rebuilt opti, orange spark... is this a problem?
04-06-2013, 10:25 AM
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rebuilt opti, orange spark... is this a problem? some of you guys have seen and posted in my other threads ive made trying to get my LT1 going. i am happy to report i have got it running a couple times now between putting it together and taking it back apart. lol i got my pcm tuned from pcmforless, and got it running for the first time last night since the new tune.
to better help diagnose, i should fill you guys in on a thing or two ive noticed.
the starter is new and the battery is okay in the car. but when initiating the starter, it seemed like it would get greater resistance at a certain point it in the revolution of the motor, and pull down on the starter causing it to majorly slow or nearly stop... i had great compression so ruled out the possibility of it being a valve that was resisting for some reason.
i was checking the spark, and it just seemed really weak when firing, (still does). im getting orange spark instead of blue. when i was rebuilding the motor, i got it back together for the first time, and was testing for spark, held the #1 plug to a ground bolt and it sparked. (had my dad trying to crank it from inside the car.) but the opti made a noise and smoked a little, and i thought... ohhhh ****. lol but everything was still okay. i recall it shocking the **** out of me a time after that, so i was getting blue spark at that point. (after) so yesterday i swapped the original coil back in, (i had a msd) no change.
i needed to replace some seals in the timing cover so thought it would be a good time to check out the opti. got it pulled and took the cap off. and pulled everything apart to clean it. had some oil in there from the seals that i would be replacing. nothing looked damaged. but on the cap, i noticed around each ports ****, there were little raised up 1/2 moon outlines in the plastic. and the rotor has been rubbing these plastic 1/2 moons outlines. it is possible to over tighten the cap on an MSD vented opti? i took a razor and smoothed them down a little. and put the opti back together. once back together, i noticed that one of the prongs on the opti's connector was bent. so i bent it back into place.
thought for sure this would be sparking blue. but it was still orange. i considered the plugs... but they are pretty new. maybe a week old and other than being fouled, i dont see how they could be faulty. anyway, there are two plugs that are brand new (only 2 or 3 crank attempts on them.)
i buttoned everything up and tried to crank the car. the starter initiated and sounded like a normal, correctly operating starter... and to my surprise the car fired up about 2-3 seconds in. i kept it alive for around 30 seconds. it is weak at idle, or seems it, im not sure its because the spark is weak, or maybe the motor is just dry, or maybe im still running a little rich. im not sure what it should be but just cranking the car the fuel pressure reads 40 PSI? that another addition to the rich nature?
its started easier last night then it ever has tho...
to better help diagnose, i should fill you guys in on a thing or two ive noticed.
the starter is new and the battery is okay in the car. but when initiating the starter, it seemed like it would get greater resistance at a certain point it in the revolution of the motor, and pull down on the starter causing it to majorly slow or nearly stop... i had great compression so ruled out the possibility of it being a valve that was resisting for some reason.
i was checking the spark, and it just seemed really weak when firing, (still does). im getting orange spark instead of blue. when i was rebuilding the motor, i got it back together for the first time, and was testing for spark, held the #1 plug to a ground bolt and it sparked. (had my dad trying to crank it from inside the car.) but the opti made a noise and smoked a little, and i thought... ohhhh ****. lol but everything was still okay. i recall it shocking the **** out of me a time after that, so i was getting blue spark at that point. (after) so yesterday i swapped the original coil back in, (i had a msd) no change.
i needed to replace some seals in the timing cover so thought it would be a good time to check out the opti. got it pulled and took the cap off. and pulled everything apart to clean it. had some oil in there from the seals that i would be replacing. nothing looked damaged. but on the cap, i noticed around each ports ****, there were little raised up 1/2 moon outlines in the plastic. and the rotor has been rubbing these plastic 1/2 moons outlines. it is possible to over tighten the cap on an MSD vented opti? i took a razor and smoothed them down a little. and put the opti back together. once back together, i noticed that one of the prongs on the opti's connector was bent. so i bent it back into place.
thought for sure this would be sparking blue. but it was still orange. i considered the plugs... but they are pretty new. maybe a week old and other than being fouled, i dont see how they could be faulty. anyway, there are two plugs that are brand new (only 2 or 3 crank attempts on them.)
i buttoned everything up and tried to crank the car. the starter initiated and sounded like a normal, correctly operating starter... and to my surprise the car fired up about 2-3 seconds in. i kept it alive for around 30 seconds. it is weak at idle, or seems it, im not sure its because the spark is weak, or maybe the motor is just dry, or maybe im still running a little rich. im not sure what it should be but just cranking the car the fuel pressure reads 40 PSI? that another addition to the rich nature?
its started easier last night then it ever has tho...
04-06-2013, 10:32 AM
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pulled this from google. heres a pic for you all so there is less confusion. these are more square, and connected to a innermore circle that my cap does not have, but its the 1/2 moon outlines i was talking about, its the same principle anyway.
