Ignition Review

[Addict]

Just thought I’d share my experience with all of you on my recent ignition upgrade. I am not a technical writer, but I’ll give this a shot.

Equipment
MSD 6AL $172.95
www.summitracing.com
NGK Wires $57.50
www.coximport.com
MSD Blaster 3 Coil $31.95
www.summitracing.com
MSD Pro Cap Distributor Cap $29.95
www.summitracing.com
Coil Bracket $5.95
www.summitracing.com
TOTAL $298.30

The Vehicle
2000 Civic Si
see signature for mods…

The installation is pretty straight forward. I do recommend that you have Helms manual or some sort of reference just in case. The hardest part of the entire installation was finding a spot to mount the 6AL itself. The box is a mammoth. I finally decided to mount it in the cabin. Its mounted on the passengers side firewall. Its out of sight & out of kicking distance (thanks again GSRwBOOST for the idea). The installation shouldn’t take more than about 2 hours. Time for the test.

After letting the car warm up, I noticed that it idles very smoothly. Another thing you will notice (depending on your mounting place) is that the ignition makes a ticking noise. At first this really annoyed me, but I eventually got used to it. Now I even listen to it as I rev the engine (it gets faster the higher the RPMs go). As I rolled out on to the street, everything seemed the same as before. “Oh great. Another worthless mod.” So I took it to the highway.

My opinion changed. The car accelerated very smoothly. The gear transitions were very fluid (this was done prior to my short shifter & bushings). Though no drivetrain upgrades were done, there was a noticeable difference between shifts.

I decided to test the built in Soft Touch Rev Limiter feature next. I used the 8000 RPM module. The 2000 Si redlines at 8200 RPM. The difference between the Soft touch Rev Limiter & your existing rev limiter is that your existing rev limiter is a fuel cut off while this is spark based. Meaning that rather than choke your engine but stopping fuel flow, it alternates cylinder firing. Much safer than fuel cut off (especially with forced induction or nitrous). Let’s just say you will definitely know when you hit this. A rather horrid sound comes from your engine.

Gas mileage. All I have to is wow. I am very amazed that it improved my gas mileage. MSD does state that it does increase the gas mileage, but how times can we believe the manufacturers on this claim? This time we can. My average miles per gallon went from 22 to 29. A seven mile per gallon increase. I am not a grandma driver either. My right foot is made of solid lead (my traffic record backs me up on this one).

Overall I would have to say that this is a very worthwhile purchase. As far as power gains go, there are little if any to be gained from this. So if you’re looking for a power mod, this isn’t it. This is definitely a smart purchase if you are running nitrous or forced induction. So do I think its worth the $300? Most definitely.

If anyone has a questions, let me know. Hopefully someone will get some use of this.

**********EDIT
Pictures of the ignition



More available at http://www.siscom.net/~jdoles

[94_AcCoRd_EX]

Thanks for the review Civic_Addict. It answered a couple of questions I had.

Edit: The pictures look great too

[ebpda9]

thanks for the info. what ignition should go in my accord. it kind of sucks on gas mileage ~20mpg and a rough idle. So far i have the NGK wires and the YEK cap and rotor (did u hear of yec ?)

[Addict]

Originally posted by hondaman-iac
thanks for the info. what ignition should go in my accord. it kind of sucks on gas mileage ~20mpg and a rough idle. So far i have the NGK wires and the YEK cap and rotor (did u hear of yec ?)

I would suggest the MSD 6A. You don't need the rev limiter unless you plan of FI or nitrous. As far as coils go, you could use the Blaster SS Coil. You will actually pay a little more for that than the Blaster 3 coil. The advantage of teh SS is that its easier to find a place to mount it. The Blaster 3 is very tall.

MSD also has a SCI version. I can't find any differences between this & the 6A except that the 6A can handle more voltage.

And no, I've heard of Yek. If you add an external coil, you'll have to change/modify the cap.

[ebpda9]

actually my car has an external coil ( the one with 5 wires) my problem will be modifing the coil harness. i have 4 wires going into the coil and only one going out to the dist cap. What did u hear of yec ? are they any good ?

for f/i type engines, get the MSD6BTM. retards timing for every pound of boost.

[Addict]

Originally posted by hondaman-iac
actually my car has an external coil ( the one with 5 wires) my problem will be modifing the coil harness. i have 4 wires going into the coil and only one going out to the dist cap. What did u hear of yec ? are they any good ?

If you replace the coil, two of the wires goto the MSD ignition unit & two will goto the new coil. The single wire will goto the top of the coil.

Sorry I had a typo. I hadn't heard of Yec is what I meant to type.

[Addict]

Originally posted by Mr Sleeper
for f/i type engines, get the MSD6BTM. retards timing for every pound of boost.

I believe you can add the BTM module. I don't have my MSD book in front of me though. But yeah the BTM is definately a good choice for FI applications.

[Addict]

Just checked. You can add the BTM to the MSD ignitions (PN 8762).

[ebpda9]

i'm NA

How about just getting a little better driveablility out of my car...quicker starting and better mpg? I wouldn't have to add the Ignition control unit would I? Just need the Blaster SS or 3 and the MSD Distributor Cap?

[Addict]

Originally posted by Triggedy
How about just getting a little better driveablility out of my car...quicker starting and better mpg? I wouldn't have to add the Ignition control unit would I? Just need the Blaster SS or 3 and the MSD Distributor Cap?

Yes you do. The ignition unit is resposible for make multiple sparks rather than one long spark. That's what affects mileage & starts. the coil allows for a more powerful version. Honda coils are fairly weak to start with anyhow.

[Addict]

Just an update. Here's my MPG for my last 3 fillups.
28 MPG
29 MPG
26 MPG

Average of 27.6 MPG.

Considering I have a very heavy foot this is pretty good. My previous MPG was 22. That's about a 15% increase. Not too shabby....

[ebpda9]

Originally posted by Civic_Addict


Yes you do. The ignition unit is resposible for make multiple sparks rather than one long spark. That's what affects mileage & starts. the coil allows for a more powerful version. Honda coils are fairly weak to start with anyhow.

what do u mean with multiple sparks ? i don't get it at all. once the rotor is not connected to that carbon thingie in the cap you can't have anymore sparks. how does it work ?

[Addict]

Originally posted by hondaman-iac

what do u mean with multiple sparks ? i don't get it at all. once the rotor is not connected to that carbon thingie in the cap you can't have anymore sparks. how does it work ?

It sends the multiple sparks when the rotor rotates over teh contact point. Yes in that short of period of time.

[ebpda9]

ok thanks for clearing this up for me. Does a stcok car hgave a ignition box or something like that ? i couldn't see any on mine, except the coil and the distribuitor with all it's parts

[Addict]

Originally posted by hondaman-iac
ok thanks for clearing this up for me. Does a stcok car hgave a ignition box or something like that ? i couldn't see any on mine, except the [u]coil and the distribuitor[u/] with all it's parts

Yes they do. The "parts" in the distributor do what the MSD ignition units do (of course much less effectively).

[ebpda9]

looking at the rotor inside the distribuitor the contact area seems to be fairly large like 60 degrees of a circle or something like that, so i think the multiple spark thing will work.

did u get a chance to get some pictures of the inside of a distributor ?