Accel or Dynaspark opti
Accel or Dynaspark opti Im looking to buy my third and hopefully last opti, and needed some input. I didn't have any problems with my accel until i did a cam swap and left the dowel too long. so now it misses like crazy and barly runs in the rain. so i was wonderin what would be better, get another accel and save a couple hundred dollars or spend more and get a dynaspark opti whichs comes with a warranty and is fully water proof??
thanks for any advice
thanks for any advice
I dont agree with "neither". The stock POS opti is nowhere NEAR in the same league as the dynaspark.
I dont know why suddenly the "best" opti is a brand new one that is identical to the flawed pos GM hung on the front of the motor in the first place..
The dynaspark unit is better in every way, and most of the time when you hear someone put them down, it comes from people who dont even own one...
On the other hand there have been a steady stream of failures here lately it seems from the Delphi, and from the beloved ebay "partsladi" in particular.
If I was short on cash I'd put a stock opti back in, but if you can afford do the Dynaspark and dont look back. If it wont hold up, nothing will. Every single part of it is re-engineered to correct the shortcomings of the OEM piece.
Love mine..
.02
I dont know why suddenly the "best" opti is a brand new one that is identical to the flawed pos GM hung on the front of the motor in the first place..
The dynaspark unit is better in every way, and most of the time when you hear someone put them down, it comes from people who dont even own one...
On the other hand there have been a steady stream of failures here lately it seems from the Delphi, and from the beloved ebay "partsladi" in particular.
If I was short on cash I'd put a stock opti back in, but if you can afford do the Dynaspark and dont look back. If it wont hold up, nothing will. Every single part of it is re-engineered to correct the shortcomings of the OEM piece.
Love mine..
.02
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Hey:
The GM opti is good, but not as good as a Dynaspark, IMHO.
The GM opti is just a better deal as the price difference, may not be worth it, if it is not the last one you buy for a very long time.
Its not just the opti cost that figures in, as its the time down and hassle of having to do it again that really counts, as you already know.
Just make sure you loctite the rotor screws, silicone seal the cap, as it can't hurt if done right.
Dub
When In Doubt Do Without
The GM opti is good, but not as good as a Dynaspark, IMHO.
The GM opti is just a better deal as the price difference, may not be worth it, if it is not the last one you buy for a very long time.
Its not just the opti cost that figures in, as its the time down and hassle of having to do it again that really counts, as you already know.
Just make sure you loctite the rotor screws, silicone seal the cap, as it can't hurt if done right.
Dub
When In Doubt Do Without
From what I have seen the stock opti and the dynaspark are both reliable. IMO a HUGE number of the "stock opti is crap" posts come from incompetence or neglect.
I have put over 200K on my optis and all three cars were bought used, the "low mileage one sitting at 145K miles. Never had an opti failure in the 9.5 years I have been driving them. Had ONE case where the cap and rotor got worn enough to make the car run bad in the rain, was sealed well but the humid air through the vent was enough to scatter the spark.
I also think much of the "dynaspark is the ultimate" comes from folks who spent that money and have to defend that decision. It certainly is a good piece but I don't see how in actual practice that it is vastly better than a GM opti.
People get too hung up on the marketing information, I tend to look for real world results.
On another forum a guy posted about literally pop rivetting the rotor on a stock opti and turning it to 8500rpms, yet the ignorant kids around here would have you belive one trip to 4500 and it is all over.
I have put over 200K on my optis and all three cars were bought used, the "low mileage one sitting at 145K miles. Never had an opti failure in the 9.5 years I have been driving them. Had ONE case where the cap and rotor got worn enough to make the car run bad in the rain, was sealed well but the humid air through the vent was enough to scatter the spark.
I also think much of the "dynaspark is the ultimate" comes from folks who spent that money and have to defend that decision. It certainly is a good piece but I don't see how in actual practice that it is vastly better than a GM opti.
People get too hung up on the marketing information, I tend to look for real world results.
On another forum a guy posted about literally pop rivetting the rotor on a stock opti and turning it to 8500rpms, yet the ignorant kids around here would have you belive one trip to 4500 and it is all over.
