cbellamore

Almost have the motor back together and Im starting to look into the ignition setup

is is really worth the extra money for MSD Marine dist or will the regular MSD 85551 dist work ?

what are the differences,

is it just the cap that they use or is it something internally

I already have an MSD pro billet dist for chevy motors which is 85551 so I would like to use it instead of spending more money that I dont really have to spend

thanks for any advice

tx911

I am using the 85551 and have not had any issues with it. I am also running a red box, I just keep it dry. I only boat in fresh water, and my boat does not stay at the lake so that may be why I have not had any issues with either. I still have the thunderbolt laying around, but my motor sure idles and has better low speed manners with the MSD.

Mr Gadgets

I have used both. The Marine one has screens on the bottom and the standard doesnt, (8547) for super tall deck. Both will rust inside with or without vents. I use a crank trigger, gives better accuracy for the EFI. Had problems with Tach signal to EFI with the dist. Saw the problem on the test bench I made also. But with the crank trigger, it holds the tach signal very close. I am fresh water and store the boat in the barn, heated.
But back to the subject at hand.. either will do the job. But Marine Approved is needed when the authorities take a peek. Or there is an incident where insurance company is involved. I recommend the marine unit for that reason. Oh yeah, I run the red box mounted to the transom with a filter cap on the 12vdc input.

Hope that helps.
Dick

baja_brian

Dick

Have you had any troulble with the MSD box going out? Has the filter cap worked out for you? Everyone keeps saying to keep a spare MSD box because they tend to go bad about once a year? Your thoughts?

Brian

Mr Gadgets

Brian,
I have run this box for 10yrs or so.. Same box. Added the filter cap when everyone was having problems maybe 4yrs ago. I swapped my EFI from Cutler to Megasquirt and could see lots of noise and tach signal was bouncing up and down by up to 250rpm/50ms, above 4500rpm. So I started to add caps all over. Ended up being the dist pickup. I think the timing chain and cam flex, etc was a problem. With a crank trigger that tach signal is 8-30rpm variation.
Haven't run it for two summers, motor troubles, wiped the 5 cam lobes with the new Red Zone EZ wheel lifters.
I carry a spare box, purchased a few years back. Figure if I have spare the original will last forever! I believe the cap and the mount on the transom is a good thing. Could be, like a lot of stuff nowadays, the older it is, the better it was built?????
When the original box goes bad, I will let everyone know..

Dick

bcfountain

i have run the msd dist,module,and revlimerter on two diffrent motors for 8yrs now and no problems .i do carry a spare box just because i have heard so many people having problems.i do mount my boxs on rubber washers to dampan vibrations.i guess as said bymr gagets,the older the better.so much of our stuff come from china,sad but true.just my 2cents

jeffswav

Take a look at the DUI Performance Distributor.

cbellamore

thanks for the replys guys

Im well aware of the benefits on the crank trigger I run them exclusively on my drag cars I wouldnt use anything else for a higher level performance motor
my 454 will be making somewhere around 550hp which is really not that much, so I dont want to spend a small fortune on the setup,

I have an 85551 that I think Im going to use, and I have about 4 MSD 6AL boxes, and few high vibration MSD coils so Im probably going to go with this setup
mainly because it costs me nothing,

I just was not 100% sure of the differences, between the 2 dist.
thanks again for the replys