MSD Optispark
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MSD Optispark On my 93 LT1 I dont know the history of the car but I have had an intermittent miss in the car ever since I got it. The car runs fine until you put a load on it and then it goes to popping and farting. My first find was that the #5 Sparkplug was cracked. Replaced it ran much better. I took it to the track a month ago and it ran good. Then on the way to the track last night it started popping an farting again. The #5 header tube was cooler then the rest so that is the cylinder that is causing me issues. So I figured I would tear into this thing and go through the whole ignition system.
I think the #5 plug wire at the Optispark was loose on there and that may be my issue because I only pulled on 3 wires but all four were just dangling when I went to reach for the last one but I wasnt looking to see which wires I was pulling so I cant be sure it was the #5 wire that was actually the loose one, lol!
Anyway, I noticed that I have an MSD Cap and probably Rotor at a minimum. Is there anyway to tell from the exterior if the whole distributor is an MSD unit without pulling it out? I have to get a puller to take off the pulley in order to pull the Optispark out. I am not sure how many miles or on it but I figure I might as well pull it and check the cap and rotor and make sure to clean any possible carbon tracking under the cap and rotor and to make sure the rotor isnt loose since I am so far into this already. I am also going to replace the plug wires and water pump while I am at it.
Joe
I think the #5 plug wire at the Optispark was loose on there and that may be my issue because I only pulled on 3 wires but all four were just dangling when I went to reach for the last one but I wasnt looking to see which wires I was pulling so I cant be sure it was the #5 wire that was actually the loose one, lol!
Anyway, I noticed that I have an MSD Cap and probably Rotor at a minimum. Is there anyway to tell from the exterior if the whole distributor is an MSD unit without pulling it out? I have to get a puller to take off the pulley in order to pull the Optispark out. I am not sure how many miles or on it but I figure I might as well pull it and check the cap and rotor and make sure to clean any possible carbon tracking under the cap and rotor and to make sure the rotor isnt loose since I am so far into this already. I am also going to replace the plug wires and water pump while I am at it.
Joe
The MSD base is billet and the wiring harness is part of the opti and then connects to the car's wiring on the passenger side of the intake. The stock setup has a harness that is removable at both ends with weatherpak connectors.
Technically you should NOT need a puller to pull the damper but due to some rust on the hub you often do need one.
Technically you should NOT need a puller to pull the damper but due to some rust on the hub you often do need one.
Keep in mind, Joe, all you have to remove is the "pulley" portion of the hub/damper assembly. Remove the 3 bolts on the hub and the outer ring will come off. This will allow you to then remove the Opti. You don't have to remove the inner hub, therefore, a puller shouldn't be necessary. Also, the bolts are spaced in an asymmetrical pattern, so the pulley will only bolt on in one position.
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Keep in mind, Joe, all you have to remove is the "pulley" portion of the hub/damper assembly. Remove the 3 bolts on the hub and the outer ring will come off. This will allow you to then remove the Opti. You don't have to remove the inner hub, therefore, a puller shouldn't be necessary. Also, the bolts are spaced in an asymmetrical pattern, so the pulley will only bolt on in one position.
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I have been working 70-80 hours a week and just havent been able to work on the darn car. Here is an update:
I decided to just go through everything and had the injectors checked out and flowed. No issues there! I took the MSD distributor off today and found corrosion inside the unit and disassembled it as much as I could to try to clean it. I got it pretty much cleaned sparkling clean havent didnt have time to reinstall it yet (I will be ordering a new AC Delco Unit but since I am so deep into this I just want to see if this MSD can be cleaned up to work as a back up unit while I wait for the new one to arrive). That will have to wait as I have a 20 shift for the next three days.
One question I have on reinstalling the Opti. I notice there are two splines that are used for indexing. Will the indexing splines only allow for installation in ONE Way or is it easy to misalign the splines? Do you try to visually make sure they are aligned or do you rotate the rotor as you place the drive spud onto the shaft and will the spud sort of fall into place over the shaft?
I decided to just go through everything and had the injectors checked out and flowed. No issues there! I took the MSD distributor off today and found corrosion inside the unit and disassembled it as much as I could to try to clean it. I got it pretty much cleaned sparkling clean havent didnt have time to reinstall it yet (I will be ordering a new AC Delco Unit but since I am so deep into this I just want to see if this MSD can be cleaned up to work as a back up unit while I wait for the new one to arrive). That will have to wait as I have a 20 shift for the next three days.
One question I have on reinstalling the Opti. I notice there are two splines that are used for indexing. Will the indexing splines only allow for installation in ONE Way or is it easy to misalign the splines? Do you try to visually make sure they are aligned or do you rotate the rotor as you place the drive spud onto the shaft and will the spud sort of fall into place over the shaft?
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