I dissected my old 94 non vented opti spark and it looks pretty good. It had a tiny bit of moisture in it, the rotor was still intact fine but the end of the brass where it meets up with the tips in the cap is black. Looks coated with a black hard crust. Is that normal? Shouldn't it just be brass or is that some type of old connection grease or something. I scraped on it and it came off clean. I'm thinking of cleaning it up and bolting it on tomorrow real quick and trying it just to see what it will do. I'm was going to order a new opti but I'm just curious if this old one is really that dead or if it just needs a new cap and rotor. My 8 connections in the cap had a little white corrosion on it too that I cleaned up. They look a little worn though. So is this black crust on the end of the rotor brass normal or what? a $99 cap and rotor is better for me then a $300 new Opti.......or is it?

 

I would do the whole Opti, it may end up costing you more money and time later on down the road. But then again it might now. Plus they are a real PITA to do.

 

Well Im buying a new opti but I was going to wait untill spring tax time and I was going to go with a MSD unit then, also a CC306 cam, Headers and lots of other work. Im just trying to keep it running untill that time. Well actually get it back running untill that time.

 

What does the optical sensor look like? How does the bearing sound/feel?

If there is rust on either of those then replace the whole thing.

If they are nice and shiny, then just replace the cap and rotor.

[edit]It would be silly to do anything with the old one and then replace with an MSD in a few months. Get the MSD now.[/edit]

 

I cant afford the MSD now. Where is the optical sensor? How do I check the bearing?