Opti Options??? 96 LT4
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 109
Likes: 1
From: Biddeford ME
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 3,771
Likes: 0
From: MANDEVILLE, LA La
I'm a little concearned now. I bought an MSD for my 95' from a Forum Member with 1,000 Mi on it. I wonder if I should send it back to MSD so they can check the Sensor and make sure it's OK or should I just buy a new Sensor.???? Or buy a less expensive one send my MSD Back to MSD for inspection, install the cheaper one then replace with the MSD when I get it back??? Bottom Line...can I trust my MSD to work ? I'm hearing alot of horror stories here.Gun Shy !
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 109
Likes: 1
From: Biddeford ME
That's what I would do... I changed mine out because of the P1371 codes weekly.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 2,178
Likes: 1
I did find the sensor was in V6 dogde/Mitsubishi from the early 90's under their standard distributor.
I also found the Opti shaft bearing, and our bearing supplier said I wasnt allowed to buy it, as it was GM only blah blah . He laughed. So, he found another bearing that was virtually identical, with the exception of cutting a lip off of it. This was when I was attempting to rebuild one.
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 3,771
Likes: 0
From: MANDEVILLE, LA La
Thats a fair price to ensure you have a quality product under thehood. Where did you get it.
I did find the sensor was in V6 dogde/Mitsubishi from the early 90's under their standard distributor.
I also found the Opti shaft bearing, and our bearing supplier said I wasnt allowed to buy it, as it was GM only blah blah . He laughed. So, he found another bearing that was virtually identical, with the exception of cutting a lip off of it. This was when I was attempting to rebuild one.
I did find the sensor was in V6 dogde/Mitsubishi from the early 90's under their standard distributor.
I also found the Opti shaft bearing, and our bearing supplier said I wasnt allowed to buy it, as it was GM only blah blah . He laughed. So, he found another bearing that was virtually identical, with the exception of cutting a lip off of it. This was when I was attempting to rebuild one.
Great Price.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 2,178
Likes: 1
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Intermediate
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
From: Nashville TN
OK! That's it! Need HELP!
Replaced my OEM Opti in 07 at 105k. Not because it was bad, in fact it was working just fine. Long story short, Replaced steering Rack, noticed water pump leak, decided to replace Opti.
Went with MSD Pro. Lasted 2 years and 9K miles. Mechanic says never had trouble with MSD before and replaced with MSD. 2 1/2 years and only 6K miles more the MSD is dying, kicking a P1371, as did the last MSD.
6 to 9K, does this sound "normal"?
Mechanic says GM Opti build quality has gone south and now suggests DYNOSPARK, but I just read a recent post about DS quality not so good.
Advice PLEASE...
Replaced my OEM Opti in 07 at 105k. Not because it was bad, in fact it was working just fine. Long story short, Replaced steering Rack, noticed water pump leak, decided to replace Opti.
Went with MSD Pro. Lasted 2 years and 9K miles. Mechanic says never had trouble with MSD before and replaced with MSD. 2 1/2 years and only 6K miles more the MSD is dying, kicking a P1371, as did the last MSD.
6 to 9K, does this sound "normal"?Mechanic says GM Opti build quality has gone south and now suggests DYNOSPARK, but I just read a recent post about DS quality not so good.
Advice PLEASE...
Intermediate
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
From: Nashville TN
Always stay with OEM Opti-Spark, best performance and longest life. The engineers in Bowling Green do more testing than any after market off shore crap. Find another wrench that is interested in your car and not optimizing income. Keep using crap and you will be replacing the Opti every couple of years. Mine lasted 18 years without any leaks from the water pump but I replaced the water pump (AC Delco) whie I was there. A leaking water pump is death for the Opti and can create other serious problems. It is a fairly simple job to replace both if you have any mechanical aptitude and if you don't buy the GM manual and the repair is simple. The manual will pay for it self with this one job. Anything made off shore is suspect. The engineers in Bowling Green are your best bet and if you have problems they will solve them.
Team Owner
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 23,240
Likes: 117
From: San Antonio Texas
Personally, I've had nothing but bad luck and poor service from MSD. Their service people treated me like I was some kind of a moron that didn't know how to plug in a lamp. Had a flaky MSD-6AL in the past but bought their Opti anyway. Big mistake! After a year of chasing a misfire problem that had NO CODES, the opti finally crapped out. After I did a autopsy of the unit, I found the advance mechanism to be corroded & stuck.(No wonder I couldn't turn the screw!) Also the screw holes for the rotor still had machining oil that spun into into the photo cells and killed them! (should have opened it before installation, but I trusted them to build it correctly) No more Makes S***ty Distributors for me!
Put in a self modified API distributor I bought off E-bay for cheap. Figgured if I have to do this every couple of years anyway, why spend a lot of money. Added my own internal vent tube with filter to cool the sensor with fresh cool air, and my own EM shielding and sealed the crap out of it. Been a year and a lot of hot Texas miles this summer and still ticking.
Put in a self modified API distributor I bought off E-bay for cheap. Figgured if I have to do this every couple of years anyway, why spend a lot of money. Added my own internal vent tube with filter to cool the sensor with fresh cool air, and my own EM shielding and sealed the crap out of it. Been a year and a lot of hot Texas miles this summer and still ticking.
