What ignition systems do you run on your boat? I have thunderbolt 4 on a pair of carbed blower motors. And my mechanic wants to switch to msd. But i have heard problems with msd boxes going bad and burning up coils. So what do you guys think?

As with any electorinc parts, there are problmes that can occur. I have a complete MSD set-up on my NA 540 for 2 seasons without any problems.

I switched to a complete msd system 5 years ago on my blown 509 no problems.

Keep your Merc distributor and go with the Crane system has all the advance curves for Merc blower motors built in and have never heard of a failure yet do a search on this site about them. MY 2 CENTS

Hi,

i had a Jakobs Elektronics Fire Control 4000 on an 454 / 330 Hp, ( before i changed to 502EFI) I was surprised that after installing this system the running quality was changed 180° than before. No starting problems, no more black Sparkplugs after long idling,a little more Topspeed, better throttle response and absolutly clean idle. This is realy a good ignition system i woul buy it again

Greatings from Germany
Hans

I agree.

I ran two MSD systems in my Scarab for 3 yrs.......burn one ign box up....couldnt tell me why but they fixed it and i was back on the water inside a week.....the only thing i can complain about on the MSD's was the rust! There was no realy way to keep it out.....and MSD knows about it too....

I would go Crane also....

I put Crane boxes, HI-6M with stock 500hp (Thunderbolt IV?) distributors. I mounted them (as instructed, not on the motor) on the "firewall" and no problems for 2 years. The Cranes have built in adjustable rev limiter and 6 or 7 different ignition curves including locked out timing for blower motors.

You do have to drill the distributor rotor plate with the provided template to shift the rotor 30 degrees which can be tedious if you are not a machinist and the boxes need to be wired directly to the battery or battery switch.

I tried but could not get any consensus on running the stock 500 hp knock module with the ignition retard on the Crane box. Crane specifies another brand of knock module.

Look on the Crane website and find the installation instructions.

How about the DUI system?