ignition

i want to redo my ignition with all MSD products. ignition, coil, and distributer cap.

what are the advantages of having these parts? how easy to install? and what will it do to my car? and do i need anything in addition to what i said?

also, one ignition comes with an adjustable rev limiter.. does that mean i can adjust my rev limit? i thought that was the ecu's job?

by the way, my HELMs came today! very excited to see thousands of pages!!! well maybe 500 or 600.. but yay for helms!!!

thanks

I was actually thinking about gettin MSD ignition, blaster coil, cap etc also, and people have told me it does alot. But I dunno.

unless your running boost or have a pre existing ignition problem an msd will not yield any noticable results. it may improve throttle response because of its capacitive discharge over 20 degrees of rotation below 3000 rpm. if your getting the cap, coil, and box you might as well get new wires while your at it. i nhear msd wires blow, might wanna check out magnecor. as for installation its fairly straight forward with basic wiring and since you have a helms it will be considerably easier. as for the rev limit option yes the ecu controls it but the msd gives you the option of lowering it so you never hit the factory rev limit. worthless in my opinion unless you bounce it off the ceiling all the time.

yea.. it will be my next purchase. as soon as i find out how cool the stuff is. ;)

some girl asked me if i had an msd ignition setup in my car... i was pretty amazed she asked me, and i was also sad to say no. felt like i was missing something.

hehe

i have magnecor 8.5 mm wire in now, and they look great.. havn't noticed any difference, and i hear that alot though.

will all those msd parts improve gas milage? make it worse? and i don't think my throttle can get anymore responsive than it is.. lol

Originally posted by j.fuggi
i have magnecor 8.5 mm wire in now, and they look great.. havn't noticed any difference, and i hear that alot though.

will all those msd parts improve gas milage? make it worse? and i don't think my throttle can get anymore responsive than it is.. lol

wires alone will do nothing unless you are swapping in new ones for ones that are dead. they are simply a means of transfering energy not producing it.

and also you brought up gas mileage, good show, yes you may see a slight improvment in gas mileage.

neato.... :) the 150-200 miles for a tank isn't cutting it! especially since i use 93octane... i need to stay out of the VTEC range while i'm just out and about and not in a hurry.. its just so damn addictive!

but its a civic? wheres the economy????? my girl gets like 300 miles to the tank in her 97 lx

haha i paid $85 for the magnecor wires in my old civic and ABSOLUTELY NO RESULT other than being able to tell people my plug wires alone cost $85 so they think everything else in my motor is super expensive. "i like naked girls" is right, unless something is wrong with your stock ignition or u are running forced induction (nitrous, turbo, super) or very high compression ignition upgrades withh do nothing for your performance. the purpose of a product such as msd ignition is to increase the power of the spark, if a cylinders compression chamber has too much pressure due to high compression, nitrous, or extra air being forced in (turbo or super) the stock ignition may not be powerful enough. if the ignition is not powerful enough the spark on your spark plug will not have enough power to jump across the gap on the plug. closing the gap will make the spark more likely to make the jump, but a closer gap reduces the amount of time the spark is exposed to your fuel mixture, thereby reducing the chances of the fuel being ignited. an aftermarket ignition will (should) give the spark enough power to be able to jump across the gap while still running a wide enough gap to ensure proper ignition of the fuel. however if your motor is still stock or close to it (such as headers, intake, exhaust, little things like that) then your stock ignition was designed to be powerful enough to handle it. unless of course something is wrong with your stock igniton, but replacing it with another, cheaper stock ignition will have the same effect as replacing it with an aftermarket unit.

Originally posted by j.fuggi
neato.... :) the 150-200 miles for a tank isn't cutting it! especially since i use 93octane... i need to stay out of the VTEC range while i'm just out and about and not in a hurry.. its just so damn addictive!

but its a civic? wheres the economy????? my girl gets like 300 miles to the tank in her 97 lx


first off why are you using 93 octane gas?

and second are you sure you dont have a fuel system problem, 150-200 miles a tank seems awefully low for a civic.

well i like 93, and i was told it's a better choice... i do have quite a bit of mods to my car... engine mods are as follows... something here could affect it? no?

