Damn you optispark!!!
 

so i just replaced the optispark on the camaro because it kept having spark issues (mainly starting issues). Thing was running like a champ. Had all the old power back and everything. I was suppose to go on the HRPT with it but decided against it just incase it broke......which it did. Did a little street racing tonight nothing serious, didnt even take her over 5500 in any gear. Anyways i was just about to leave to drive home when it just died on me. As soon as that happened i knew the opti was smoked. Got it started, drove down the highway, started popping and died again. I dont know why it keeps eating them. Its got a MSD 6AL with limiter, MSD coil, and MSD wires. Not sure if it just cant take the motor or what its problem is. And if thats the case am i ever going to be able to drive the SOB without it dying? The motor is a solid roller 396 with 11.7 comp, AFR 210 LT4 heads, AR3910 plugs (recommended by AFR) Any ideas what i can do (besides the Delteq or coil conversion) And if someone says replace it with a LSX im going to lose my mind.

One guy had this issue and it was his wiring harness going to the opti. Ohms were way down and he got into it and there was a bunch of corrosion and the harness was trash.

Kept burning up opti's right and left but after fixing it his problems went away.

I would ohm out your wiring harness before you do anything else.

I'm a dynaspark pimp but the best opti in the world would probably puke with crap wiring.

I just went through a similar problem. Ended up being my optical sensor in my opti, just after I replaced the cap/rotor with MSD units..Pissed me off,especially since I was suppose to get it dynoed today.

There is a conversion out now, that you can switch to a LS1 pcm..Do a search in the LT1 section.

Dave Give me a call. I have some Idea's for you to try. I Just went through this on another car.

Did you buy a QUALITY opti?
How long has the engine been together, long dowel pins have eaten a few optis?
Is the vent harness working?

If you can't make a stock opti work on that setup YOU or an issue with your car are the cause, lots of guys pushing them as hard or harder without a problem.

Some folks do claim the ignition "upgrades" are rough on the opti.

The engine has been together for over 10k and i just recently started acting up. The vent harness is working just fine and the dowel pin is set to the correct height. I bought a GM opti since the MSD one i wanted isnt available until the end of july due to production issues. And im pretty sure that I"M not the cause of the problem. ive changed out atleast a dozen opti's of all years of the LT1 and havent had any problems with them until now. I do think the ignition upgrades might be part of the problem though.

I'd check the harness like previously posted seen it happen to some locals

yeah im definately going to go check the harness. this is getting stupid. i really dont want to change out another opti

Sooooo..........anyone have a 95-97 MSD opti they want to sell? :D

check in the LT1 for sale section, member by the name of "za355tx" or somethin like that..is selling one.

good time to up-grade to coil packs!

lol im about ready to do the LS1 pcm conversion. this is going to get ridiculous if the opti keeps getting killed everytime i try to have fun with it. sad part is its doing it on all motor i'd hate to see what happens when it finally gets hit with the 200 shot. looks like i wont be spraying for a while :bang:

I doubt it has to do with the power output of the engine

If you've changed the opti so many times and still keep blowing them, theres gotta be an issue somewhere else in the ignition and/or electrical system. There are members here running the same ol' ac delco opti and spinning em' up to 6800 rpm, some even 7000 rpm. I spin mine to 6800 with zero issues. Knock on wood!

im going to start pulling it once it cools down. see if the rotor is as burnt up as the last one was. i just got done checking the harness. it was corroded just like in the link. so i cut spliced, D.E.G'd, CPC'd, and weatherpacked the ground wires. it fired right up after that so i thought it was fixed. once i let it warm up it kept doing the "i dont want to start when hot bullshit again" Which my solution to that problem last time was changing the opti which got rid of it. like i said im going to pull the bitch and see if she burnt up. i probly should just pull my whole timing cover off too this time since she has a bit of a leak.....

I hope everything goes the way you want it to bro!

Lol I still probably need to focus on getting my opti swapped out but right now I'm working on some suspension goodies and tires. Next on my list is ignition stuff like that.

well i just got done swapping out the old MSD 6AL box with the new one. its started up everytime so far. hoping that was the problem. going to test drive it today and see if it kills itself again.