I am ready to get a Dynaspark. I am pretty excited to change my opticrap that has given me so much problems and get what they call bulletproof opti.
To all of you that have made this decision, what has been your experience with Dynaspark. Is it really as good as it sounds?
I am really tired of changing the opti because of an exploding rotor.
Please advice!!

 

I think it is. You do need to follow all their instructions though. If you don't check to make sure you don't have something causing them to fail, you'll kill a DynaSpark as well.

 

....i had one installed on my 94 coupe over the last winter....the mechanic said it was very easy to do.....but it runs great, starts great.....and yesterday i did the unspeakable and that i washed the engine down with simple green, let it sit for a few minutes, then took a water hose, started the engine, and then sprayed the engine down good with the nozzle that i had.......did not cover anything, but yet tried to keep the spray from any major electrical plugs and connectors.........then let the engine run a little more to dry out. early this morning i got in it, it fired right away, and i drove into work without any problems. that is one of dynasparks disclaimers...that you do not have to be concerned about the unit and getting it wet....since it is evidently sealed.....so far i am very satisfied and its operation.

 

you are blowing up rotors... that means you are spinning the motor real tight.

I would consider something like the LTCC, which replaces the high voltage of the opti with 8-LS1 coils. You can then get rid of the rotor...

www.bailey-eng.com

think about it.

 

To get wet the engine is something I would not try. It sounds great.
The problem with the rotor is the real issue. I understand they use a riveted rotor, and I am planning to limit the rpms in the car so the engine shuts off at 5000 rpms, I guess that with the momentum it will reach about 5500, maybe that is safe.
I know that I have had no real luck with optis because last one only lasted about 200 miles and the rotor was defective. I found that the plastic rivets were the problem.
They inject the rotor in one pice with two projections, that is where they mount the metal parts and melt the excess plastic that acts like a very bad rivet.
Problem is that this kind of manufacturing really sucks.
I looked at pictures of the MSD rotor and it seems to be great.
It is a shame that there is no real delivery time, that would be a great addition to the dynaspark!

Dynaspark users please keep your coments coming!

 

I think you need to look up Steve's40th post on his exploding rotor.He went through 2 dynasparks If I remember right the problem was under the timing cover,Chain, Gear or both. Are you over reving the engine? The dynaspark is rated to 6500 I believe.There are detail instructions with it to do some measurements to ensure it's survival.

I have one and power washed my engine with no trouble.It runs better than it did before and if it is 93,94 it comes with hoses to upgrade to vented system.Install was not too bad but you will have to re pin the opti clip under the pass injector cover.It was so old and dried out on mine the clip broke so be careful with that part.I just taped it up very well and everything is good.

Once you have the Dynaspark there is no changing the cap as it is riveted but you can send it back for rebuild for less than the price of cap and rotor.

 

Yes, I read those posts. It seems that he had another type of opti tha uses a pin that was too long. I understand that stock vettes will cut off power at 5500 rpms, right?
So I do not think I was above 5500, but I do confess that I was pushing the car hard!

 

It should not over rev unless you have an aftermarket chip.I would still be concerned about the cause of the rotor problem.Has an Opti failed with 200mi? You betcha. I would definately put a stethoscope on the timing cover after you get it running again and listen for chain slap.Where did you get your Opti? If it was from a legitimate source they should have a 12mo. warrenty on it.I think I would try to get it replaced and see if the next one holds up before going to Dynaspark.Or at least get it replaced and sell it here to defray the Dynaspark's extra cost. Good luck

 

Well, I bought it from a seller at Ebay, warranty was supposed to be 1 year, but the seller will not return my emails. I guess that the intrest is only on selling.

I have not heard the chain making strange noises but I would have take the cover off and check it out but I do not have the tools to take the balancer hub from the engine and I really do not know how to identify Top dead center on cylinder 1 on the compression stroke.
After all there will be two times in a cycle when the piston will be up and valves closed, right?

On the other hand I would not understand what would be the problem with the chain. Even if it was a little loose , the optispark is rigid and mounted over the engine. The movement is transmited from the little shaft that enters the distributor ( opti ) and makes the wheel turn with the rotor installed.
What I have seen is a very cheap made rotor that uses melted plastic to hold the metal conductor.
I riveted a rotor ( the metal part ) and found that it will stand a better chance. I was thinking on manufacturing my rotor. Casting one and making it with fiberglass and epoxy resin, I still have to know what resin would withstand the heat.

I have seen model airplane propellers made out of nylon and fiberglass turn at 40 000rpms and will stand that pressure.
Just a thought. I saw MSD picture of their rotor and it looks very neat, unfortunately it has been backordered forever!

Thanks for the advise, I will still check all that.

 

The chain noise would indicate gear issues.You can hear it just fine with a mechanics stethoscope without taking the cover off.Too much vibration transmitted to the opti can shorten the life by vibrating the shaft.

I don't think you will be able to make a better rotor if it was easy someone would've done it by now.MSD was supposed to ship those in January and still can't get them right I called them not too long ago.

