Does anyone know how to test the optical sensor part of an opti while it is off the car? I bought one to switch to the vented opti and to use with the LTCC and I was going to take the rotor out of it, when I got it apart ther was quite a bit of moisture inside the opti and I was wondering if there was any way to test this sensor before I put it on the car.

 

You can try it with a multimeter and a 5 volt source, although it still won't be guaranteed to work. Just hook it up to a 5 volt source and hook up the voltmeter between one of the signals and ground. When you turn the wheel slowly the reading should alternate between 0 & 5 volts as the slots in the wheel go by it. If you have access to an oscilliscope it would probably be better but not everybody's got one of those just laying around. It would be a good idea to test both signals (low and high resolution). Keep in mind it has to be a 5 volt dc signal or you could damage it while testing. If you don't have something like that laying around just unhook the opti on your engine and hook the tester up and turn the ignition to the on position so you have a safe power source.

 

Can I still plug the opti into the harness if the engine is not in the car? I rebuilding my engine for a blower right now and converting over to the vented opti so I can run a true roller timing chain. I I wanted to make sure the optical sensor works before I get everything put together. Which leads do I need to test for the high and low res signal. Thanks for taking the time to help out, I really didn't want to put the opti in without making sure it worked first.

 

Yes you don't need the engine you just need the battery, the wires & the computer to provide the correct voltage. Test for both a high and low resolution signal.

 

I've done it with an oscilloscope and a bench regulated power supply, as stated above.

Tom Piper

 

What is the proper way to test the optical sensor while it is on the car? Is there any way to?

 

The best way would be with a dual-trace oscilloscope -- high-res on one channel and low-res on the other.
You could watch the high-res and low-res pulses in relation to each other.

But, the ECM is keeping track of them too and will issue a trouble-code if they are way out.

Tom Piper