digital timing light with MSD dist
 

Just installed a MSD ready to run dist in my 455. My timing light is a old chrome one i bought in the 80's or 90's and has the advance dial on the back and still works.. I just ordered a innova 5568 timing gun that has digital readout with tach and all that stuff. I wanted the tach readout on the back. I now see innova says their stuff wont work with MSD stuff but some customer people say it does. Anybody have any experience with certain timing guns that dont work good with MSD ? If its not going to work correctly Ill just send it back.

I have an innova timing gun. Recently installed an msd 6al box and was prepared to put timing tape on balancer and go manual with a light with no dial back. Well turns out my innova digital dial back light works fine with the msd….

While we haven't used it for an MSD ignition yet, we just purchased the Innova 5568 light, and have used it with a Mallory Hyfire 685 ignition system, which is a multispark as well, and it works completely fine with it, no problems whatsoever.

Haven't found any ignition system my Innova won't work with. Have installed three MSD ready to run distributors so far this year and absolutely no problems. Also have used it with a 6A, 6AL, Digital 6 Plus, 6AL-2 and older Jacobs multi-spark ignition and other boxes like the Summit. My light is over 10 years old and it's been dropped and wacked by fan blades on occasion and just keeps on tickin'.

They say that it will not be accurate due to the multiple spark system with MSD. Reading the tech information the MSD is down to one spark per cycle at 3000 RPM or greater. I played with the MSD advance springs until I got the best advance curve for my car. I then get the engine to 3000 RPM and adjust the timing with a dial back light. My engine is a 61 389 Tri-Power with the old style iron heads. I have found that 31 degrees runs well, and doesn't ping. Try that, and then adjust to the happy spot for your engine.

Thanks for the replies. As long as the new timing light isnt faulty it sounds like it should work with the MSD. The new timing gun isnt here yet so I set the total timing where it likes at 32 with my old gun. I put a light spring and a medium spring in the dist and it would be nice to have the convienance of a gun that I can see rpms to see where its totaling at,etc. so I ordered one. Then last night I see where people were asking if it would work with MSD cause innova them selves says not meant for multi spark,,one guy called tech and asked if it would work with MSD ready to run and they said no. But some people were using the gun with no problems so it sounds like Im all set keeping it.

i can say from my experience the innova timing light with all the digital BS did not work right for me with any of the MSD setups (6, 7, Grid, 8, 6digital, various wires, plugs, cars, coils, etc) (very erratic reading at all rpm ranges)
worked fine with regular ignitions
bought the msd timing light, works nice, super bright light
my cheap actron light bought in the 80s works just as good
sent the msd back to me wasn't worth that big price tag and what i have works just fine

i've used the high dollar snap on that my friend had at his shop, and i would say majority of the time it worked good, but did have two cars with msd's that it did the bouncing syndrome, just like the digital one i have
i've compared my cheap light with others, and it matches
just something to think about
i find these situations so odd as some have issues, some dont

boy when you first see that bouncing mark syndrome it freaks you out.... used to think my setup was all F'ed up but ran good none-the-less
i

Well while I was reading some q&a last night about whether this light would work with mSD ,I did see where there were a few that said it didnt work for them where the majority said it did. So thats why I asked here to see what your experiences were. I guess Ill just try it when I get it and see how it works. I took out a DUI "tripower" small bodied HEI dist that I was having problems with(another thread) and replaced it with a MSD ready to run billet dist. Using my old gun on both dist I will say the MSD has the most stable timing mark in awhile. Id rev up the motor with the DUI and the mark would move around some especially the higher the rev. This new MSD dist has a very stable timing mark at any RPM. I did have to send the MSD dist back though cause out of the box there was zero shaft end play and it wouldnt spin freely with my fingers. I sent it back and they said they replaced the shaft. I measured it when I got it back and has exactly .010 now and spins freely. I measured my DUI ,which only had about 1000-1500 miles on it and it has .035 end play when I took it out the other day.

Appears the MSD brand name is getting confused with what a "MSD box" does.

