So I’m wired up
Blue ground
Red ignition hot
Black to white MSD
I’ve got the green LED at Z1 on the flywheel 1 TDC
I re-installed plug leads with #1 aligned with where the rotor points with the green LED on.
I can see 12VDC on the 123 dashboard while cranking.
Just spent 2 hours double checking verifying etc.
no change.
I know lots of people are running this with MSD, Ben being one of them.
What have I missed?

Attached is a pic of my wiring. Yes I know my coil wire is a tad short.

Some stuff I tried:
I verified 0 ohms from my blue wire to body ground
I threw a jumper on the blue wire to body ground just for giggles. No difference
I disconnected the tach. It’s on the same white MSD wire I thought maybe it was interfering with the signal. Nope

I just tried running a jumper straight from the plus side of the battery to the red on the 123 just to make sure I had solid voltage supply.
No difference.

I’m thinking I have my height tension leads in the wrong places, but not sure where I would move them to

C&P from the bird post #8 of this thread by member rwest:
Original thread here




It should be easy to test, take the coil lead off the cap, stick a screwdriver in the coil wire, put it about 1/8" to 1/4"from a good ground, turn it over and you should see a good spark.
You can also do this with a tester, don't ground yourself out a MSD packs a wallop.

Thanks Mark I read that thread on the bird board before I purchased the 123 distributor. That’s how I’m wired.

So the next thing I’m going to try is swapping to a Bosch blue coil. I see several people on the bird board running MSD with the 123 and a blaster coil, but 123 recommends at least 1 ohm primary and the blaster is 0.7. I’m going to try making that swap tomorrow provided I can find an old blue coil in the garage.

Trigger your MSD box by jumping the purple mag trigger wire, that test eliminates any MSD box or coil issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeEzDrKYBM0


And also go through this trouble shooting vid.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApBu9BEMBfQ


BTW the above test is good on the analog or newer digital 6AL

Are you sure your on z1? My guess is your just a tooth off.

Thanks for posting those Mark. The car just ran on Tuesday prior to swapping the distributor. Did the check grounding the white wire. Spark is solid. Hmmmm....

Its gotta be off a tooth.. I had to rotate the dizzy to get mine to fire up. There is a wide range with the LED. Lit.

Swapped the blue coil with 3 ohm primary resistance from the blaster coil with 1 ohm resistance. No difference

Also checked that the distributor body has zero ohms to ground.

Ben I think you are right. My timing must be off. Going to redo that again later.

Yup very hard to find z1 on a 914-6.. I used mirrors and align the pulley and fan housing.. I will still off just a bit.

prob. on #4 not #1 Z1

And best to have it marked on the flywheel for the six's.

That could be if he didn't check the line mark in the stock dizzy

Yes and the dumb mistake I made was mark it where I couldn't see it once the trans was mounted

IDK man.....looks like I’m right on Z1.



Has anyone done the light bulb test in the 123 manual? I would imagine it is supposed to flash as the distributor triggers. The explanation isn’t super clear.

Still betting on a tooth off

If that is a 2.4 engine , that is not Z1

Oh good point..

When I read this I thought this was it for sure. I was all excited to get this on and didn’t verify the rotor was at # 1, but nope.

I just flipped the motor 180 to Z1 and re set the distributor and now it’s definitely 180 out pooping out of the exhaust. I LL have to rest later. This is all the time I have for now.

Thanks for the suggestion though that was a good one

Nope this is a 2.0L

only 2.4Ts came with yellow fan shrouds , So I assumed ,

Ben called it. Off a tooth. I didn’t appreciate that the distributor gear teeth are fine enough that it can look ok, but you are off. Especially when you are trying to do it down in the 914 engine compartment.

That said. Runs great. Highly recommend. Allows me to run the additional advance at idle of the 65-68 motors but keep max advance at 30. Idle is rock solid. Once i get my wide band setup I’d like to get it on a chassis dyno.

Also on the upside, my ignition system has now been fully gone through and is in top shape, just in time for winter LOL

Yeah sorry my car is kind of a mishmash of stuff I’ve picked up over the years. I like the yellow though. People don’t expect much. Though I’d like a black shroud as that’s what 914-6s came with.