took my opti off because of a no start condition, did the test methods on shoebox's site and it pointed to the opti, but if i recall when an opti is bad like the optical unit goes bad itll make a rattle noise... am i just loosing my mind here? is there another method to testing the opti while its off the car?

 

Sometimes the optical sensor will get cluttered up with rust and grime, blocking the eye rendering it useless. Other times the rotor will crack and detach (that you can definitely hear).

Short version, not always.

 

If the Opti is off the car, open it up and look at the cap and rotor for damage. Then look at the optical sensor for the rust that Joe mentioned. You can also supply 12V to the correct pins of the connector, and rotates the Opti slowly to see if you are getting the correct 5V square wave output from the two optical readers in the optical sensor.

As noted above, it would be unusual for a faulty optical sensor to cause a "rattle".

 

hypothetically could i clean the optical unit with electrical parts cleaner and have it work? this opti has maybe 5000 miles on it. its a GMPP Opti (not bought from ebay)

 

Depends what's wrong with the optical sensor module. If its full of rust or oil, you may be able to clean it. But if the electronics in the sensor have failed, cleaning it won't do anything.

 

The rotor screws could have came loose..

 

took it apart and my old one is full of corotion on the points of contact and on the rotor... now i just need to get to the optical unit and make sure thats clean... im willing to bet its dirty too...

 

got it put on the car and cleared my DTC 16 code, rolled it a bunch with still no spark but no DTC code... im thinking my 6AL box crapped out. i tested the ICM plug again and got 12 Vdc on the 2 plugs and 3 vac while rolling on the 3rd... so im getting good signal from the computer and the opti, i had the ICM tested and it came back good and i tested the coil which tested good, last thing in the ignition line is the 6AL... thoughts? or am i barking up the wrong tree?

 

It's so easy to bypass the MSD if you have the harness. Takes about 30 seconds or less. I sure would have tried that first.

 

i bought it with it installed and i dont think i have the harness... i wonder if its the same between the mallory hyfire and the MSD.. i have a bypass harness for the mallory. and i would have bypassed it but i have to go pick my kiddo up... i may take a crack at it after his mom comes and picks him up.