The R2R distributor, by itself, should make spark like GM HEI or any other electronic triggered distributor.

MSD (multi spark discharge) "boxes" can make a sensitive timing light blink multiple times.

Clay

That's exactly right. I have an older Snap-ON digital tach/timing light and it does not work properly with multiple spark systems like an MDS 6,7 and such. Also have a dial back Fox Valley light, same issue. Best timing light I have ever used is a SUN 7501. They are on E-Bay all the time. It's a basic non-dial back light, but super bright, chrome case. One on E-bay right now for $29.00. Great light.

So is the problem inaccurate timing ,timing mark bounce,or something else? My old chrome sunpro with mechanical dial seems very steady. Should the RTR be ok? I dont use a box.

I have no idea why a Ready-To-Die wouldn't be compatible with any timing light.

The problem is not the brand name, it's the multi-spark; and the Ready-To-Die isn't multi-spark.

If you've ever experienced it, it's the timing mark bouncing around. It's actually caused by the MSD CDC boxes. It's not the MSD ready to run distributors or any of that stuff. It's the multispark boxes.

I get the issue with any car here that I run the box on. Even when I add the box to a points ignition system it goes from being perfectly fine as a standard points setup but as soon as I switch the coil wires around and fire up the box it goes to a very bouncy timing mark that is difficult to time.

Some lights work with it and some don't. It's hit and miss. I've heard of people having good luck with the Innova timing light that you're looking at. Just have to try and see. If you're not running a box, you'll be fine.

I have an old Craftsman chrome mechanical dial back timing light, (father has one too) identical to your Sunpro dial back, and neither one of ours likes the MSD boxes at all. What I do is run the engine above 3000 where the multispark is inop and set my total. Below that usually the timing flutter isn't too horrible, you can still hone in on the timing once you learn to read between the flutter, you'll get to know what's accurate and what isn't as far as base and curve. I know our engines are solid as far as internal cam timing, the chain and distributor gear, and I know what the distributor is going to do based on the setup I build it with, so I pretty much know what to expect anyway.

I have a MSD 6AL and I've used the Innova. The tach function doesn't work for me and it has been erratic at reading the timing from time to time, but has also worked good on occasion.

digital timing light
 

I've never had a problem with a stick on timing tape from Summit. Applied to a clean surface mine have never come off. I have had the problem with the msd box and a dial back light. Billk

my experience was timing bounce (all over the place) and inaccurate reading
by bouncing i mean it would jump all over the place regardless of the RPM
but again that is the issue i had with the one light i have
it did read RPMS very good, but timing was a different story
regardless of what car, as long as it had a MSD box it wasn't happy
regular ignitions it read well

worst case try it, doesn't work out send it back???

Well I did get my innova light but I havent taken it out of the box yet. After more testing with my old sunpro dial light,,I do get some bouncing. It would hold the mark steady but if I was watching the mark and slowly bringing up the revs the mark all of a sudden jump quite a bit,,,like maybe an inch and just once. Sporatic bouncing.I emailed MSD and asked them about using a light like mine on a msd dist without a box. From reading it sounds like maybe even the RTR with no box makes multiple sparks below 3000 rpms which can cause the erratic timing. If they say dont I might send it back and buy a light thats multiple spark compatible and some timing tape or even a new balancer with the engraved marks. Since I tightened down the dist at 32 total and has since moved to 30 total with just garage run time and havent even driven it yet Ive got to make sure the balancer isnt slipping. More testing!

I talked to MSD tech today and they said even with just a RTR dist and no box you will get some timing mark bounce. Going to send my innova back and go a different route.

I'd be interested in hearing what you end up with and how it works out for you.

So even with this new dist I am seeing my timing still move around. I set it at 32 total and tightened it down,I ran it up and down the rpms ,just in the garage and the total moved to 30. Just like my last dist. I checked and the dist is tight and cannot move it. So I have made witness marks on bottom pulley and balancer to see if the balancer outer ring is slipping. I f it is Im going to get a new pioneer race balancer and a regular multi spark compatible basic timing light.