Important info regarding MSD Ignitions.

cheatham2492

New member
I put an MSD 6a box on my truck around 2004.Worked fine then I changed some things around in 2006. I put the battery in the back of the ty. I wanted to utilize the ABS circuit for the MSD.Thinking it was a good idea to use the ABS circuit. Any way the car developed a bad case of the knock retard blues.NOT all the time.Some times it would go away under hard acceleration but none the less Knock retard was ALWAYS plaguing me.I changed every thing trying to fix it.Head gaskets,heads,rocker arms,pushrods,new MSD coil,then again a new MSD box,new knock sensor,motor mounts,added a few grounds,etc etc.
My car had recently caught fire from the air filter wire rubbing through the hose and arcing the batt.Any way I had to fix more wiring. I didn't put an big ground to the chassis and my car ran like poo.
So disgusted with it I put it away to come back to it later.

I started working on my Sy installing the BS3. I figured it would be a good idea to read the instructions and Neat little fact in there and It said and I quote-


Important System Wiring/Grounding Notes:
BigStuff3 cannot stress the importance of properly grounding the GEN3 system!! The GEN3 main
wire harness ground cables, and the ignition system ground cable(s), MUST BOTH be
grounded to the same negative post, of the same battery!! Failure to run the ground cables from
both of these systems directly to the battery will cause performance issues and potentially damage
one or both of the electronic systems. No other ground paths/solutions are acceptable!
A common practice is to run a AWG 1 through AWG 4 isolated ground from the battery to a firewall
ground lug, and then run every other electrical system ground to it. This grounding solution will create
ground loop issues!! If the isolated ground lug is only going to be used for the GEN3 and ignition
system, then it will work. The problem with this approach is that with time other systems also end up
being grounded to this lug, which will then cause ground loop issues. To avoid ground loop issues,
and the hours of frustration that come with them, ground the BS3 and MSD systems directly to the
battery!!
Also, do not splice any other ground wires (from other systems/components) into either the MSD or
BS3 ground cables"


SOOOOOO I read that and got out my TYPHOON Book.I looked at the wiring schematics for the ABS and sure as shit.The ABS was grounded to the chassis.
I ripped my ty apart and ran the MSD ground wire directly to the battery. It cleared up All Knock problem's. NO MORE KNOCK RETARD.It was causing a ground loop making noise which the computer translated as KNOCK RETARD!!!!I'm sure a lot of people have done this in the past. If you read the MSD instructions it tells you to go to the battery for both ground and positive.
You must do this even if your battery is in the trunk or bed!
Something so simple caused me 10 years of problems I couldn't figure out…
Hope this helps someone else out there!!
Cheatie
 
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TurboSBC

New member
Re: Important info regarding MSD Ignitions.

Wow! Congrats on getting it fixed. That had to feel incredible when you figured it all out.
 

dgoodhue

BuSTeD 4.3
Re: Important info regarding MSD Ignitions.

Assuming those are BS3 words, they are improperly describing a ground loop. A ground loop is a 2 grounds at different potentials that were designed to be at the same potential. I am sure BS3 technical support has dealt with many ground loops in their customer vehicles and its a lot easier for them to tell everyone ground it at the battery to eliminate any possibility of a ground loop. 'No other ground solutions are acceptable' is an incorrect statement.

Our truck's factory grounding is centered around the battery and engine block. The large negative battery cable goes right to the passenger cylinder head. The ECM and many of the sensors are grounded to the block. The chassis, frame, and front support grounds are much smaller ground this can lead to ground loops, because those grounds are not design for large electrical loads. This is where some people get into problems with ground loops especially when relocating the battery.

I have a MSD and relocated battery under the bed. My MSD is not grounded to the battery and I don't have a knock retard issue. My MSD ground is grounded to short large gauge wire which is connected to the engine block, which all the rest of the ignition components are ground to. If I ran a MSD ground to my relocated battery, my ground path to the common ignition ground (engine block) would be 15' of wire (MSD to battery) 3' of 2 gauge wire (battery to frame), length of my frame, 3' of 4 gauge (frame to engine). IMO long distances and connections (that add resistance and could corrode) are much more likely to cause a ground loop.
 

cheatham2492

New member
Re: Important info regarding MSD Ignitions.

Yes those are BS3 instructions and I'm sure grounding it to the block is fine.But I would take there advice and use its own grounding point don't stack it on the other grounds on the block per there instructions.
Thanks for the info Dave.
Hope this helps.
Cheatie
 
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