[bluesmanjesse]

HI everyone my name is Jesse and I am new to posting on this site,so bear with me,

I have a '94 chevy truck with a 350 in it. I have installed an msd 6a ignition and corresponding blaster coil. they have functioned fine for a long time probably 20-30.000 miles.I recently had a blown head gasket and so I tore the motor down to the short block and as I replaced the head gasket I also put a comp cams cam in it,along with the correct valve springs and new comp cams lifters.I got the truck all back together and it ran pretty good for about 600 miles or so,just a little rough,like I had a bad plug wire or something.
The other night I headed out for the eavining and I made it about 5 miles or so and the truck began to cut in and out about 4 or 5 times then it died and it has been dead in the water for two days now.I suspect the ditributor maybe because I have replaced the coil, the rotor button and cap and I have also ran through the testing procedure outlined by msd for the 6a ignition and it tested out ok so my problems must be elsewhere. In addition the tach was acting really wierd, jumping and bouncing and going up and down randomly obviously not in sync with the engine rpm.

I smell fuel and I don't think it is a fuel problem.I already had the fuel pump go out and it acted differently when that happenend. This is a very abrupt cut out like sombody just pulled the plug on me and the truck will not fire now at all. Has anyone ever had this problem before ? Any Ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks.....Jesse

[Novaman78]

Im not sure on trucks but some cars i have heard of putting to big of a cam on a computer controlled vehicle. Could you have done this?

[bluesmanjesse]

I don't think so,it is a very mild cam,and I consulted with comp cams tech line and they suggested the right cam for my application before I ordered it.They seemed to be very knowledgable.

[Novaman78]

Well if they suggested it im sure its fine. Have you checked for fire at the plugs?

[bluesmanjesse]

I tried, I removed the #1 plug and touched it to the header and cranked the engine and no spark but I am not sure if you can check it this way with the msd ignition

[Novaman78]

I dont know about with a msd. I had this problem a few months back in my nova. It doesn't have an msd but i tried everything to get it to run. I bought a new coil nothing changed i bought new mag pickup nothing changed bought a new module nothing changed. Finally i dug around till i found an old distibutor lying around and decided to take the coil out and try it and that solved my problem. So if you have another coil laying around maybe check that or could also be the module.

[bluesmanjesse]

The only one I have around is the original factory one that went bad on me about a year ago,I got a new/rebuilt one from auto zone for like $130 instead of the $550 the dealer wanted to rebuild mine.This is also kinda why I suspect the distributor because the auto zone unit looked kinda flimsy to me. I wonder if it is working against me with the meshing of the gears on the new cam,maybe I dunno I am just grasping at straws really.

[Novaman78]

Ive never tried this before but i have heard of checking for fire by hooking the timing light to #1 plug wire and cranking engine over if light doesn't flash hen no fire. But like i said i have never tried it. What went out on the other distributor? You might try the coil out of that. You probly have checked already but is there juice going to the distributor?

[RCastle]

Check the wire running from your battery to your box,is it hot?If not the terminal may have come loose.
Check to make sure you have voltage to your coil from the box,I have a 6AL in my Malibu,no diff than a 6A except I have rev chips,the hot side terminal got loose from my engine shaking and broke the connection,caused the engine to run like it was a burned plug wire on the header.I replaced the eyelet on the + and - side of the coil,fired her up and she ran correctly.

[bluesmanjesse]

Hey everyone, Thanks for your help!! I tracked the problem down to the module on the distributor,the distributor I had from auto zone was still under warranty so I popped in the new one got her timed and ...voila! my baby came roaring back to life!

I am still suspect of the quality of the auto zone dist. I am contamplating buying a new msd billet distributor It's like $289 through summit I dunno if it would be money well spent or not. At any rate thanks for all your advice,it helped me narrow down the problem alot quiker. I am glad I found this site.I will return often! Thanks again.....Jesse

[Novaman78]

I took the base of one of my uncles distributor and put new mag pickup, module, coil, cap, and rotor and it runs fine until the coil went out. If you don't trust it you may do like i did just rebuild it. Or rebuild your old one in case the one from autozone does go out again. Did you replace the whole distributor or just module today?

[bluesmanjesse]

I replaced the whole thing ,that's the only that auto zone sells it.It was free I didn't realize it but I think it has a lifetime warranty!

[bluesmanjesse]

Hey everyone,

I got the truck running again with a new distibutor but it seems I have two problems. The truck still runs rough I have had the timing all over the place and it only produces better or worse but still bad running. Comp cams told me to time it between 10 and 15 degrees advanced. I have had it everywhere from 0 to 20 and it might run better or worse but never good. Also in the last day or two I have developed a wierd sound that sounds like sombody hitting the valve cover or exhaust pipe with a wood hammer or something it is a very odd sound that goes away after about 30 seconds of startup and whenever the engine is warm it doesen't make the sound at all,even on start up,only when its first started and cool. Also if I remove the oil filler cap with the engine running I have small puffs of what appears to be exaust gas puffing out. I have not had the valve covers off yet,it has been rainy here and I don't have a garage to get into right now. does anyone have any Idea what this could be? Any help is greatly appreciated I am in the middle of about ten disasters rigt now and this truck trouble is the last thing I need!lol Thanks in advance ......Jesse

[Novaman78]

Collapsed lifter maybe?

[bluesmanjesse]

The lifters are new they came with the cam kit,I soaked them in oil overnight and primed them.The noise goes away very quickly,I think it might me an exhaust leak or a part of the exhaust touching something I just can't tell yet I kinda wish it would start doing it all the time so I could track it down. The timing/rough running thing is what has me baffled. I could have a valvetrain problem though in addition to the timing mystery.Any other suggestions? I appreciate all you guys' input. Thanks....Jesse