MSD 6A box and Blaster 3 Coil install by shott8283
#1
02-27-2006, 07:05 PM
MSD 6A box and Blaster 3 Coil install by shott8283
Thanks to shott8283 for this DIY article!!
Please Read DodgeForum.com's Disclaimer
MSD 6A box and Blaster 3 Coil install
2001 Dodge Ram 5.9L 4X4 Sport Off-Road
Caution: Before taking on this project I did a lot of research. During that research I came across a few sources discussing the use of the Blaster SS coil. Come to find out, the use of the Blaster SS coil on the Rams (unsure if its year make model specific) could be dangerous to do. Reason being, is that the Blaster SS coil is built quite differently then the stock coil, mainly because it has a lower resistance, or impedance. What does this mean? Well the sources that I spoke to reported that the resistance to the coil input terminals is much lower then what the PCM is “looking” for at the coil, and have been known cases for burning up the PCM. If you choose to use the Blaster SS coil, a resistor must be put in place to help correct this problem, and contacting MSD directly is a good source to find out more information about this. This is just a caution.
Tools Required: Wire strippers, electrical tape, assortment of electrical connectors, soldering iron and solder, basic hand tools to tighten and loosen fasteners.
Time Required: Approx 1.5hrs if your taking your time and double checking your connections.
Parts Installed: MSD 6A Ignition Control, MSD Blaster 3 Coil, Accel Wiring Harness.
First off, as always, disconnect your battery before starting any type of maintenance on your vehicle.
Mounting: The location you pick to mount your 6A box and coil are important. Although the 6A box is somewhat water resistance it is by no means water proof, and the mounting location should be taking into very careful consideration. It should be kept away from any heat sources as well as known areas where moister builds up. The internal components are coated with a water resistant coating, but every step possible should be taken to ensure moisture is kept away from the 6A box. The coil I used is the Blaster 3 coil, I chose this coil because it had has an extra tall tower design to help out with coil wire attachment and better spark isolation. It is recommended that the Blaster 3 coil should be mounted in the upward position. MSD also makes a high vibration version of the Blaster coil witch can be mounted in any way. I used some 3M mounting tape to mount my box, mainly because it aids in some kind of shock absorbance and is can be done easily. I bolted the coil to the back of my K&N FIPK GENII cold air intake heat sheild because it’s in an upright position, solid mounting and the shield aids in keeping the 6A box and the coil out of the elements.
If you look at the last few pages of your MSD 6 series installation manual you’ll find a series of install guides that MSD provides. On my truck, the diagram on page 20 for the Chrysler Late Model Dodge with 2 Pin Connector is the correct wiring for my and many Dodge and Chrysler applications.
I utilized an Accel Ignition Coil Adapter Harness so that I could have a quick disconnect setup in the even the 6A box quits on me leaving me with no spark. I’ll explain more later.
This is a picture of the Accel harness.
On the 6A box you have wires coming out of the two ends. One end uses the magnetic pick up and connectes by using its own harness. This harness WILL NOT BE used in this application and the connector at the end should be taped off.
Picture of the magnetic pick up leads that will not be used in most applications and should be taped off.
The other end has the power wires (Heavy Red, Heavy Black), coil wires (Black, Orange), switched 12v source wire (Red), and last the trigger wire (White).
The wiring is very simple and doesn’t take long at all. I suggest, along with any type of wiring, that the connections between terminators, (spades, rings, forked type of terminators) and connections made to other wires always be soldered to ensure the up most connection quality.
To Start: The stock coil on the vehicle has a connector at the bottom of it. Disconnect that connector. This is where that Accel Adapter harness comes into play. Instead of cutting or tapping into the wires on the OEM connector, using this harness that connects into it, allows you to cut off the black end of the harness and lets you wire into that, making for a much more cleaner and more reliable connection. If you are using the Accel Adapter, simply cut off the black end of the Adapter leaving you a green wire and a black wire. Your going to take the smaller of the Red wires coming from the 6A box and connect it into the Green wire from the Accel harness. Or if you are using the OEM/stock connector it will be the Green/Orange wire. This connection will provide you the switched 12V power source the 6A box will look for to turn on and start firing. After making that connection your going to take the White wire that comes from the 6A box and connect that to the Black wire from the Accel harness, or the Black wire coming from the OEM/stock connector. This is the signal pick up wire telling the 6A box when to fire.
Next: The next step is to hook up the coil. On top of the coil you will see two posts marked + and -. The Orange and Black wires that are together in the same wire loom coming from the 6A box will be connected to the coil. The Orange wire simply gets connect to the + post and the Black wire simple gets connected to the – post.
