View Poll Results: Is MSD worth it??
H3ll yeah! $500 plus for Multiple Spark Discharge is keen!
1
25.00%
Not so much! I'll spend that cream on anything else!
3
75.00%
Voters: 4. You may not vote on this poll
Hesitation fixed! kinda...
11-18-2012, 12:21 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Hesitation fixed! kinda...
Greetings,
I have been experiencing terrible driving experiences with my '95. It would stumble uphills and miss once a minute at cruse. Since I purchased the truck in 2011 it has had several problems. The one I didn't notice on the test drive was the speedometer's erratic behavior. At highway speeds it would jump +- 20MPH.
I read here this could be several things. I changed the VSS, and cleaned and refilled the rear end. I though the next step was the wires leading from the VSS to the ECU. Though I didn't see any frays or cuts.
I was tired of troubleshooting by replacing parts and wasting money. I would let the pros handle this diagnostic. I took it to Apple Ford in Colombia, MD. The tech there spent his whole Saturday going through my truck. He found several issues that have each been plaguing my truck, and driving me bonkers.
1st - The Speedometer was shot. These speedos have chips on the back that helps calculate speed for the ECU. I believe this was addressed in the past since the cluster shroud was never installed right. The transparent plastic that covers the cluster was broken at the screw mounts. So who knows how many actual miles are on this thing! (reads 256k)
2nd - Distributor is misfitting. This causes the stumbling up hills and general sloppiness of the ride. Also he said the 7 and 8 wires were too close together and causing a miss or detonation.
3rd - Rear end out of specification. This causes some play when starting and stopping.
4th - Leaking water pump. I knew about this.
5th - Leaking exhaust manifold gasket. I knew about this as well.
I started by replacing the speedometer from a junkyard unit. I tried 2 and one works okay, but the mileage doesn't display all the segments, so it is impossible to read. It does jump around at highway speeds. Though only +- 5MPH.
Bonus question: What is the best Distributor to get for these? I don't mind doing the whole ignition system. Should I get MSD? I didn't see any kits for our trucks, and I searched a metric tonne.
Thanks for reading!
I have been experiencing terrible driving experiences with my '95. It would stumble uphills and miss once a minute at cruse. Since I purchased the truck in 2011 it has had several problems. The one I didn't notice on the test drive was the speedometer's erratic behavior. At highway speeds it would jump +- 20MPH.
I read here this could be several things. I changed the VSS, and cleaned and refilled the rear end. I though the next step was the wires leading from the VSS to the ECU. Though I didn't see any frays or cuts.
I was tired of troubleshooting by replacing parts and wasting money. I would let the pros handle this diagnostic. I took it to Apple Ford in Colombia, MD. The tech there spent his whole Saturday going through my truck. He found several issues that have each been plaguing my truck, and driving me bonkers.
1st - The Speedometer was shot. These speedos have chips on the back that helps calculate speed for the ECU. I believe this was addressed in the past since the cluster shroud was never installed right. The transparent plastic that covers the cluster was broken at the screw mounts. So who knows how many actual miles are on this thing! (reads 256k)
2nd - Distributor is misfitting. This causes the stumbling up hills and general sloppiness of the ride. Also he said the 7 and 8 wires were too close together and causing a miss or detonation.
3rd - Rear end out of specification. This causes some play when starting and stopping.
4th - Leaking water pump. I knew about this.
5th - Leaking exhaust manifold gasket. I knew about this as well.
I started by replacing the speedometer from a junkyard unit. I tried 2 and one works okay, but the mileage doesn't display all the segments, so it is impossible to read. It does jump around at highway speeds. Though only +- 5MPH.
Bonus question: What is the best Distributor to get for these? I don't mind doing the whole ignition system. Should I get MSD? I didn't see any kits for our trucks, and I searched a metric tonne.
Thanks for reading!
11-18-2012, 01:44 PM
#2
I don't know enough about MSD to poll, but I know a lot of people say that it has made a difference, my neighbor who is a mechanic says it is worth the money, says you get a lot more power and the mileage increases a bit. I was thinking about getting some for my 300 later on.