Doing a tuneup with a buddy of mine. After putting in a new optispark, the car wont start. Does the rotor have to be lined up a certain way? ( I have no idea what Im saying, Im just asking this for my mechanic friend )

 

It should only go on one way.The shaft that drives the opti is keyed so it will line up the right in right spot.

 

A very popular misconception.... it is TOTALLY possible to align the splined drive shaft (93/94) or the dowel pin (95-97) incorrectly, and I would estimate that it happens in 10-20% of the Opti installs. You only have to do a "search" to find post after post from people who insist it will only go on one way, and insist they aligned it correctly, only to find it is EASY to align it incorrectly, and they managed to do it.

Shoebox has good photos:

http://shbox.com/1/93-94_opti.jpg
http://shbox.com/1/opti_back.jpg

 

I've misalligned it. Was a problem I couldn't figure out for the longest time. Just have to be careful and make sure it slips all the way down on there. Always a good idea to start the car after installing the opti, but before putting everything back on (water pump, fans, crank pulley, etc.).

 

Is it possible to put a 95 on wrong? I just installed mine but havent started the car up. On shoebox's website it shows that it can only go on one way. I put the only different key on the cam dowel.

 

Like I said, I did it (on a 95). It didn't slip all the way down, but I was still able to bolt it down and put it all back together. Once it slipped all the way down, I realized how wrong I was at first.

 

I have misaligned my 95's opti as well, and yes it didn't start. I aligned my 94 on perfectly and it didn't start. I had the opti replaced on warrenty since it was brand new, and the new one worked great. So, very unlikely, but still a possibility that the opti's from the factory can be bad.