I have an MSD 6T box. I am using Autolite 33 plugs and this distributor. Hoping someone knows what it is. Its a magnetic induction pick up type distributor with no vacuum advance. Also, MSD recomends 5-10 thousndths over for gapping. the motor is a little hot. what should it be gapped at?? thanks.
Looks like an EEC-5 dist.I assume you mean the gap between the pickup and the reluctor?I should think MSDs recommendation is a good one,follow it and see how it runs.Does the car run poorly??
No, I ment the spark plug gaps, They were at like .020 I was thinking it should be a much bigger gap. ECC-5? What is that from? no vacuum advance? yeah, all of a sudden started backfiring under throttle, and indling a little rough. I cant drive around a car thats popping. So I checked the plugs first, and just wondering what gap would more appropriate.
The plug gap from the factory is .035" but I have found that you have better power and plug wire life if you gap the plugs as small as you can without affecting the idle quality. I gap mine at .028" because it doesn't affect the idle and the voltage requirement for a small gap is less than for a wide gap. Lower voltage meens a hotter (more amperage) spark. Plug wires don't wear out or start shorting as quickly as they do with wide gaps. There are reasons for wide gaps, like firing a lean mixture, smooth idle with lean mixture, and when you want to do a lot of low rpm running. When you have proper (chemically) mixtures, run at higher pressures (high rpm or higher compression ratios then you can keep the gap smaller. The big advantage is that at higher rpm with high compression ratios the small gap leaves enough ignition reserve to fire the plugs when the engine compression and speed (rpm) raises the voltage requirement to fire your plugs. Most ignition systems have enough reserve power to fire the plugs at higher rpms and with 10 to 1 compression ratio but when the voltage requirement goes up the wires begin to break down and as they age the power to fire your plugs gets waisted on the leakage through the wires. Gap them as small as you can and still have a smooth idle. Somewhere between .025" and .030" is where you will find your best gap.
EEC-5 is from mid 90s' fords.No vacuum advance becuase the computer did the work.The distributor simply directed spark and told cam position to the computer.You pulled your plugs yet? what did they look like??Wet,sooty,grey ash,brown,black as coal.clean and shiny????Plug condition can tell you alot about how your tune is and condition of your engine.With an MSD box I would think a large plug gap 40 to 50 thousanths should be a walk in the park for your set up.Are those Taylor wires your running??? If so they can handle the load no prob.As far as longevity is concerned.Welcome to the world of high performance.Oh by the by,If you are running less than 10:1 compression,a small gap will give you negligible performance gains.Pauls response is correct but if you are using high quality ignition components you should not have a longevity problem,Unless you are doing alot of racing.Street use wont kill those parts rapidly.Race use,well as I said before.Welcome to the world of high performance.Hope all this stuff doesnt make your head spin.Have fun.
Duraspark Is the EEC-5 the same as the Ford Duraspark? I bought a #8482 MSD cap and rotor and the cap looks good, and the rotor doesnt fit... Application was stock ford Bronco, 84-96 or Mustang LX 85-93. The application did not specify Duraspark. Now I am looking at the #8450. cap looks the same, rotor looks right too. Application simply says ford V-8 Duraspark distributor.
Backfiring under throttle and the Idle being a little rough I can almost bet you that you need to change your fuel filter. Check that first, I bet that is your problem, if it isn't then start checking ignition components and start with the coil. then wires, then cap and rotor, the plugs, then the distributor its self. I have a 1968 Galaxy that sat for a couple years before I got it and the bad gas and trash that settled in the bottom of the tank would clog the fuel filter about once a month and, It would pop and breakdown under acceleration and it also idled a little rough. In fact if popped and backfired so bad because of the clogged filter that it openned up 2 stock mufflers like someone put a cherry bomb in them. I started out checking the ignition parts FIRST and it drove me crazy until I had replaced them all and it was still popping and running like ****, and someone said "what about the gas" Is it getting enough fuel? I started checking lines and when I pulled the line off at the carb and had someone turn the engine over and the fuel just barely trickled out on the side after the filter but with the filter removed it pumped like a fire hose
Sorry, I should have mentioned that its running great now. I regapped to .040" and cleaned up the plugs. One of the wires may not have been clicked in propperly. It definately wasnt the fuel because I have a big Fram canister filter out back and an electric fuel pump with a gauge after it by the carb. The cap looked a little ****ty though. At this point I 'm really just trying to learn about the distributor that I have. I would say its a Duraspark, but all of the Duraspark distributors I have seen have the vacuum advance.
Fish Where is your timing set ? What is your total advance ? I would think you would need a vaccum advance distribuator with mechical advance an vaccum advance with a carbuator . Most of the time I set timing with total advance 34 to 38 degs. at 2400 rpms. just my .02cts. tks jay
I am gonna have to disagree with that. I am only gonna need vacuum advance if I want to get better gas mileage. Its strictly an economy device. The vacuum advance has nothing to do with performance. I havent checked my timing yet, as it is running good right now. Ill let you know where i'm at when I check it. Still looking to learn the differance between EEC-5 and Duraspark distributors ~Brian
