I already see them on Thunder Racing and Summit, Summit says the ship date is 5-15-06, part # MSD-83811, the price is $498 on them. Not that bad, but if it's the last opti I ever have to buy then thats fine by me. Should be right in time for my heads and cam swap

 

The ship date has been revised about a half dozen times now. A repeat of the cap and rotor saga. Let's report back when someone has one in their possession.

 

Ah, trry not to get my hopes up. I imagine this sucker is going to sell out really quick.

 

I was looking online at the Cap and Rotor.

I am a newbie to this whole thing, and my opti is working great (knock on wood). What are the main differences between the opti package and the cap and rotor??

Thanks!!

 

they are just that, the cap and rotor is just the front cap and "rotor", the new opti thats 500 is an entire distributer, supposedly MSD fixed the problem areas that the stocker has, updated the electronics inside and its supposed to not burn up all the time like the genuine gm ones are known for doing. we wont know if their claims are accurate until they hit the market unfortunately

 

The GM ones are a lot better than given credit for, you don't know what you are talking about as far as what burns up in them sounds like you got your info STRICTLY from their marketting BS.
The one actual problem the opti can have is the rotor can begin to come appart under high rpm use, the MSD rotor APPEARS to be upgraded to resolve this but has not yet stood the test of time.
As to the "last opti I will ever buy" well obviously you don't understand what an opti is and does, it is a distributor as such the cao and rotor are WEAR ITEMS, on older vehicles those parts were cheap and easy to replace. For the LT1 they are much more expensive and more hassle to replace so people neglect them and in their infinite STUPIDITY blame the opti when they have issues. That is exactly like leaving spark plugs in for 150K then when they are shot saying they are junk.

 

Some of the crap that you post blows my mind. Anytime someone says something that you remotely don't agree with, you are quick to tell them that they don't know what they are talking about. If you wouldn't prance around on this place like you know something that everyone doesn't perhaps you'd learn something.

While I agree that the opti could have some problems with the rotor disintegrating at high RPM, the bigger issue seems to be an optical sensor inside the housing that is prone to failure due to moisture. Why GM didn't put a magnetic pickup in there is beyond me.

I have a suspicion that any different design of this part that uses an optical shutter to pick up the cam position is still going to be prone to the same issues as the GM optispark distributor. I'm not going to take a $500 chance on a new opti design from MSD unless I'm blowing through stockers like there's no tomorow *and* the MSD unit has a magnetic pickup (which is not the case).

 

The OEM Opti has many well known problems.... cheap bearing, leaky case, leaky harness tower seal, rust that blinds the optical sensor, rotors screws that aren't even tightened up, rotors that explode, possible loss of dielectric strength when high performance ignition systems are used, corrosion of the harness terminals. I'm not so sure the optical sensor electronics die directly because of moisture.... the rust that blinds them is a secondary problem. They should have used some stainless in there to prevent the rust. They should have thought of the ozone problem before they installed the unvented version.

After using the Opti only for a cam position sensor for 6 years now, I'm convinced its a great idea.... the problem was poor execution.

 

So basically you are saying that despite all the other "problems" the only part you stopped using was the cap and rotor?
Plenty of people go well beyond 100K without ever touching the thing, who would have ever thought of that on say an HEI, nobody the cap and rotor for that are $15 so they get replaced with plugs. The "problems" with the opti are neglect and then people not being smart enough to realize the cap and trotor wear as do any cap and rotor, then you have the idiots who replace them while still wet rather than letting them dry ANY distributor will act up severely if water gets inside, yes the opti's location puts it at greater risk but still not as bad as people here make it out too be. I have driven through 8" of water slowly 2-3" at speed and given it several dexcool baths from heater hose issues. A little dielectric grease on the weatherpak goes a hell of a long ways towards waterproofing it.

