MSD 6AL digital unit ?

[383man]

Who has run the MSD digital 6AL box ? I just got one for a good price and I plan to finally put MSD on my 63. I myself have not heard good or bad about the MSD digital units so I am curious who has used them and do they have any problems with them compared to the analog units ? Everyone I know with MSD seem to have the analog units. Thanks , Ron

 

[LemonWedge]

I used to run a digital 6-plus box. It was fine for about 10 years; but went out on me last year pulling out of the water box in rd. 3 of a points race. Put me on the trailer. I replaced it with a 6AL-2 box, and it’s just fine. Frankly, I think that return on investment wise, these things would be at the bottom of my priority list. You may notice your car might start easier, other than that..... ???. The most useful aspects of them for me is the 2-step and rev-limiter.

 

[Mike Gaines]

I ran a 6AL Analog box on my Coronet for 3 years with no problems....It had been on the car for 3 years before I bought the car so it was a total of 6 years old...no problems at all. I had a MSD Pro Billet Distributor that was on the motor when I bought the car. The inside of the distributor was really corroded. I send it back to MSD and they completely rebuilt it to LIKE NEW condition for $92...that was over 3 years ago now. I called the other day and they said the current price for this service is now $130 but worth every penny of it to get back a distributor that you cannot tell from brand new.
I had a "3-STEP" plugged into the box, not a " 2-step". The 3-step box allowed me to plug in 3 chips....a 5000 chip for the water box, a 3500 chip for the transbrake launch and then a 7000 chip for top end protection.

 

[33 IMP]

I have heard (stress, heard) that rf interferance is very possible. Wire routing of power wires ,and spark plug leads is critical with the digital 6, not nearly as important with the analog 6.

 

[Budnicks]

Going on recollection/memory, don't shot me...

Isn't the digital boxes, can be programmable/accessible ?
wasn't that the up-sale, reason to go digital ? vs analog

I maybe thinking of the higher end stuff, excuse me IF I'm wrong

I don't remember, I guess I could have looked it up,
like the OP could

I haven't run any MSD 6 of any kind, for quite some time
(any of the 6's are more street-able, more than the 7's - 8's allegedly,
IIRC it was less coil failure, from constant usage, electronics getting too hot etc.)

all my racecars were 7's or 8's of some sort or their magnetos
& when I used ignition boxes, they were in the cabin of the car,
rubber mounted for vibration/isulation control
& not in the engine bays "ever", so they don't get 'heat soak'
that can kill electronics of any kind...

everything was powered up thru 30-40amp Bosche relays,
so no power spikes too

 

[Dan64]

No personal experience with one but have heard of some that had problems with rev limiters coming on earlier that they were set at or something like that , can't remember exactly, just something i heard.

 

[coloradodave]

I have a lot of personal experience with MSD products since their inception over 45 years ago. Had them on street cars and race cars. CD boxes, coils, distributors and wires. I've never had a failure. I currently use an MSD 6AL box on my street car. It works as intended and I don't have the need for anything with more bells and whistles. Fast starting, even idle & clean plugs. Being honest, the only change I would like to see would be in using materials inside their distributors that resist corrosion better; that being said, it's not a big deal to clean it up with a 3M scratch pad and WD-40 now and then. Easier than changing points...lol.

 

[myk r sanchez]

I bought an MSD6AL analog box in 1995, mounted it, and I've run it in the Charger since then. I want to replace it, because I figure after twenty years I'm on borrowed time with it, but I hear the digital boxes aren't as reliable as the analog ones. Oh what to do, what to do...

 

[33 IMP]

I've got a couple analog 6al, that are almost as reliable as the 20 year old Mallory box in my plymouth. It would be nice to have the built-in bells and whistles of the digital box, but I have also heard the analogs are much more reliable.

 

[Dodge 330]

My experience with the new digital boxes has been less than stellar. I went to install one on a roadrunner for a friend about a year ago and we couldn't get any spark at low RPMs. Did everything the helpline at MSD hold us to do even switching the pickup wires and still had the problem. Of course tech support blamed it on the Mopar magnetic pickup distributor. My friend bought an analog 6AL off of eBay and everything worked perfectly! A local Race shop has had problems with the small block Ford MSD ready to run distributors. I guess they are 0 for 3 in getting them to work properly. I'm a big fan of their older analog stuff but their new made in China digital stuff is crap!

 

[Budnicks]

almost everyone I know
that has run MSD stuff, has had failures of some sort
old & new, distr., boxes, chips, caps wires rotors, controllers, mags, diagnostics etc.

I had decent luck with their stuff
I've had a couple boxes die (it's electronics, **** happens)
1 was made good, they (MSD)
after talking to an engineer/tech guy for an hr
told him how it was wired & where it was mounted,
then only then, begrudgingly, they agreed & actually replaced it


the other MSD box total failure I had
they said basically f-u it's your problem, not our problem
so I went back to Summit Racing where I bought it from,
talked to a supervisor, told them what MSD said & did
they (Summit Racing) made it good, then they went back & dealt with them...

I've had multiple Super-mags take a **** too

I've had several rebuilt/refurbished over the years too

they are far from being infallible or perfect record
with anyone I know

My experience with the new digital boxes has been less than stellar. I went to install one on a roadrunner for a friend about a year ago and we couldn't get any spark at low RPMs. Did everything the helpline at MSD hold us to do even switching the pickup wires and still had the problem. Of course tech support blamed it on the Mopar magnetic pickup distributor. My friend bought an analog 6AL off of eBay and everything worked perfectly! A local Race shop has had problems with the small block Ford MSD ready to run distributors. I guess they are 0 for 3 in getting them to work properly. I'm a big fan of their older analog stuff but their new made in China digital stuff is crap!

 

[33 IMP]

The Mallory box (all ten pounds of it) and matching coil in my plymouth are remans that I bought from SuperShops. Those of us in california old enough to remember them know they have been gone a while. I did a wiki check, supershops closed in '98.
The reman Mallory 250 fuel pump is still going strong too.
I 'll take dependable old analog, thanks.

 

[383man]

Thanks for all the replies. Myself I have run MSD analog boxes on my sons cars and put them on many friends cars and all work great. I just don't know anyone who has run the digital boxes. I plan to put it on my 63 but I will leave the MP ECU on the car so if it does give me any trouble I can always hook my orange MP unit back up that has been working flawless on my 63 since I put it on in 2006. Ron