Engine
Port & Polished
AEM Cold Air Intake
GReddy Stainless Steel Cat-Back Exhaust
GReddy 4-2-1 Stainless Steel Header
Clutchmasters Stage 4 Racing Clutch
Neuspeed Short Throw Shifter
Stillen Fuel Pressure Regulator maybe this?
Nuformz Block Guard
AEM Adjustable Cam Gear
AEM Underdrive Pulleys
Magnecor 8.5mm Ignition Wires
5500rpm shifts ;)

what kind of fuel problem? what should i look for?

i should say 150 to 200 miles to 3/4 tank... i don't know if my gas light works or not, and i really don't want to find out... so i don't usually go under 3/4 tank empty.. but when i drive slower, on some days, i notice maybe 215 - 220 mpt.. but i dunno.

heres a good link about octane that should show you why it should be matched to your engine.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/question90.htm

the octane rating basically shows how much the fuel can be compressed before it blows up itself without the aid of a spark plug.
so basically if your not running high compression, either static or dynamic then high octane is useless. its a means of controling detonation.

also you might wanna check the pressure in your fuel system you might have it to high which could be the reason for your shitty mileage, not to mention those 5500 rpm shifts arent all that good either. who knows it could be nothing!! but the mileage just seems a bit low.

well after a drive, my stillen fuel pressure regulator reads 40psi. 20psi at idle i believe but i may be wrong and when i mash the throttle i see 60psi jumps. any help would be.. well helpful

and i mean.. 5500rpms is kinda hard to stay away from. i love passing car. i dont car what kind, but i love doing it with a GREDDY fashioned scream!

but i dunno if its me, or if its a fact, but i seemed to notice a slight performance difference when i used 87 octane compared to 93. but it might just be me and my lack of senses.

Looking at your mods, unless you're running nitrous in massive quatities, the block gaurd isn't neccesary and you need to get an A/F gauge. It should tell you, in tandem with what pressure you're supposed to have the FPR set at, if your mixture is a little on the rich side. A rich mixture could screw up a lot of things like your $150 O2 sensor. And I'd be running 89 octane. Even 87 would probably be fine. UNLESS you've screwed around with your ignition timing and cam timing to the point where you'll start knocking without 93, I don't see anything where your compression has been raised enough to need 93. The unneccesary high octance might even leave more deposited in your engine. I'd say the "performance" increase you feel with 93 is your butt dyno ;)

ok thanks.. is there any way i can tell if i'm running rich without getting a guage? i plan to get one, but i can't find the autometer pod i like. i want a pod that doesnt mount on the full pillar, but is gray to match my pillar.. not black.

uhm.. would all the black carbon 'soot' on my back bumper be from running 93?

Well you've probably noticed that when you shift at like 7000-8000 rpm, there's a temporary small cloud of black smoke coming from your exhaust? That's the ECU's way of protecting the engine from damage at high rpms. It makes the ratio on the extreme rich to "buffer" the combustions. That's a good way of seeing how your ratio is, how black is the smoke? And the black soot on your bumper is probably more caused by the rich mixture but the 93 could have something to do with it as well.

that black carbon soot is likely unburned fuel, your mixture is prob too rich, try using less octane gas and if it doesnt knock, youre fine, if it does knock, i guess keep using 93?

I'd say if it does still knock because you've screwed with timing, reverse your timing until it stops.

well i've only gone past redline once.. and i hit somewhere around 8000rpm and that was when i missed 3rd. but i never noticed any smoke. i must be running rich because of my fuel pressure regulator. i never noticed knocking before when i used to use 87, but i was advised 93 is better for the motor.. i think i'm going to go with 89 from now on.. someone once said that it's probably unburned fuel on my back bumper. i believe it. 89 it is and i'll let you know how that goes.

i plan to get an a/f guage soon, but i gotta get my pod first, and i want to grab myself oil pressure guage too.

and i have another question about some guage issues.. check my new thread...