Has anyone tried the CraneCams HI-6S ignition on an otherwise fairly stock engine? Improvements? This looks to be a good unit, but I want some inputs from those who have gone before me before I try more ignition mods. :-)

Thanks,
-Mike

 

I have the HI-6S in my grand marquis. Its been a while since I installed it. From what I remember, The gains were slightly noticeable. The car seemed to be a little more responsive with the crane, but its nothing dramatic. The nice thing about the crane's is: they are sealed, so you don't have to worry as much if they get wet. I belive it also has a rev limiter than can be hooked up as a theft deterrent system.

My friend with an 88 supercharged (at the time) mustang also has the crane. Just the HI-6. We put lots of parts on the car a few winters ago,including the supercharger, and the crane, so i can't comment on power, but It has held up nice for him, even though its in the fender, where its exposed to the elements.

scott

 

I installed the HI-6 box I had been using in my race car into my F-150, and it felt slower, and less responsive. I pulled it out, and hooked up the stock ignition, and it was peppier. Just my experience.

Take care,
-Chris

 

We seem to have had similar experiences (me with Jacobs, you with CraneCams).

Why would the ignitions be hindering our trucks?? Interesting.

 

Ford ignitions are interesting. I discovered after installing my Crane box that the wiring to the coil can be reversed, and the engine will still run, just weaker. This was my suspicion after my results sucked, so I tried reversing the coil wires, and it got worse. I corrected the coil wiring, and it was better, but still not up to the level of the stock ignition. I have come to the conclusion that the factory ignition systems installed in Ford vehicles since EEC IV are excellent. I am somewhat "old school" in that I remember the factory ignition systems being the bottleneck on the road to performance, so this was hard for me to accept, but the proof is in the results. I did change my coil to a Crane PS91, but that was more for peace of mind than for performance.

Bottom line: what we've got is worth having.

Take care,
-Chris

 

i seen a mallory or accel TFI-IV unit . mallory, accel and msd all have an after market coil for it . that'd be about as far as i would go .

 

I hate Mallory. Nice stickers, but otherwise, junk (IMHO). I must admit, though, my handy dandy ignition module tester is Mallory, and it works fine. It could be easily made from scratch, though, requiring a coil, a 6vdc battery, and some wire. If you're interested, Ray, I'll send you a pic. It has your name (Macgyver) written all over it.

Take care,
-Chris

 

cool send away i am game :-)

 

Thanks for the replies... the folks from whom I ordered the ignition basically said that no ignition will improve an already healthy truck, and if you see an improvement after installing an igntion then your stock ignition is sick. My results were nil--same performance as without the Jacob's ignition (better without, actually.)

When performance upgrades such as superchargers are added, it is a different story... But for most standard performance upgrades (FIPK, exhaust) an ignition system won't make a difference according to the rep who handled my turn-in.

-Mike