jack46 Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 The dreaded opti..I have a problem with my opti. It is warrantied but the last one blew after 6 weeks and even if free the tow bills are mounting this year. Is a billet MSD opti worth the money? I have an msd coil and run boost so spark is hot in the cap and the car is driven. It gave out yesterday on return 300 mile trip. If $500 opti fixes it I will spend the money, but I don't want to spend money on a shiny part that doesn't work Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 I had a MSD on my donor car, it blew before I could install in engine. Personally I think MSD is junk, JMHO. The word on Opti seems to be a good one will last a long time, a bad one not long. Its just the luck of the draw. Make sure you get a Delco Opti, not a knock off. I actually got mine on Ebay, but it is a Delco. Unfortunatly GM is no loger making new ones so most of the ones sold are rebuilds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack46 Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 That is my gut feeling... How do others handle boost and opti? I think that is the problem the hot spark kills the opti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 No clue. You might look at these guys for a total Opti option. http://www.delteq.com/ If mine ever quits I may go this way. That is my gut feeling... How do others handle boost and opti? I think that is the problem the hot spark kills the opti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack46 Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 I have two deltaqs work great on na and low boost. I will likely sellone and use other on NA Z. I had no luck with turbo and ~8 psi but ran fine with supercharger and 10 psi. I have alot more boost than that I ran 18+ with MSD coil and box and no problems. The setup was a total beast, but it would tear up everything so I turned it down. Iam leaning away from turbo Z I have a twin Z and a dd boost with opti simply sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgoodson@pacbell.net Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 This OPTI stuff. I don't know. Expertst tell me that I need to get a MSD opti and now I am told that they are junk. They have 4 screws that hold the cap on instead of 2 for the GM OPTI. The problem is suppose to be theat moisture gets in and corrodes the contacts. So I bought a MSD on Ebay, got it for $124 including shipping. It is out of the box but it looks like it has never been installed. For the money I thought I would take the chance. They are $568 new. I had to fight for it on ebay though. What do you all mean when you say your OPTI blows out? What blows or is it burns out? Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack46 Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 This OPTI stuff. I don't know. Expertst tell me that I need to get a MSD opti and now I am told that they are junk. They have 4 screws that hold the cap on instead of 2 for the GM OPTI. The problem is suppose to be theat moisture gets in and corrodes the contacts. So I bought a MSD on Ebay, got it for $124 including shipping. It is out of the box but it looks like it has never been installed. For the money I thought I would take the chance. They are $568 new. I had to fight for it on ebay though. What do you all mean when you say your OPTI blows out? What blows or is it burns out?Larry There are many opti failure modes one is moisture that can be handled with sealing IMO. I have not had that problem lately (~4 years). Mine blows the sensor for the lo/hi resolution. I hear that primarily is from the high voltage arching. With boost I run a much hotter spark. I NEVER had an opti fail with deltaq NA. BUT even with msd coils on deltaq it wouldn't fire my system at higher boosts. I am gong to come up with a better venting setup for mine and go with new rebuilt from warranty since no one talks well of msd opti their cap and rotors seem great. Also I should emphasize I drive mine on trips OFTEN. I start it and run 250 miles so not usual drag strip boosted LT1 cars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 This OPTI stuff. I don't know. Expertst tell me that I need to get a MSD opti and now I am told that they are junk. They have 4 screws that hold the cap on instead of 2 for the GM OPTI. The problem is suppose to be theat moisture gets in and corrodes the contacts. So I bought a MSD on Ebay, got it for $124 including shipping. It is out of the box but it looks like it has never been installed. For the money I thought I would take the chance. They are $568 new. I had to fight for it on ebay though. What do you all mean when you say your OPTI blows out? What blows or is it burns out?Larry The moisture issue should only be a problem in the pre 95 LT1. The 95 and up had a vented Opti which is supposed to fix that. I hope the MSD works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgoodson@pacbell.net Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I have a pre 95, 93 to be exact, But since I have the MSD waiting in the wings I'll turn everyone on to this find. A brand new distributer for a 94LT1 on Craigslist. Just came on today for $85. Check it out and let me know what you think. http://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/pts/1056236259.