If you have a reciept you might try your local dealer and see if they will warrenty it.I agree the design looks cheap but there are cars here with over 100k miles that are still running with the original opti so it is not all bad once you get one that works.If another one breaks it is time to get under the timing cover to see whats going on. Good Luck

 

I have one - for a year now. It works just fine. I don't race other than the typical lead foot around town.

A stocker would probably work just as well up to this point. I bought it not for performance - but for longevity.

 

Aha!

Get a regular opti from a proper supplier, or get the dynaspark. The chance of blowing up a rotor at stock engine speeds with either is roughly zero if installed correctly.

 

I have noticed that almost everyone talks of installing the opti right way.
I have a doubt here because I understand that the Optispark that is not vented will only go in one position because the shaft is indexed.
And the screws that hold the opti to the engine are always torqued correctly as other parts that are removed during procedure such as water pump and harmonic balancer that has to match the little arrows.
But I seem to be missing something here, maybe.
Please advise on this.
As always thanks for the coments that are very valuable for me.

 

I installed the DynaSpark on my '94 last year. I have put around 7k miles on the car since then, and it's been just fine.

Fabricating your own rotor is probably not a good idea, unless you have the equipment and knowledge to also balance the part properly.

The early (non-vented) Optispark, and the DynaSpark replacement for these early-generation Optisparks, are keyed, so that unless you force something, it's not possible to install the unit incorrectly with respect to rotational positioning. The cautionary words you have heard about installing the DynaSpark correctly refer to following their instructions exactly. If you have any questions about it, call them (I did). They will tell you what you do and don't need to do.

If the rotor that you blew up lost the contact, and you didn't rev the engine beyond redline, I'd say it was probably a defective rotor. If it fragged when you dumped the clutch, you might have given it more shock/backlash than it could stand. The rotor in the DynaSpark is superior to the OEM rotor, so it should hold up better, but hole shots can be very hard on Optispark (or DynaSpark) rotors.

If you don't intend to rev the engine beyond 5k RPM, the DynaSpark should hold up very well. If I recall correctly, they spec it to hold up to over 6k RPM.

Don't forget that a rev limiter won't protect you from overrevving if you accidentally hit the wrong gear, or get stupid with a downshift.

If you want to rev the engine beyond 6K RPM (probably not a good idea with a stock valvetrain), consider Bogus's suggestion to go with the LTCC. Or the Delteq unit in combination with the high-rev version of the DynaSpark (which has no rotor).

Good luck.

Be well,

SJW

 

Could you please explain what do you mean by "but hole shots can be very hard on Optispark (or DynaSpark) rotors."

Sorry, I am from Mexico and my English is not that good.

I did not know that there where Dynasparks that are rotorless.
It sounds like an intresting idea.
But I want to keep the car stock. I feel that it has enogh power for the handling it has. So I would not try to surpass redline, at least not on purpose.

 

"Hole shot" is an American hot rodder's slang term for letting the clutch out abruptly at high RPM, to do a burnout or a dragstrip launch. This sort of launch transmits mechanical shock throughout the drivetrain, and that shock will also make its way to the Optispark. The shock and/or related backlash can cause the rotor to break.

DynoTech Engineering offers the standard DynaSpark (with rotor) as a direct replacement for the original equipment Optispark unit. They also offer what they call their High Rev DynaSpark (which has no rotor), which is intended to be used with the Delteq system. The absence of the rotor allows the DynaSpark to endure significantly higher RPMs, because the rotor is the weakest part in the unit with respect to the centrifugal force generated by high RPM. The rotorless DynaSpark only furnishes the optical inputs (low-resolution and high-resolution data) to the ECM. Because it has no rotor, it no longer functions as a distributor, and is intended to be used with the Delteq kit, which converts your engine to a Distributorless Ignition System (DIS).

If you already have a Delteq system, or are installing one, the rotorless High Rev DynaSpark is what you want. If you still need the distributor function of the unit, you want the standard (with rotor) DynaSpark.

Be well,

SJW

 

I've had one for a few months. I bought it when I did my cam install. I figured I might as well while I had everything apart.

Seems to work nicely, definitely is a quality piece.

I'm running mine up to 6500 or so regularly and no problems so far.

 

Interesting, I did not know that term but I sure do know haow to do a burnout!

6500 rpms
It seems like a lot for a Vette. I understand that at 5500 rpms fuel will not be injected to protect the car.
It is incredible that a sports car with that size pistons can handle those RPMS. I have seen 14000 rpms redline in bikes but I could not imagine 6500 on a vette, thought it would dissasemble!

I had a mechanic look at the vette and he thinks that the rotor failure was because of a defect in the rotor, seems that everything else is working nicely.

 

I was afraid to install another opti ,so I got a Delteq,so far so good.

 

The indexing can be defeated by force, damaging the opti in the process. Quite a few people have done this.

The Dynaspark install instructions include a bunch of things to check about your engine to make sure that it will fit correctly. A few people have found that these things were not within spec on their cars.

When people do cam swaps the dowel pin is sometimes the wrong length (differs from 92-94 vs. 95-97 LTx) and that will break the opti.

So there are a number of things that can go wrong in the install if one is not careful.