TECH Veteran
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,144
Likes: 61
From: Little Rock, AR
They said the MSD was "better in every way", too. 
I've seen threads with Dynaspark failures, as well. If they are all going to fail, getting the best for the price may be not a bad thing to do. That seems to be the OEM version right now.
I've seen threads with Dynaspark failures, as well. If they are all going to fail, getting the best for the price may be not a bad thing to do. That seems to be the OEM version right now. 
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 520
Likes: 0
From what I have seen the stock opti and the dynaspark are both reliable. IMO a HUGE number of the "stock opti is crap" posts come from incompetence or neglect.
I have put over 200K on my optis and all three cars were bought used, the "low mileage one sitting at 145K miles. Never had an opti failure in the 9.5 years I have been driving them. Had ONE case where the cap and rotor got worn enough to make the car run bad in the rain, was sealed well but the humid air through the vent was enough to scatter the spark.
I also think much of the "dynaspark is the ultimate" comes from folks who spent that money and have to defend that decision. It certainly is a good piece but I don't see how in actual practice that it is vastly better than a GM opti.
People get too hung up on the marketing information, I tend to look for real world results.
On another forum a guy posted about literally pop rivetting the rotor on a stock opti and turning it to 8500rpms, yet the ignorant kids around here would have you belive one trip to 4500 and it is all over.
I have put over 200K on my optis and all three cars were bought used, the "low mileage one sitting at 145K miles. Never had an opti failure in the 9.5 years I have been driving them. Had ONE case where the cap and rotor got worn enough to make the car run bad in the rain, was sealed well but the humid air through the vent was enough to scatter the spark.
I also think much of the "dynaspark is the ultimate" comes from folks who spent that money and have to defend that decision. It certainly is a good piece but I don't see how in actual practice that it is vastly better than a GM opti.
People get too hung up on the marketing information, I tend to look for real world results.
On another forum a guy posted about literally pop rivetting the rotor on a stock opti and turning it to 8500rpms, yet the ignorant kids around here would have you belive one trip to 4500 and it is all over.
(157,000 miles on the opti in my Impala SS. )
I replaced the opti on my corvette a couple of years ago, however, there was nothing wrong with the OPTI I did it during a cam change out of ignorance (I believed all the hype about the inevetiablity of failure)
The replacement (OEM) OPTI hits 6800+ everyday with zero issues and has been above 7K more than once.
Now the first gen OPTI may be a different story.
Mike
I am a big fan of OEM opti base's with MSD cap and rotors.
The optical portion of an opti is acutally made by mitsubishi and runs flawlessly in different vehicles without problems. When installed properly and vented, the can last hundreds of thousands of miles like they do in the "taxi's". The cap and rotor on the other hand is rather frail. Say what you will about the MSD opti base, but the cap and rotor is clearly a far superior piece(except for the first batch whose rotor screws tended to back out, but should have been locktited anyway!).
I would pick up an OEM unit from thepartsladi, get an MSD cap and rotor for aroun $150, locktite the rotor, and you'll be good to go for much less then a dynaspark MSD, or coil conversion.
I ran my OEM base/MSD cap+rotor for ~7K miles in all sorts of crazy FL weather with no problem, and it was still working perfect when I tore the car down. The car spent a lot of time at the track as well, and saw frequent WOT runs
.
The optical portion of an opti is acutally made by mitsubishi and runs flawlessly in different vehicles without problems. When installed properly and vented, the can last hundreds of thousands of miles like they do in the "taxi's". The cap and rotor on the other hand is rather frail. Say what you will about the MSD opti base, but the cap and rotor is clearly a far superior piece(except for the first batch whose rotor screws tended to back out, but should have been locktited anyway!).
I would pick up an OEM unit from thepartsladi, get an MSD cap and rotor for aroun $150, locktite the rotor, and you'll be good to go for much less then a dynaspark MSD, or coil conversion.
I ran my OEM base/MSD cap+rotor for ~7K miles in all sorts of crazy FL weather with no problem, and it was still working perfect when I tore the car down. The car spent a lot of time at the track as well, and saw frequent WOT runs
. 
