bad then they are, other wise replace regularly and with NGK. Use dielectric grease on the plug tips before pushing the plug wire on. 

 

Stops completely

Could be heat related to the coil or the module. To test the coil, with ignition on, touch a grounded wire to the negative side of the coil briefly. When removed the coil should spark. The module, you can pour ice water on it. Replace either one that is at fault or just shoot from the hip and replace both right now. Spares are good to have. If you balk at paying $300 for a new EI module from Nissan or the questionable ones from China, consider converting your system and replacing it with an HEI from an old GM distributor. It's cheap and effective. Make sure it is well grounded.

 

 

(just ignore the 1.6 ohm coil should be a 0.75-1.0 ohm)

(ignore non matchbox, this will also work on the matchbox)

 

[Dguy210]

2 hours ago, bilzbobaggins said:

Had this problem.  Was a break in one of the wires from the coil to the distributor.  Could not see it. That was my solution.  

Lol, I had a similar intermittently losing spark problem at one time, was one of the smaller wires to the distributor itself making a bad connection. Just ended up needing a new connector.

[SE 510]

Thank you, All

 

I will do some checking and see what I find.