What is the real problem with the optispark? Is it just the cap itself that you can see on the outside of the engine that goes bad? Or does it go further into the engine. I'm about to get my engine rebuilt soon and I wanted to replace it while they were doing the engine before it goes bad. I've got 150,000 miles on the car. I also wanted to know if anybody has or recommends the new MSD Pro-Billet replacement for the Optispark.

http://www.msdignition.com/2006/06-4.htm

I really appreciate any advice on this.

Thanks,
Shawn

 

That's about a million dollar question. If you're having Opti problems, you're better off just buying a whole new unit. You'll have to somewhere down the line. The biggest problem is location. Between the w/p and the block. If you're w/p leaks it's going to spoil the opti. And it's hot down there. If you know about electronics. You'll know heat is the biggest enemy.

Most cases the optical disc that you can't see starts rusting out and causing all sorts of misleading symptoms. I'de get the MSD Opti-Spark. If you can wait long enough. If not, get a stocker.

 

The MSD complete Opti is "vaporware" at this point... current prediction on availability from Summit is 5/15/06. They did that with the cap and rotor and it was almost a year before they actually delivered one.

Things that can go wrong:
-contacts in cap burn
-tip of rotor burns
-rotor comes loose
-rotor explodes
-carbon tracking on cap
-cap dielectric strength breaks down and embedded wires cross-fire
-cap seal leaks and soaks internals (may dry out, may not)
-terminals for plug wires and coil wires corrode

All of the above can be solved by replacing the front 1/2 of the Opti, which is the cap/rotor set.

-bearing wears out
-optical sensor blinded by rust from cheap carbon steel internals
-optical sensor becomes sensitive to heat soak
-optical sensor electronics fail
-seal in harness tower dries out and lets moisture into the case
-terminals on harness connector corrode
-oil from leaking seals on front of engine enter case

All of those require replacement of the back 1/2 of the Opti.

From the list above, with 150,000 miles on the stock Opti, it would make sense to replace the complete unit. There is nothing that "goes into the engine" other than the back of the case sticking into the timing cover, and a splined shaft (93/94) or a dowel pin (95-97) that connects the Opti to the timing set or nose of the cam.

If you have a healthy optical sensor, their are two systems you can get that eliminate the high voltage functions of the cap/rotor. Look for info on the Bailey LTCC or the Delteq add-on systems.

 

The ACCEL opti is supposed to be out in mid April.

 

I just installed a new opti and a new Delteq system last night, and if you have the money to do so I would suggest doing it. It took me and my bubby about 4 1/2 hrs to do everything and I'll be testing it at the track Sat.

Randy