MSD Opti Owners...
Registered User
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 8
From: Fayetteville, North Carolina
Okay I had a water pump go out and now my opti is acting up. Big surprise, huh?! I was considering buying the MSD but ya'll don't seem to happy with them and since the MSD is about a $180 more than the GM or the Accel units seems I should just save my money. So, since the MSD's are a problem which would ya'll recommend, the Accel or the GM? All help appreciated.
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 309
From: Bartonville, Ill
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 873
From: Solar system/earth/canada/quebec
Today was the first runs on my new MSD distributor. I just got back from the track a few minutes ago and here’s the ugly story! I had three “perfect runs” (time trials) and my LT 396 engine never ran better (real clean without a miss, or any high RPM pop). Again, everything was perfect on those first three runs and I’m turn over 6500 RPM.
Then during the first elimination round I had some high RPM miss-fires (but I won). During the second round the miss got a lot worse (but won again) and by the third round it wouldn’t rev over about 5200 without a “terrible miss” (lost big time).
So, I don’t think there is any question about it, the new MSD went out after only three runs! No one has the bad luck I have and I’m really disappointed with the MSD ($400+ for the part and several hours of my work). Anyway, I’m pull the MSD tomorrow and I’ll remove the cap to see if I can tell what’s wrong.
WD
Then during the first elimination round I had some high RPM miss-fires (but I won). During the second round the miss got a lot worse (but won again) and by the third round it wouldn’t rev over about 5200 without a “terrible miss” (lost big time).
So, I don’t think there is any question about it, the new MSD went out after only three runs! No one has the bad luck I have and I’m really disappointed with the MSD ($400+ for the part and several hours of my work). Anyway, I’m pull the MSD tomorrow and I’ll remove the cap to see if I can tell what’s wrong.
WD
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 151
From: Somerset, Ky
Bought mine in July of '06 and i had problems with it. The problem was with the crank sensor that is built into the opti. Car would run great for ~20 mins and then die, refusing to start until the engine was cool again. This cost me a lot of time and money before i narrowed it to the opti itself! i was severly disappointed but have since sent it back under warranty and replaced the sensor within. I havent put it back on yet but i will keep all posted. I do have to say that while it was operating properly that it had a great spark and the car ran flawlessly!!
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,388
From: Moore Oklahoma
As I said in my previous post, three runs at the track last night on my new MSD Opti and something “really bad” went wrong with it!
I removed the MSD this morning (I’m getting really good and fast at this) and removed the cap on the MSD. Here is what I found. One of the screws had fallen out of the rotor and was laying in the distributor. Also, the other screw was loose and the rotor was about to fall off. No wonder it was missing “like hell” at higher RPM. I couldn’t tell that they had used any thread-locker on the screws, probably weren’t tightened correctly during assembly.
Also, the rotor is rubbing the back-plate about 180 degrees real bad! And, the O-ring is not causing that problem. With, or without the O-ring it rubs.
I’ll be on the phone with MSD tomorrow. Here are the pictures.
WD
I removed the MSD this morning (I’m getting really good and fast at this) and removed the cap on the MSD. Here is what I found. One of the screws had fallen out of the rotor and was laying in the distributor. Also, the other screw was loose and the rotor was about to fall off. No wonder it was missing “like hell” at higher RPM. I couldn’t tell that they had used any thread-locker on the screws, probably weren’t tightened correctly during assembly.
Also, the rotor is rubbing the back-plate about 180 degrees real bad! And, the O-ring is not causing that problem. With, or without the O-ring it rubs.
I’ll be on the phone with MSD tomorrow. Here are the pictures.
WD
Last edited by The Engineer; Jun 10, 2007 at 03:23 PM.
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 393
From: Camanche IA
Its sad to say but with mass production some are good some are bad. With my first one it seemed to turn hard before I put it in. I questioned it before I put it in but tried it and it failed. The rotor around the screw holes was melted . When mine died I drove it home from a day of racing and it was fine. When I shut it off that was the last time it ran. It would not restart the next day. The optical pick got hot and was sending the pcm any signals. That with how hard it turned led me to beleive my failure was caused by too tight of a press fit for the bearings.
Last edited by jakesz28; Jun 10, 2007 at 02:33 PM.
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,388
From: Moore Oklahoma
Here are a few more comments on my MSD failure. Replacing the screws in the rotor and using some thread locker will fix that problem (easy fix). The plastic back-plate appears to be slightly warped which is causing the rotor to rub (about 180 degrees), which I don’t believe is caused by the O-ring. However, the O-ring is difficult to almost impossible to properly seat when installing the cap (possibly the O-ring is too thick).
Do the recent production MDS optis have a gasket that replaces the O-ring? I got my new MSD from jeg's last week.
WD
Do the recent production MDS optis have a gasket that replaces the O-ring? I got my new MSD from jeg's last week.
WD
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 473
From: Munfordville, KY
As I said in my previous post, three runs at the track last night on my new MSD Opti and something “really bad” went wrong with it!
I removed the MSD this morning (I’m getting really good and fast at this) and removed the cap on the MSD. Here is what I found. One of the screws had fallen out of the rotor and was laying in the distributor. Also, the other screw was loose and the rotor was about to fall off. No wonder it was missing “like hell” at higher RPM. I couldn’t tell that they had used any thread-locker on the screws, probably weren’t tightened correctly during assembly.
Also, the rotor is rubbing the back-plate about 180 degrees real bad! And, the O-ring is not causing that problem. With, or without the O-ring it rubs.
I’ll be on the phone with MSD tomorrow. Here are the pictures.
WD
I removed the MSD this morning (I’m getting really good and fast at this) and removed the cap on the MSD. Here is what I found. One of the screws had fallen out of the rotor and was laying in the distributor. Also, the other screw was loose and the rotor was about to fall off. No wonder it was missing “like hell” at higher RPM. I couldn’t tell that they had used any thread-locker on the screws, probably weren’t tightened correctly during assembly.
Also, the rotor is rubbing the back-plate about 180 degrees real bad! And, the O-ring is not causing that problem. With, or without the O-ring it rubs.
I’ll be on the phone with MSD tomorrow. Here are the pictures.
WD
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 873
From: Solar system/earth/canada/quebec
Here are a few more comments on my MSD failure. Replacing the screws in the rotor and using some thread locker will fix that problem (easy fix). The plastic back-plate appears to be slightly warped which is causing the rotor to rub (about 180 degrees), which I don’t believe is caused by the O-ring. However, the O-ring is difficult to almost impossible to properly seat when installing the cap (possibly the O-ring is too thick).
Do the recent production MDS optis have a gasket that replaces the O-ring? I got my new MSD from jeg's last week.
WD
Do the recent production MDS optis have a gasket that replaces the O-ring? I got my new MSD from jeg's last week.
WD
Man this is not looking good.Im waiting for my new one(warranty exchange)and now im affraid to install it.I dont wanna a distributor that last a couple of run or a couple of month
Does anyone know how to take off the black back plate.I wanted to do it on mine but didnt figure out how to do it without breaking it.
I wanna do that since mine is now just cam sensor for my Delteq.