Last: connecting the Heavy Red and Heavy Black wires is your last step. These are your power and ground wires. The Heavy Black wire is your ground and should be grounded as close as possible to the 6A box. I reconnected the battery for a minute used a digital multi meter (DMM) to find a good ground. After finding a good ground, connect the Heavy Black wire to that good ground. The grounding point should be cleaned of any paint and should be bare metal to ensure a good ground. Last you will connect the Heavy Red wire. This is the constant 12V wire that supplies the 6A box its’ power. Routing this wire is important because you need to make sure it doesn’t come in contact with any hot surfaces or comes close to any hot surfaces, nor any sharp objects. I connected it to the Positive wire on the PDC (Power Distribution Center). You can connect it to the Positive cable for the battery if you want to. I picked the PDC because I felt it looked a little better going in to that instead of a bunch of wires coming off the battery.
Picture of the Heavy Black wire that gets grounded.
Picture of the Heavy Red wire coming form the 6A box routed away from engine heat and sharp objects.
Picture of the Heavy Red wire routed behind the rubber flap at the ridge of the engine bay.
Picture of the Heavy Red wire coming out of the rubber protective flap and into the drivers side of the engine bay.
Picture of the Heavy Red Wire being connected into the positive terminal of the PDC.
Reconnect the battery.
That’s it your all done!!!!!! Now its time to do a function check, all you do is start the vehicle. If it starts then you know its wired correctly, if it was wired incorrectly then there is no way it will let the engine start up. Now if the engine doesn’t start you will need to retrace your wiring and ensure that all the connections are properly made to their respected connections.
Recap: Essentially all you are doing is taking the PCM output to the stock coil and redirecting it into the 6A box and the 6A box redirects it to the new coil. By using the Accel harness you make it possible to revert back the to the stock/OEM ignition but disconnecting the MSD box from the connector and plugging it back into the stock coil and just switching the coil wire back to the stock/OEM coil. I ran the truck on the stock ignition system for a few miles, pulled over and switched it to the MSD system and started it back up and drove a little more to see if I could tell the improvements it made. Having this “quick” disconnect in the system allows for this little test and a way to easily go back to the stock/OEM ignition in the event that it’s needed.
Important Factors: The 6A box or any 6 series box’s transform your single spark ignition system into a Multiple Spark Discharge (MSD) system. Basically, every time your engine makes one revolution each spark plug fires a single spark for a total of eight sparks. What the 6A box does is turns that single spark into the three sparks. So now every time your engine makes one revolution your spark plug fires three times for a total of 24 sparks for every one engine revolution. What does this mean? This means a more complete combustion of the Air/Fuel mixture, adding HP and MPG. What else does this mean? Well, since your engine is firing more then it used to, it will go through distributor caps, rotors, sparkplug wires and sparkplugs faster, three times faster. So you will have to keep and eye on your ignition system and pay close attention to regular maintenance.
Ram2ndGen
Please Read DodgeForum.com's Disclaimer
MSD 6A box and Blaster 3 Coil install
2001 Dodge Ram 5.9L 4X4 Sport Off-Road
Caution: Before taking on this project I did a lot of research. During that research I came across a few sources discussing the use of the Blaster SS coil. Come to find out, the use of the Blaster SS coil on the Rams (unsure if its year make model specific) could be dangerous to do. Reason being, is that the Blaster SS coil is built quite differently then the stock coil, mainly because it has a lower resistance, or impedance. What does this mean? Well the sources that I spoke to reported that the resistance to the coil input terminals is much lower then what the PCM is “looking” for at the coil, and have been known cases for burning up the PCM. If you choose to use the Blaster SS coil, a resistor must be put in place to help correct this problem, and contacting MSD directly is a good source to find out more information about this. This is just a caution.
Tools Required: Wire strippers, electrical tape, assortment of electrical connectors, soldering iron and solder, basic hand tools to tighten and loosen fasteners.
Time Required: Approx 1.5hrs if your taking your time and double checking your connections.
Parts Installed: MSD 6A Ignition Control, MSD Blaster 3 Coil, Accel Wiring Harness.
First off, as always, disconnect your battery before starting any type of maintenance on your vehicle.
Mounting: The location you pick to mount your 6A box and coil are important. Although the 6A box is somewhat water resistance it is by no means water proof, and the mounting location should be taking into very careful consideration. It should be kept away from any heat sources as well as known areas where moister builds up. The internal components are coated with a water resistant coating, but every step possible should be taken to ensure moisture is kept away from the 6A box. The coil I used is the Blaster 3 coil, I chose this coil because it had has an extra tall tower design to help out with coil wire attachment and better spark isolation. It is recommended that the Blaster 3 coil should be mounted in the upward position. MSD also makes a high vibration version of the Blaster coil witch can be mounted in any way. I used some 3M mounting tape to mount my box, mainly because it aids in some kind of shock absorbance and is can be done easily. I bolted the coil to the back of my K&N FIPK GENII cold air intake heat sheild because it’s in an upright position, solid mounting and the shield aids in keeping the 6A box and the coil out of the elements.
If you look at the last few pages of your MSD 6 series installation manual you’ll find a series of install guides that MSD provides. On my truck, the diagram on page 20 for the Chrysler Late Model Dodge with 2 Pin Connector is the correct wiring for my and many Dodge and Chrysler applications.
