WTF did the opti just do???
#1
WTF did the opti just do???
I usually leave the key in the on position so the HVAC blower will blow when at the car wash to help prevent water from leaking through the vert weatherstrips. It seems in the past that wirdness happenbs when I do this and go to start the motor.
Today the motor started fine then as I was pulling out, it died. Was hard to start but started. Died again then started hard again. I hammered on it in first gear and at 5K RPM the engine just totally lost all power and fell on its face and the tach went to zero. I got out of the gas and it returned to normal. After all this I had a code 16.
I then pulled the PCM fuse to reset the DTC code and drove it hard again. I hit 5K RPM and felt a very slight hesitation. After beating on it some more with several 6K RPM blasts in first, its not losing power or doing anything wierd at all. Maybe its a fluke.
Car idles great and runs great except for this incident. Opti has about 10K on it.
Question.
Is it normal for opti wirdness to happen if you leave the key in the on position for several minutes then try to start the car? Does this definitely sound like an opti related issue?
Question 2
Is this definitely an Opti problem? Fuel pressure is spot on.
Today the motor started fine then as I was pulling out, it died. Was hard to start but started. Died again then started hard again. I hammered on it in first gear and at 5K RPM the engine just totally lost all power and fell on its face and the tach went to zero. I got out of the gas and it returned to normal. After all this I had a code 16.
I then pulled the PCM fuse to reset the DTC code and drove it hard again. I hit 5K RPM and felt a very slight hesitation. After beating on it some more with several 6K RPM blasts in first, its not losing power or doing anything wierd at all. Maybe its a fluke.
Car idles great and runs great except for this incident. Opti has about 10K on it.
Question.
Is it normal for opti wirdness to happen if you leave the key in the on position for several minutes then try to start the car? Does this definitely sound like an opti related issue?
Question 2
Is this definitely an Opti problem? Fuel pressure is spot on.
#2
id say your opti is toast. my did the same thing. ran fine but if ud get into it a little the it would cut out and the tack would flicker. a cheap scanner didnt pick it up and i used my friends good one and came up with p36 high resolution failure wich is the sensor in the opti so i put a new one on and no problems.
#3
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Low res pulses not coming through right... Sounds like moisture rather than anything else. You have a vented opti, so the undercarriage sprayer wouldn't have shot water in the bottom like a 93-94 would be vulnerable to. However, the opti pigtail goes a lot deeper on the pin drive dist. My guess is you got a tiny bit of water intrusion through the pigtail/ connector. Then when you spun it good and hard it vaporized the water enough to vent it out/ dry it.
#4
Low res pulses not coming through right... Sounds like moisture rather than anything else. You have a vented opti, so the undercarriage sprayer wouldn't have shot water in the bottom like a 93-94 would be vulnerable to. However, the opti pigtail goes a lot deeper on the pin drive dist. My guess is you got a tiny bit of water intrusion through the pigtail/ connector. Then when you spun it good and hard it vaporized the water enough to vent it out/ dry it.
Hopefully it blew the moisture out once the motor got hot and its just a fluke.
#5
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i had the same thing happen to me last fall just before i put it in storage. wand hand wash, stayed out of the engine bay but some moisture must have gotten in there... started it then it jumped in the rpm and died, started it back up, revved it a few times, let it sit, started it, ran fine. not a problem since. i learned to hand wash . not sure if i got water in my intake or the opti, but like i said, i learned pressure washes can go to hell with lt1's.
#7
Let me ask again. Is there a thread, or any interest on what actually dies in the Optispark? According to what's going on here every one of these must drop dead every time it rains. Sounds more like an early 50's Nash
Reminds me of the old Mallory Unilite BS that 99% of was not true.
Al
Reminds me of the old Mallory Unilite BS that 99% of was not true.
Al
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#8
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Let me ask again. Is there a thread, or any interest on what actually dies in the Optispark? According to what's going on here every one of these must drop dead every time it rains. Sounds more like an early 50's Nash
Reminds me of the old Mallory Unilite BS that 99% of was not true.
Al
Reminds me of the old Mallory Unilite BS that 99% of was not true.
Al
#9
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The optical sensor that reads the 360* pulses gets moisture in it and no longer can read properly. Generally if a vented opti gets moisture in it, within a few miles of warm/dry driving the opti's housing is literally sucked dry. now the non vented didn't have anything to circulate air causing the moisture to linger and keep the sensor working improperly. If a person has a vented opti on their car and can't keep one for a least 15k miles is either revving it to 7000 at every stop light, or likes to splash in puddles. lol
#10
TECH Resident
Let me ask again. Is there a thread, or any interest on what actually dies in the Optispark? According to what's going on here every one of these must drop dead every time it rains. Sounds more like an early 50's Nash
Reminds me of the old Mallory Unilite BS that 99% of was not true.
Al
Reminds me of the old Mallory Unilite BS that 99% of was not true.
Al
#13
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Let me ask again. Is there a thread, or any interest on what actually dies in the Optispark? According to what's going on here every one of these must drop dead every time it rains. Sounds more like an early 50's Nash
Reminds me of the old Mallory Unilite BS that 99% of was not true.
Al
Reminds me of the old Mallory Unilite BS that 99% of was not true.
Al
Most folks hit a problem that prompts them to expend the labor getting to it and justify a replacement because of the effort. Fouling of water, coolant or oil are the most common reason folks tear it down and replace it. I've seen oil intrusion by the rotor shaft due to a bad or improperly installed seal in the timing cover on both types (vented/non). I've also seen coolant getting in through the seals on the distributor body (water pump leaking on it). Also common to get water intrusion similarly by washing the engine bay, driving through heavy standing water (93-94 cars with the weep holes). I had one go bad by crumbling the shaft bearing and clogging the encoder. If the shutter wheel gets bent enough to touch the body of the encoder, it will create enough heat on the encoder to fry it in a couple of days.
In these cases, the optical encoder isn't to blame and would probably be fine for a lot longer if you could correct the physical cause that 'blinded' it. Problem is, nobody makes a rebuild kit for these. And the internal parts rust and can litter the encoder/shutter wheel interface naturally with age. Cheap knock-offs using imitation encoders may work pretty well for a while. Only time will tell who makes one approching the quality of the Mitsubishi. In the meantime, the normal attrition of intrusion/corrosion will continue to cause the vast majority of problems seen with the opti, regardless of where it came from.
#15
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2) By hand, using as little water as necessary. This really goes for any engine. Pressure washing one just isn't wise anytime.