New guy here.....

Got an odd problem. My third opti went out on my 94 z28, so I decided
this time to try MSD's opti. I got my old one off and noted the
rotor position as per MSD instructions. But when I put my new MSD in
the rotor is pointing 45 degrees in another direction. These things
only go in one way right?! How can the rotor be that far off, other than
a manufacturer defect?. I called MSD and told the problem and he
said to set the engine at TDC and set the rotor to number one. Well
that's impossible because the rotor only goes in that one position.

Am I missing something?

 

what brand of opti was in it. its really hard to tell which post is the number one post inside the opti too. i had to test with a ohm meter to find the right post that goes to the number one outlet. u could test as i did to see if its pointing to the right post. or could just hook it up without installing the water pump and see if it starts and runs correct. yes it can only go in correctly one way. people have forsed it on in other positions though.

 

Thanks for the reply,

the previous opti was the stock GM unit. I'm the original owner and the
car is all stock. Very frustrating because I'm not forcing anything and like
I said, as far as I can see there is no other way the rotor can go it!

 

You're absolutely sure you didn't accidentally tap the engine over, or move it at all when unbolting the lower pulley? (yes I know you have to take the pulley off before the opti comes out, it's just a thought) I put an MSD on mine recently with no issues like that at all. And yeah, it only goes in one way.

 

when u put the new opti in did u make sure the splines were lined up correctly so the places where there are no splines line up? it slid right in no problem?

 

I'm pretty damn positive the engine did not rotate as I disassembled.
But let us say for argument sake it did....what of it? The damn thing only goes on one way right? I'm a bit frustrated here as you can see.

Another thing. When I compare the original GM unit to the MSD side
by side off the car, the special "no tooth" section on the spline gear (the side that points toward the engine) on each unit are at 12.00 o'clock. Now I turn both units over and look at the rotor. The rotor on each unit (MSD vs GM) are not phased the same! They are appox. 45 degrees different.

This has to be a manufacturer defect. There is no way to change
the rotor on the MSD unit in comparison to the gear. No way.

 

Sure sounds like a defect to me. Doesn't matter what make of opti you use, the rotor reference point should be the same as the factory one.

 

does it run when u hook it up? that most likely will be the question asked by the parts store. at the very least check to see if the number one spark plug outlet leads or gets its spark from the same post inside the cap.

 

Wow, I never even thought to check where the rotor was and i've replaced a couple opti's. That's crazy that it's different.

 

Just for grins I tried to start it with the MSD. No start. I put the
stock one back in and she fired and ran (but of course it didn't run well,
it's bad. It's why I'm changing it out, lol).

The goof ball at MSD says it's not possible for the rotor to be misaligned.
Ok, well....it is

Thanks for the input guys. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing
anything before returning it to JEGS. I'll order another I guess