INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
M S D I G N I T I O N
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PRIMARY WIRING
WarnIng
: During installation, disconnect the battery cables. When disconnecting the battery,
always remove the Negative cable first and install it last.
1. begin wiring the MSD by connecting the wires responsible to run the engine. The terminal strip on
the left side of the box is responsible for the Power Leads and the Coil Wires. Connect the supplied
wires as follows:
Heavy red:
Connect from the “batt +” terminal directly to the battery positive (+) terminal.
Heavy Black:
Connect from the “batt -” terminal directly to the battery negative (-) terminal.
Orange:
Connect from the “Coil +” terminal to the positive terminal (+) of the coil.
Black:
Connect from the “Coil -” terminal to the negative terminal (-) of the coil.
2. Move to the middle terminal strip and locate the terminal marked “Ignition”. Use the supplied RED
wire and connect it to a switched 12 volt source (ignition switch).
3. If a retard function is not going to be used the supplied "zero" degree module must be installed or
the terminals must be grounded. See the Multi-Step Retard Section.
4. The three terminals on the bottom of the middle terminal strip receive the trigger signal from the
distributor. One terminal is for points style applications and the other two are for use with a magnetic
pickup trigger, such as an MSD billet Distributor or Crank Trigger.
note
: The Points and Mag Pickup terminals will never be connected at the same time.
Points:
If you are using a Points style distributor or electronic amplifier, only the “Points” terminal
will be used. Connect the supplied WHITE jumper wire from the points output in the distributor to
the “Points” terminal (Figure 1).
Magnetic Pickup:
If you are using an MSD Distributor or Crank Trigger, only the Magnetic Pickup
terminals will be used. Locate the supplied harness with a VIOLET and GREEN wire with a 2-pin
connector on one end. Connect the VIOLET wire to the “Mag +” terminal and the GREEN wire to the
“Mag -” terminal then connect the 2-pin connector to the Distributor (Figure 1).
note
: The magnetic pickup wires must be routed away from all voltage carrying wires. A shielded
6-feet harness is available as PN 8862.
MAGNetIc PIckuP PolARItY
The MSD 7AL-3 can be used with other magnetic
pick-up distributors as long as the wires are
connected correctly. The chart on the right shows
the polarity of some common magnetic pickups.
Common Mag Pickup Wires
Distributor
Colors
Mag+
Mag-
MSD
Org/Blk
Vio/Blk
MSD Crank Trigger
Violet
green
Ford
Orange
Purple
accel
46/48000
Series
Org/Blk
Vio/Blk
accel
51/61000
Series
red
Black
Chrysler
Org/Wht
Black
Mallory
Org/Blk
Vio/Blk
