What are the chances of the Optispark dying while driving?

 

Dont know the odds, but mine did.......

Rust was the culprit.....

 

Pretty much the same as the chances of any conventional distributor dying while driving, with the added risk of the optical sensor crapping out.

I'll move this ti "LT1/LT4 Engine Tech", since that's where it belongs....

 

Last summer (June) I was running down the 1/4 at WOT approaching stripe and my engine shut-down. Turned-out the optical module in my MSD failed and lost the high-resolution pulse (MSD verified the failure). Basically, it was new and had only been on the engine for about two months. The new optical module (knock-on-wood) has been running great after I rebuilt the Opti back in June.

Basically, anything electroinc can fail at any time. And, it doesn't have to be an Opti.

WD

 

I would say it depends, if it has reached the 100,000 mile mark then it need to be replaced (tune up - cap/rotor w/plug/wires) - Obviously if you avoid the signs of a bad (worn) opti then you run the risk of it dying on you, but for the most part it will not die on you unless like I said, if you avoid the signs of a worn out opti then your asking for it.

p.s. Opti spark is not as bad as people say it is, I have never had a problem with the opti, other than just doing a tune up on it - or am I one of the lucky few??

 

Odds of opti going out while driving = pretty good in my case. The first opti I had go out gave me a SES warning before it backfired and then coasted to a stop. The second one just backfired and then coast to a stop without SES warning.

 

I'd say the odds are fairly rare, no more than any other car/engine failing. Of course there are going to be problems with anything, and those that have had problems with that "thing" will chime in, which will give you the feeling that it is very unreliable.
Yes, the opti can cause problems, if installed wrong, or forced on problems can arise quickly. If gotten wet, it may or may not fail and the servity of the failure could be a miss or engine not run at all.

The original opti on my '95 was still running perfect after 90k miles when I took it off last year. The opti on my LT4 truck has 65k miles on it and is fine.

Probably about the same odds as the altenator going out and the battery going dead and leaving you stranded. I see loads of LT1 powered vehicles on the road but do not notice any higher rates of them being stranded on the side of the road, so its as reliable as any other motor part of any other car IMO.

 

the 1st one I had did the classic high rpm miss, i drove it like that for a month before i got it swtiched.


the 2nd one that went out on me just died....i was driving on the highway and it just shut off. Thank god it restarted....got me a few miles, died. I let it sit for an hour. restarted and got me home. Whenever it would get hot it would just die.



of course I have a honda accord that did the same thing when the dist went bad.

but yea when your car shuts off and leaves you sitting on the side of the road it really cuts your faith in it. I just have to think back on the years of flawless service is has given me untill this screw up.





i noticed someone in this thead somthing about their MSD... you had an 2 month old MSD opti and it went out!!?!???!? I thought those were supposed to be bulletproof.

 

If you want to learn more about the problems people have had to date with the MSD Opti, do a "search". It is far from "bulletproof".

 

Why is the optispark still an ongoing issue? After the Delteq install, I can't imagine why anyone would replace their opti, when for a few bucks more, you can put in a Delteq or LTCC setup. If you factor in labor rate, it's a break-even.

 

The Delteq and LTCC both still use the optical portion of the opti and if that is working I can't imagine why anyone would do more than a cap and rotor at $150 or less.
Then again I think things through and take the time to understand which seperates me from most people who blindly follow along with the rest of the crowd.