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 It looks real but either that is a knock off or this guy has no clue what an opti is worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 No clue. You might look at these guys for a total Opti option.http://www.delteq.com/ If mine ever quits I may go this way. I had one on the car and was not impressed. I could never get it to run right. Just went back to the stock set up again. I've still got it boxed up if any one is interested. You will need a set of plug wires. The rest is there. I've had the best luck with a GM opti. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartman Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I went with a genuine GM unit as well, and I don't think switching to an MSD will give you better performance. If you have a non-vented Opti, I think that switching to a vented would be your best option for NA applications and that's what I did on mine. jack46, I don't know what would be a good solution to your situation. Hope you figure it out and let us know how you did it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinnies Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Use a real GM back part of the opti and a msd cap/rotor, MAKE SURE TO RED LOC-TITE IN THE ROTOR SCREWS, this is the main reason for failure, screws backing out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmed Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Does anyone have experience with the Dynaspark opti on a boosted application? Everything I've read looks encouraging but I have seen nothing on boost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack46 Posted April 15, 2009 Author Share Posted April 15, 2009 Does anyone have experience with the Dynaspark opti on a boosted application? Everything I've read looks encouraging but I have seen nothing on boost. I'm not sure any opti is different on boost since the caps as I understand are all the same. The area that seems to be the problem is 'venting' the contaminated air that comes from the rotor to cap electrical spark. With boost you will at some point need a hotter spark that hotter spark I am told is the problem. Before someone asks, no venting will not effect this condition, since you can NOT run boost in any opti. The opti vent normally has a one way value that blocks pressure so when you need venting most the opti is UNVENTED. Now can you simply run a line from intake to opti and create a vacuum leak when NA and a boost leak when boosted? I have not tried it. I am tempted but fear even a low pressure will cause damage to the opti. I would love to have someone else try it on their setup :>) IF you restricted the line from intake the opti would not see a large volume of pressure and PROBABLY not cause damage but again I have NOT tried it. I have my opti connected to intake and let the opti draw unmetered air (vacuum leak). I am trying this rationalizing that this will have fresh air in the opti at all times when not in boost. The opti vent as is IMO is not sufficient so I am trying this. The impact to idle portion of tune is minimal so we will see if this opti can last 10,000 miles...I think the last made it 6 months maybe 5,000 miles I am using an MSD coil with MSD box and running around 13 psi on my buick and ~15 psi on my Z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartman Posted April 26, 2010 Share Posted April 26, 2010 I don't know for sure yet - but it seems like I lost another Opti! It was a genuine GM vented unit and I'm not using any boost. I haven't had it very long, and definitely not vey many miles - so this is getting very frustrating. I'm seriously looking at Delteq, but Mark's poor results doesn't make it look too attractive. I don't want a complete new system that will require me to use MS or something else, I really just want a plug and play solution so that I won't have to worry about it anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted April 26, 2010 Share Posted April 26, 2010 I need one too. Car runs like crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartman Posted April 26, 2010 Share Posted April 26, 2010 I need one too. Car runs like crap. So Mark, did you go back to Opti after Delteq? What are you using now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted April 26, 2010 Share Posted April 26, 2010 I went back to the opti and the car ran fine. The only change was removing the deltique and using the stock opti. Some one much smarter than me needs to figure out a better way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartman Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 So I ran my tests, and the Opti is bad again. I'm going to order from Summit Racing, and I'm thinking of going with their own brand this time. Last time I used genuine GM, but I'm not convinced it's any better. The last one only lasted 2 years and maybe a thousand miles. The Summit Racing brand is only $249.95 vs $359.95 for the GM unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.