thanks. Guess ill try it. its better than spending 500 bucks

 

Why not just change the cap and rotor. A rotor and cap are cheaper than $500. I wouldn't reuse that.

 

I considered buying a new cap and rotor but once I cleaned it up, I cant see why I should. It looks brand new. no wear at all. It only has 2k miles on it at most. All the contacts and the rotor itself looks brand new.

 

Agreed! Looking forward to your results.

Regards,
Steve

 

I think that the above assumption about Opti's and heat is untrue, and I proved it here:



Post with more details right HERE.

If you can hook a scan tool up and watch your RPM signal when the symptom is occurring, that will give you the answer about the OPTI; if your tach signal goes wacky, the OPTI or harness to the ECM isn't working correctly (more likely the Opti, IMO). If you tach signal is stable and accurate, then the OPTI is doing it's job and the problem is elsewhere.

 

What do you mean by goes wacky? It shows the studder as a misfire would but the rpm signal does not fall anymore than maybe 150-200 rpm when it happens. it literally feels like its hitting the rev limiter.

 

I mean if your RPM signal doesn't match the actual crank shaft speed. I'm not there and I can't see/touch/feel your car, but if your RPM signal loses 150-200 RPM when the symptom happens, is the engine actually losing that RPM do you think? Or is the TACH signal falling off that much?

If you feel confident that the crank is humming along at a constant speed (car speed is constant, obviously), and the tach signal is falling off, that doesn't look good, for the opti.

You can also view your high and low resolution signals w/a scan tool, take freeze frame and look at that signal more carefully.

 

Another test you could run would be to heat the ICM independently, like I did, my Opti unit, and with the rest of the car "cold", test it. I guess that's kind of the opposite of "freezing" the ICM w/the air can. Either way is a good test.

 

I did freeze the icm. made no difference. I think the MSD box and coil where saving this thing from failing completely. When I went back to the factory ignition it wouldnt rev past 2500 rpm but when the box is hooked up it would fall off at 5k. The msd had alot stronger voltage and I think it was helping get through the corrosion .

I have a new ICM on the way. The optical side of the distributor looked good so I am going to put it back together and see what happens. If I have to take it out again and replace it then so be it. I just hate to spend the 500 if I dont have to.

By going back to factory ignition and watching the problem get 100% worse, I think its definitely opti or ICM related. So we will see. Im going to have it all up and going tomorrow. I have to wait for a new distributor seal to come in before I can put it back together. In the mean time I am going to clean everything up under the hood and change my leaky power steering pump. Dang cars....,

 

I think you just said a few things that should make you wonder. Think about it. You need to go back to Basics.


"the factory ignition it wouldnt rev past 2500 rpm"
That may be your answer or your way to find out.

Hook up the Factory crap and then Diagnose your problem. It should pull up to 4000 rpm or more even with Boost.

Once you solve that, I think it should pull well into 6000 rpm with the msd because the msd is covering up a problem

Or your problem was all that blue dust that could be some kinda metal that was causing all kinds of miss firing inside the cap. It's got to be.
I'll bet you my Escort for ur Vette with it cleaned up now without the msd it will pull up to 5000 grand or so

 

That is why I swapped it to factory ignition on the side of the road when this was happening- to confirm my suspicion that is was in fact oem ignition related. So at this point I know it's either the opti, icm, or ECM. I don't think it is ECM because it wouldn't hold the commanded air fuel during the time it starts acting up. I don't think it's the icm due to the previous tests I did. So I pulled the opti. Obviously there was issue going on inside it lol. My only concern is: I haven't saw a opti only cut spark when it was hot. But by looking at toms fine example of a hot opti test- maybe that's the problem. I don't think the corrosion inside the opti would cause the problem only when hot by itself. I am going to put it back together tomorrow and we will find out.

 

Wait you are running around with a old stock dried out Ignition control Module and wondering if it may or may not be bad??? and yea when they fail it's always been a hot fail, then after a cool down they seem ok or just a fail

 

Lol old and dried out oem icm with a whopping 50k miles on it. Yes. It's pretty much the only part of the car that hasn't been replaced besides the body itself.

 

Damn Dude Go put a new ICM on tomorrow with some fresh white grease. 1 of the symptoms of an opti failure is not being able to rev. Come on that ***** been around for over 20yrs now and even the 92-94's are even sealed.

And don't forget about that damn stupid Corrective cap for nice plug wire routing that comes with a price. The "Correct-a-Cap" design that places the spark plug wire terminals on the proper side of the engine for easy spark plug wire routing. To do this, the terminal traces molded into the distributor cap must come extremely close to one another, which leads to premature arc-over in high-load applications and applications using constant high-voltage (Capacitive Discharge) ignitions. Not good.

New Module and I bet it will rev to red-line without the msd-cd. Man I 'll even send-ya a know stock good one and you can send me 20 bucks for a Hooker and an extra 5 for a beer for the Advise for ur problem thats been going on since, last month or so just after you put the pro-charger on. That module has been bad for a while now causing all kinds of crap.

