MSD plug wire feedback
 

I have had my car running on MSD plug wires for about a year and a half. I replaced the stock wires with the MSD ones as I was doing my engine replacement. The main symptom I had was that the car would miss or hesitate under a heavy load such as when I would floor it in 5th gear at about 70 mph. I had suspected it was the wires because some people had posted that they had problems with them as well. However , I have been more concerned with some other issues with my car so I didn't make changing the wires a priority. Well, I finally got around to replacing them with some 10mm magnecore race wires this afternnon. The difference is incredible! My car feels like it picked up an additional 30-40 HP judging by the "butt dyno". I did not change any of the plugs nor do any othere work on the car other than changing the wires so I am 100% sure it is the wires. I live right down the road from a Dyno and I wish I had done a before and after dyno before changing the wires. I know some people have been reccomending these wires to other RX-7 drivers because people have been PMing me wanting some feedback on my experience with these wires. My feedback is this:

Based on my own personal expererience there is no way I could reccomend these wires to anyone. In fact I would go as far as to say DO NOT BUY MSD WIRES! I know my opinion may not mean as much as some other people on this forum, but to each his own. If you want to belive these are the best wires there are then I will make you a hell of a deal on my old set.

On a positive note, the Magnecore 10mm wires are excellent.

Hmm, my MSD wires seem to work fine. Perhaps you had a bad connection at your coil/plug? :confused: CJ

I don't know about the MSD wires. But I've had the Magnacore 10mm wires on two FD's and have no complaints.
Eric

I know I had a good connection. I put the wires on with the engine out of the car and "burped" them. I am glad to hear that they are working well for you though. Here is a message between myself and another forum member (Apexi):

That's good for you. I actually replaced those MSD wires with new Taylors a few weeks ago. No regrets! Funny thing is, my buddy told me when he went to get his car dynoes (with MSD wires), they were having problems with ignition breakup. The dyno operator said "MSDs? No wonder! Don't ever buy MSDs. Here look at this..." and then he proceeded to open a drawer jammed packed with MSD wires that previous customers have tossed! hehehe...live and learn...what a rip off though for what they charge.

BTW...I've also upgraded the grounding on my car, and the result is amazing...like new. Low RPM driving is smooooth, no jerkiness, more power!


[quote]
Rated R1 wrote on 12-31-02 01:16 AM:
I wanted to let you know that I replaced my MSD wires with some 10mm magnecore wires this afternoon. The difference is incredible. The car accelerates much smoother and it no longer hesitates under a heavy load. I know it wasn't the plugs because I did not change them. There is no way I would ever reccomend these wires to anyone!

how hard was it to change the wires?

It's not that hard.


I'm also using the 10mm Magnecor wires. However, I've heard of people having problems getting them attached to the spark plugs (and then having them pop off while driving).

I don't have experience with the other wires out there, but they were a little snug getting onto the plugs. No problems with them popping off here though.

Thanks for the info mahjik. I'll keep an eye on 'em. However, I had more trouble getting them on the coils than the plugs. It's not too difficult to change the wires. It's kind of a pain since you have to remove the throttle body though.

Well, considering that people have had problems w/ their (MSD) wires...is it solely limited to the FD wires or do you guys think it is their wire product line as a whole? What do you guys think about their coils and other products then?

I can add a vote for the Magnecore wires. Installed the 8.5 MM set about 18 months ago. No problems installing or since, and I was impressed with their construction.

Opps, yea, I forgot I had the coils out when I replaced mine. With all that stuff already out, it wasn't a big deal. ;)

Well, I'll keep that In mind if I ever feel a roughtness, or have some break up on the dyno. When I last had my FD on the dyno, there was'nt a problem....so I guess I'll run it, until i tear the motor out. Or it starts missing. Thanks for the info. CJ

well i have to say that i love my MSD wires, except for one bad thing. im sure you are thinking that its the MSD's fault but it was mine. i use the larger oil filters with that being said i put the wrong wire on the coil closest to it. i didnt put the one with the 90 degree bend but the one that came straight out. over time it rubbed and started sparking out of that area. its all my fault. i had to take my car apart a million times and neglected to see how they went back on. otherwise i really like the MSD product. they do very well at making quality goods. i really need to replace my wires since its super33+ wrapped right now and the heat shield is over that. should be fine for a bit
kris

Taylor Spiro Pro 10mm. Summit. Do it now.

im all about the RB wires. i love em. . . yeah, yeah, yeah, i spent 90 bones on em, but they are really nice. haha.

paul

I've has a similar bad experience with the MSD wires. They fit horrible and missfire too. I only use stock NGK wires now and never had a problem since.

your running the stock ngk's on your current setup now? i was wondering how they'd hold up to a higher hp car, i'm not at quite the level you are but i'm getting up there.... i have magnecores now and they drive me nuts with their shitty fitment, thats my only gripe. and i know the ngk's fit good, so if they're good enough for your 700+whp maybe i should go that route instead!

*edit* i am a moron and just realised the date.......wow yea nevermind!

I also run the taylor spiral core 10 mm. I buy the v8 build to suit and get two sets for about the price of one set. They fit like you want them. Only problem its hard to clamp a timing light on to test timing.

i also got a set of MSD wires, and suffered from big problems with hesitation and missing. so i pulled them out and checked the continuity of the wires, two wires checked out in great condition and the other two were complete crap. also compared to other brands ive seen such as Magnacore wires, the MSD wires seem to be not very well designed. some wires were much longer than need be.

just what i experianced with them.

I'M in the same boat as Ernie. I had ignition break up above 5K rpms during a dyno tune. You could actually see an arc coming out of the primary coil to ground at high rpms. The wire was fully seated, boot was fine & wires less than 3 months old.

Changed back to my set of old NGK's & problem solved.

MSD stands for Multiple Spark directions........................

if it's good enough the 752 hp super mod, it's good enough for me :)

Daym, and I just installed a brand new set, guess I will find out next month once my car comes out of hybernation...

When I bought my car, stock, it had magnecores on it. They arced all over the place so I got rid of them and had some cheap accel wires that never gave a problem. Now I had MSD and have not had a problem.

My roommate a couple years ago bought a set of Magnecores. He had the same problem with them arcing all over. Dont know what he replaced them with.

Guess they are all hit and miss

What setup was Ernie running in January '03? lol

I will be running a new set of NGK wires on my single setup, adding a twin power if needed.