Optispark.......Again

John Nechiporchik · 07-08-2015, 07:43 PM

Some may recall that last year I had an optispark shatter in the shutdown area. After much discussion, I replaced the cap and rotor with MSD parts for this year.
Sunday, the car experienced another no start after a run.
We did a few quick checks at the track:
Checked for spark at #1 plug....OK
Checked for fuel delivery ....OK
Put timing light on and spun over with ignition on....Timing reading 100 degrees!
Took distributor cap off and rotor fell out. the rotor attaching screws were sheared clean off.
Since this was the second catastrophic failure with this base (Stock) distributor, I purchased a new MSD billet unit.
Installed the new unit.....same condition. Timing reading 100Degrees.
As this is the newer style LT1 distributor, it is driven by the cam pin. Therefore, it only installs one way.
I disassembled the car again to make sure there was no operator error. could not find any.
I called MSD to verify which terminal inside the cap actually fires #1.
I called twice , talked to two different "tech" reps, and got conflicting answers....after nearly begging them for help.
So, I'm unsure what to look for next.
FYI...the car has a FAST XFI 2.0 system. Since the winter rebuild and installation of the FAST System, we have around 15 passes on the car plus 10 chassis dyno runs.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
John

07-08-2015, 07:43 PM	#1
John Nechiporchik Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Grosse Ile Mi. Posts: 316 Likes: 84 Liked 13 Times in 7 Posts	Optispark.......Again Some may recall that last year I had an optispark shatter in the shutdown area. After much discussion, I replaced the cap and rotor with MSD parts for this year. Sunday, the car experienced another no start after a run. We did a few quick checks at the track: Checked for spark at #1 plug....OK Checked for fuel delivery ....OK Put timing light on and spun over with ignition on....Timing reading 100 degrees! Took distributor cap off and rotor fell out. the rotor attaching screws were sheared clean off. Since this was the second catastrophic failure with this base (Stock) distributor, I purchased a new MSD billet unit. Installed the new unit.....same condition. Timing reading 100Degrees. As this is the newer style LT1 distributor, it is driven by the cam pin. Therefore, it only installs one way. I disassembled the car again to make sure there was no operator error. could not find any. I called MSD to verify which terminal inside the cap actually fires #1. I called twice , talked to two different "tech" reps, and got conflicting answers....after nearly begging them for help. So, I'm unsure what to look for next. FYI...the car has a FAST XFI 2.0 system. Since the winter rebuild and installation of the FAST System, we have around 15 passes on the car plus 10 chassis dyno runs. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, John