I replaced mine at 96K because the internet ignorance and my relative newbie status convinced me it was a problem, it was not, have about 70K on the replacement, half of that with the cam reving beyond stock levels. The original was sujected to a Jacobs Ignition for sometime another newbie mistake I made given the hell it was on plugs it had to be rough on the opti as well.
Another thing to consider is I come at this from strictly the vented angle even the 94 b-bodies were vented. I will give you the unvented opti is just a problem waiting to happen.

 

OK... seems you have this pro-Opti campaign, and anyone who has a problem with their Opti is just ignorant, an idiot or negligent.

My unvented Opti died at about 50K miles. The cap/rotor was still in perfect condition. The optical sensor was blinded by rust from the cheap carbon steel bearing support plate. Show me how this was my fault because of "neglect", or because or "not being smart enough". The ignition system was designed to run for 100K miles, untouched. They did not realize their design goals. When I eventually pulled the entire Opti off, the bearing was shot, and it had only been on the car for 60K miles at that point.

No - not correct when you say the "only part [ I ] stopped using was the cap and rotor". In fact, I stopped using the entire Opti, and replaced it with the Electromotive SDI/Opti-Eliminator. I was able to switch back and forth between the Opti and the E'motive. You would not believe the difference in performance... it was measureable,

But, being ignorant and not smart enough to realize how great the Opti is, I went one step further. I bought a new VENTED Opti, and installed it without the rotor. I used the optical sensor to feed my MoTeC ECU and an 8-channel ignition driver with 8 LS1-style coils. Removing the high voltage load from the Opti appears to eliminate the severe ozone problem (most distributors are not totally sealed like the Opti... GM apparently forgot that when they designed the unvented unit, then tried to recover with the vacuum harness) which cause all the corrosion. Now, for 6 years, its been a faultless system.

But, this is not a street driven car.... it hasn't been exposed to deep puddles, car washes, leaking water pumps (I replaced the water pump when I installed the vented Opti, as a precaution).

Not sure while you feel that you are the only one smart enough to realize how great the Opti is, and hold the condescending view that anyone who has a problem with the Opti is negligent, ignorant or the village idiot.

 

I thought my opti was bad when I first got my car and got a lifetime warranty on it as well as a new cap and rotor. It wasnt even an AC delco unit it was a off brand at a parts house. The biggest problem Ive had with the entire system is where the wire harness plugs into. It would always get corroded. Well I got a new harness, put some DE grease on the ends put a little rtv around the top of the plug and around the edge of the cap and put the opti back together and I havent had a problem since. I also run a 6al box and live in wet rainy FL and I wash and rinse my motor. The only openings for my opti are the vent lines. The rest of it is sealed....at least I hope.

 

I thought my opti was bad when I first got my car and got a lifetime warranty on it as well as a new cap and rotor. It wasnt even an AC delco unit it was a off brand at a parts house. The biggest problem Ive had with the entire system is where the wire harness plugs into. It would always get corroded. Well I got a new harness, put some DE grease on the ends put a little rtv around the top of the plug and around the edge of the cap and put the opti back together and I havent had a problem since. I also run a 6al box and live in wet rainy FL and I wash and rinse my motor. The only openings for my opti are the vent lines. The rest of it is sealed....at least I hope.

 

My opti blew apart in the burnout box at 6200 RPM (literally fell apart, rotor blew off the assembly) Had 88k miles on it though.

 

Injuneer the last paragraph I said I look at this strictly from the VENTED standpoint and sometimes forget about the unvented which was a mistake and much more failure prone.

I just get tired of people crying about a WEAR ITEM like a cap and rotor wearing out and the original posters expression of that in his belief that this as of yet 100% untested part would be the last one he would ever need to buy again ignoring the fact cap and rotor are wear items.

Also even though you experianced failures would you go so far as to say they are common? Seems to me it is far more common for guys to get 100K+ without issue(from vented) than it is for the drop of the hat failures people speak of. As with anything mechanical it can and will fail it is just GROSSLY overblown as to the frequency of such. I never claimed it5 was perfect just that it is not a fraction as bad as many here make it out to be and lead others to believe.