I utilized an Accel Ignition Coil Adapter Harness so that I could have a quick disconnect setup in the even the 6A box quits on me leaving me with no spark. I’ll explain more later.
This is a picture of the Accel harness.
On the 6A box you have wires coming out of the two ends. One end uses the magnetic pick up and connectes by using its own harness. This harness WILL NOT BE used in this application and the connector at the end should be taped off.
Picture of the magnetic pick up leads that will not be used in most applications and should be taped off.
The other end has the power wires (Heavy Red, Heavy Black), coil wires (Black, Orange), switched 12v source wire (Red), and last the trigger wire (White).
The wiring is very simple and doesn’t take long at all. I suggest, along with any type of wiring, that the connections between terminators, (spades, rings, forked type of terminators) and connections made to other wires always be soldered to ensure the up most connection quality.
To Start: The stock coil on the vehicle has a connector at the bottom of it. Disconnect that connector. This is where that Accel Adapter harness comes into play. Instead of cutting or tapping into the wires on the OEM connector, using this harness that connects into it, allows you to cut off the black end of the harness and lets you wire into that, making for a much more cleaner and more reliable connection. If you are using the Accel Adapter, simply cut off the black end of the Adapter leaving you a green wire and a black wire. Your going to take the smaller of the Red wires coming from the 6A box and connect it into the Green wire from the Accel harness. Or if you are using the OEM/stock connector it will be the Green/Orange wire. This connection will provide you the switched 12V power source the 6A box will look for to turn on and start firing. After making that connection your going to take the White wire that comes from the 6A box and connect that to the Black wire from the Accel harness, or the Black wire coming from the OEM/stock connector. This is the signal pick up wire telling the 6A box when to fire.
Next: The next step is to hook up the coil. On top of the coil you will see two posts marked + and -. The Orange and Black wires that are together in the same wire loom coming from the 6A box will be connected to the coil. The Orange wire simply gets connect to the + post and the Black wire simple gets connected to the – post.
Last: connecting the Heavy Red and Heavy Black wires is your last step. These are your power and ground wires. The Heavy Black wire is your ground and should be grounded as close as possible to the 6A box. I reconnected the battery for a minute used a digital multi meter (DMM) to find a good ground. After finding a good ground, connect the Heavy Black wire to that good ground. The grounding point should be cleaned of any paint and should be bare metal to ensure a good ground. Last you will connect the Heavy Red wire. This is the constant 12V wire that supplies the 6A box its’ power. Routing this wire is important because you need to make sure it doesn’t come in contact with any hot surfaces or comes close to any hot surfaces, nor any sharp objects. I connected it to the Positive wire on the PDC (Power Distribution Center). You can connect it to the Positive cable for the battery if you want to. I picked the PDC because I felt it looked a little better going in to that instead of a bunch of wires coming off the battery.
Picture of the Heavy Black wire that gets grounded.
Picture of the Heavy Red wire coming form the 6A box routed away from engine heat and sharp objects.
Picture of the Heavy Red wire routed behind the rubber flap at the ridge of the engine bay.
Picture of the Heavy Red wire coming out of the rubber protective flap and into the drivers side of the engine bay.
Picture of the Heavy Red Wire being connected into the positive terminal of the PDC.
Reconnect the battery.
That’s it your all done!!!!!! Now its time to do a function check, all you do is start the vehicle. If it starts then you know its wired correctly, if it was wired incorrectly then there is no way it will let the engine start up. Now if the engine doesn’t start you will need to retrace your wiring and ensure that all the connections are properly made to their respected connections.
Recap: Essentially all you are doing is taking the PCM output to the stock coil and redirecting it into the 6A box and the 6A box redirects it to the new coil. By using the Accel harness you make it possible to revert back the to the stock/OEM ignition but disconnecting the MSD box from the connector and plugging it back into the stock coil and just switching the coil wire back to the stock/OEM coil. I ran the truck on the stock ignition system for a few miles, pulled over and switched it to the MSD system and started it back up and drove a little more to see if I could tell the improvements it made. Having this “quick” disconnect in the system allows for this little test and a way to easily go back to the stock/OEM ignition in the event that it’s needed.
Important Factors: The 6A box or any 6 series box’s transform your single spark ignition system into a Multiple Spark Discharge (MSD) system. Basically, every time your engine makes one revolution each spark plug fires a single spark for a total of eight sparks. What the 6A box does is turns that single spark into the three sparks. So now every time your engine makes one revolution your spark plug fires three times for a total of 24 sparks for every one engine revolution. What does this mean? This means a more complete combustion of the Air/Fuel mixture, adding HP and MPG. What else does this mean? Well, since your engine is firing more then it used to, it will go through distributor caps, rotors, sparkplug wires and sparkplugs faster, three times faster. So you will have to keep and eye on your ignition system and pay close attention to regular maintenance.
Ram2ndGen
#2
07-08-2006, 12:07 AM
RE: MSD 6A box and Blaster 3 Coil install by shott8283
I should mention, that from my experiences, the Accel wire will not work on a 94, and possibly a 95.