That think deserves a 550-750 dollar belt drive crank trigger Dist and plug that opti when your ever thinking about spending 500 on a stock replacement of that crappy opti and put a real dist cap on that thing and never have these problems again and you will be able to have full use of the MSD-CD Ing's. Its a Mitsubishi Designed and used set up anyways and on all the Mitsu's its used on they are fine, for a Mitsu, and they didn't put that stupid cap on them that don't handle CD Ing

 

The issue was the car having a hesitation at 5000 rpm only after 45 minutes of driving. . . . Not all the time like a typical opti problem. Most opti that fail have a high rev problem all the time- not just when it's hot!!!



And BTW:: there have been several different ignition issues since I put the new blower setup in. Not just one on-going issue. Its part of building a high horsepower car on a old platform. Atleast its not detonation like you were so persistent about in my first thread lol.

 

Sometimes its the other way around. Alot happened at once with your build. I thought all that Ing stuff was new. Anyways. Good luck with that Beast and lets us know how it turns out and when ur gone a push more Boost like you said

https://www.google.com/search?q=sbc+...ml%3B576%3B384

Also, Dynotech Engineering is working on two other projects: an upcoming Gen. I distributor for the '92-94 LT1s will share the same upgraded internal components and refinements of the Gen. II model. And the "Gen. III" distributor will be rotor-less and capable of 8500 engine rpm. The Gen. III is designed to work with the LTCC and individual LS1/LS6 ignition coils and will have all of the same improvements as the Gen. I and II, but with a billet aluminum cap in place of the OE plug wire cap and a lightweight reluctor wheel support. Owners of the Gen. I and II DynaSpark Distributors can always upgrade their current unit at a later time to the Gen. III unit by purchasing the "high rpm kit upgrade", which will allow them to utilize individual ignition coils and the LTCC. You can view the DynaSpark at www.dynotech-eng.com.
LTCC: Opti-Spark Alternative
The LTCC (LT1 Coil Conversion) grew from the need for a high-energy ignition system for the LT1 that did not use the distributor section of the Opti-Spark. The optical portion is reliable and is needed to keep the stock PCM happy. By using the Opti-Spark Hi Resolution and Low Resolution signals to feed the LTCC, the interface can decode which cylinder is being fired by the PCM and direct the timing signal (EST) to the appropriate coil. The LTCC also calculates its own dwell (coil charging time) and can begin charging the next coil in the firing order before firing the current coil. This allows full spark power at very high rpm. The LTCC can be run to 8000 rpm, much higher than most anyone runs an LT1. For high rpm operation (>6000 rpm), it is a good idea to remove the rotor from the Opti-Spark as it tends to shatter.
The LTCC system consists of an interface unit and plug-in wiring harness. Other than connecting to 12 volts to feed the coils and the EST wire, all connections are direct plug-in using OEM weatherproof connectors. The LTCC features a spark-based rev limiter (2 stage) and a timing retard that has built in curves for turbo, N2O, and supercharger applications. Both the retard and rev limiter can be enabled full-time or triggered. The LTCC has a trigger wire that can be configured to activate the second rev limiter stage or the timing retard.
In addition to the LTCC kit, the user needs to obtain 8 LS1 coils, plug wires and a way to mount the coils.
The wide array of header styles, valve cover dress-ups, and turbo systems has made the design of universal coil brackets a challenge. As of this date no truly universal bracket is available. Installations have been done on top of the intake plenum, and even on the frame rail (race application). The interface is a gasket-sealed aluminum box and can be mounted underhood. See the LTCC at www.bailey-eng.com
Is Your Opti-Spark Failing?
LT1 owners have dealt with the Opti-Spark distributor for 11 years now, but there is still much confusion regarding the causes and symptoms of a failing unit. Tapping into the PCM with a scan tool is a good way to start, but sometimes no codes will be set. Before diving into the Opti-Spark, be sure to verify that your grounds are good and the coil and wires are not the source of the problem, as they are much easier to change.
Symptoms:
* Car suddenly dies and won't restart
* Starts but immediately dies
* Extended cranking to start
* Rough idle
* Sputtering
* Backfiring
* Trouble reaching higher rpm
* Black smoke from exhaust
* Poor performance with car warmed up
* Weak plug wire spark
* Codes 16, 36, and 42 may be set


Read more: http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/031...#ixzz3DRWRzJnI

 

I had the LTCC in my car last year. It was nice but had its own issues.

 

That belt driven distributor is not a option for this car. its a street car- not a track dedicated car! The opti and msd is going to have to work out. there are alot of guys using them, I just have to get the bugs worked out of mine and it will be fine...I hope lol

 

Weren't the coil parks much better with their full output

 

I dont think that distributor setup would quite fit with everything else in place lol