HEI Dizzy died on me w/ less than 2k miles on it

[73kay]

My accel hei distributor died on me driving to Austin Friday. Truck has less than 2k miles on it. Couldn't believe it. Truck just died and I pulled over, made sure I was getting fuel to carb and finally had a buddy pick me up and get a new dist at advance for $150. After that I was g2g, but damn 2,000 miles that was it? Curious what experiences you guys have had. Damn thing is that I have an extra at the house, better believe that will be in the truck for next time. At least I avoided a tow...

[sweetk30]

years ago i tryed there hei unit and super coil . both were dead out of the box new . . . . both times .

i swapped to msd no problems .

and i was not installing wrong as the old whipped gm hei fired right back up each time the accel didnt .

[73kay]

good to know, guess I will look into them. What are you daily drivers using?

[Tom]

I've always ran MSD. 6a box and coil in my 78 for the last 16yrs, had a 79 with the in cap coil and module as well that I daily drove.

[skyphix]

Sucks about the accell Dist - I've had bad experiences with some of their products in the past but its more hit or miss rather than every time.

Mine has the original 79 era HEI Dist and started cutting out toward the tail end of a long trip so I'll be doing a partial rebuild - new cap (Brass terminals,) rotor, ICM, and coil/pickup. Truck will be a 3 season daily driver once I get all the leaks fixed.

[Dead Parrot]

My Accell dizzy is 20 years old and still working fine. I think Accell got bought out a while back and the quality went down.

Might check warranty status on the Accell. I think it is time limited not mileage. If it is out of warranty, it should take standard parts. Just try to avoid the cheap Chicom stuff. Their QC is spotty at best on the low end stuff.

[geezer#99]

Both Accel and Msd have gone down the hole!

[akart]

I went w/the DUI. Have had it 3 years. Felt a boost in performance right away.
That MSD has too much fancy chit fir me there is too much stuff to go wrong and it looks like you could spend a K w/them for a spark. I think DUI makes mostly that one kind of HEI distributor and it is made in the USA.

[82C10step]

The cheaper Accel is the same Chinese junk everyone else is selling. I've had good luck with the DUI. Little more money but it hasn't missed a beat.

[69heavychevy]

Been running the same accel distributor for about 12 years now without any issues. Still running the original module too. Had it on my 69 c10 first, now its my 80.

[73kay]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Good stuff.

[Bandit130]

I have been using a summit racing HEI since last November with no issues so far. Read a lot of users mention to always carry a spare module in case it goes out. I have not done that yet. Keep forgetting but will soon.

[hatzie]

Use the $35 Delco Professional D1906 modules with enough heatsink paste. Aftermarket modules tend to have issues.
HEI modules don't like intermittent electrical connections. Make sure the $20 Delco D221 module to cap pigtail is in good shape, the PakCon terminals are tight, and both connector ears latch onto the cap properly. Make sure the stamped coil ground lead is making good contact with the laminations, make sure the BAT power connector latch is working, and the Female Packard terminal inside is not loose.

[82C10step]

I have had to warranty a lot hei's in the last few years. Mostly the modules bad. I put an Accel in my father's Chevelle and with only about 1000 miles on it quit too. I pulled a GM distributor out of the junk yard, cleaned it up, put a new gear on, shimmed it correctly, and added a crane curve kit. It's been fine ever since. Still using the module and pick up from the late 70's Impala I pulled it from.

[MikeB]

Ran an Accel Blueprint HEI in my 69 pickup for around 10 years and never had a problem with it. But I bought it in the mid-1990s, so the components may have been better back then. Eventually replaced the original module, coil, rotor, and cap with a $130 MSD kit (which is no longer available) and it's been working fine for the last 13-14 years.

My square body has a brand new (in 2015) GM HEI that had an intermittent no-start issue. Took it apart and discovered the coil was barely grounded. After fixing that it worked for another 3 years, and then started doing the intermittent non-start problem again. What was frustrating is it started working again while I was t-shooting it.

Since the distributor has a melonized gear and a spring/weight combo and vacuum canister that I fine-tuned, I decided to keep it and replace all the internals with a new MSD Ultimate kit. You have to see to believe how nice those components are. Not cheap, but will hopefully outlast me!

[73kay]

Thanks for the feedback, this helps me figure out what I want to do next.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by akart

That MSD has too much fancy chit fir me there is too much stuff to go wrong

If you do a factory replacement style MSD module and coil there is literally no diffence in operation or settings vs stock. You put it in and drive.
If you go with a 6a box again, there is no options it just makes spark. Sure you can buy more complicated, expensive options, but your not required to.....

[WorkinLonghorn]

My daily driver work-truck got a Skip White $47 special and I was loving it until I left the ignition on during a job and burned it out. Replacement was dead on arrival but they sent another out, not requiring a return. That unit quit a few thousand miles later when the coolant temperature reached about 2/3 of a dial (stock gauge) on day with a big load and three guys in the cab, hot day, slow drive up the hill to the local dump.

Dumb me orders another Skip White unit plus an extra that I keep in the jack storage area behind the seat.

If I wasn't so dern cheap I would have just gotten a good HEI in the first place. -BA

[Nickelcharlie]

This sounds just like what my truck was doing for several years. Clean all the ground connections on your truck that u can find. I was replacing ignition modules right and left. Then I replaced the original distributor and more ignition modules for several years and was just about to sell it. Once I cleaned all my ground connections I have not had any more ignition problems.

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by WorkinLonghorn

My daily driver work-truck got a Skip White $47 special and I was loving it until I left the ignition on during a job and burned it out. Replacement was dead on arrival but they sent another out, not requiring a return. That unit quit a few thousand miles later when the coolant temperature reached about 2/3 of a dial (stock gauge) on day with a big load and three guys in the cab, hot day, slow drive up the hill to the local dump.

Yeah, that's one of those no-name HEIs that is cheap even by cheap Chinese standards. Whenever I read a post where someone is asking about their products, I say "runaway, runaway!"

[73kay]

Nickelcharlie,

Good point. I installed a new wiring harness a few months back, but I'm gonna check my grounds. Thanks for the pointer.

[MikeB]

Originally Posted by 73kay

I installed a new wiring harness a few months back, but I'm gonna check my grounds. Thanks for the pointer.

Battery to block, block to frame, and frame to body. And it doesn't hurt to do the block/frame and frame/body connections in two places each. I like to use star washers on both side of the ring connector to dig into the metal. Also make sure the connection points are shiny and clean. And use some good ground straps like these:



...or 6 gauge wire (not for battery to block)

[73kay]

Yup, as luck would have it, I did an order at classic parts today and grabbed some ground straps. I hate how the ground straps at box stores are always so tiny. Thanks for the tips.