pillagenburn

Hey guys, I got a Delteq about 2 months ago, installed it and things were fine; I bought the Delteq to hopefully fix a misfire i was getting from my old opti. 2 months later ANOTHER misfire has developed; the car is almost un-driveable. So i swapped the plugs (its been about a year, i had Bosch Platinums and went to Autolites). Well, brand new spark plugs CORRECTLY gapped and everything - the misfire is still there. My question is...

could it be the optical sensor inside the Opticrap?

if so ... the "engineers" who developed this thing need to be beaten.....

fuel pressure is OK afaik

any ideas?

thanks!

StickMaster

Check plug wires, that seems to be the cure for a lot of problems people with delteq have been having....Check your coils, i believe you can check them via resistance (Ohms).....Check your ICM (specific for those coils)....If all those are good to go then the only thing left is the optical.

pillagenburn

nearly new plug wires

One of the plug wire boots is cracked/cracking but its not to the point where its arcing really badly.... it should be OK ..... Its just missing so badly

i just want it to run correctly!

oh yea, and i route my plug wires over the valve covers....

i'm stumped!

edit: i just checked the plug boot that is slightly cracked - its not arcing at all actually, so that one is fine.....

could it be lots of slack in the timing chain? shouldn't it be making a noise by that time though?

just a thought...

1-bad-z28

If you really want to check that wire boot to be absolutly sure it is not arching, crank the car and grab it. You will find out real quick if it is arching.

Injuneer

A bad bearing in the Opti would also be a "suspect". Is this still the original Opti? Did you check the Opti harness connector for corrosion? Is it possible you have a plug wire running too close to, and in parallel with the Delteq signal wiring? Any other electrical interference generators near the wires, like an electric water pump?

Actually, the "engineers" who developed the "opti" concept worked for Chrysler/Mitsubishi (Diamond Star) and they first used it in the late 1980's in their 3L V6 engine, where it suffered from none of the problems the LT1 seems to encounter. The Diamond Star folks just had the common sense to put the new-fangled distributor in a more "conventional" location.

pillagenburn

Its a ~1.5-2 year old opti, no more than 15k miles on it, rarely driven in the rain (though it has seen some puddles here and there)

i'll check the wiring... brb

CamaroSS30thAnn

are all teh p;lugs wires in the right place

shoebox

Surely when you bought the Delteq, you knew you needed a properly functioning optical section of the distributor for it to work.

If not, it's no fault of the "engineers".

pillagenburn

yeah - but i also had another thought

i DO have an exhaust leak - i dont know where, but i do have one ... could that be causing me to run rich across all cylinders?

that (i guess) could cause a misfire ... its not a very old opti...

Blacksmith

I would DEFINATELY change that bad wire. u would be surprised at how the slightest crack in a wire can cause the most trouble! When i was working for a Michigan AutoZone, i saw that problem on the regular. the problem is, that cracked wire boot is leaving the inner part of the wire exposed to the elements (mainly MOISTURE). i have a feeling that may be the majority of the problem. also, i noticed you mentioned Autolite plugs. are they the platinum or double platinum? if they are standard resistors, TAKE THEM BACK! 4th Gen F-bodies require platinum plugs period! i personally tried the double plats and found that they were pretty good. the only downside is that they were just short of lasting as long as the AC Delco originals in my car. good luck!

Injuneer

Exhaust leaks and misfires will cause the PCM to add extra fuel the engine doesn't need. Only the bank with the misfire or leak will be affected.

If you know you have cracked plug boots, and exhaust leaks, you should correct all the known problems before blaming the "engineers". You can't expect the Delteq to cover up all the problems.

I don't think you are going to get too many people on here agreeing with that position. The Autolite non-platinum plugs are one for the "standards" for people running nitrous, which means they spend most of their time firing the engine without the nitrous. There are also far too many using the NKG TR5 and TR6 non-platinum plugs with no problems. If anything, the stock AC/Delco platinum plugs have experienced major problems with losing the platinum pucks. I ran the TR6's for 4 years with my bolt-on nitrous setup, and had no problem with them. Currently running Autolite 103's with the storker, and no problems at all.

pillagenburn

well, numerous people have had a litany of problems with the Optispark, but I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions. My exhaust leak problems have been ongoing for some time now - I've spent a **LOT** of money trying to get them fixed with no real positive results. I tried Stage 8 locking header bolts and those turned out to be a load of garbage (they can turn JUST enough to allow the gasket to leak). IMO - i should've spent the extra money way back when to get the Jet-Hot coated headers, i hear of people having far less problems with those headers simply due to the fact that they aren't quite as prone to melting wires, harnesses, connectors etc. Perhaps if/when I put heads on my car I'll invest in some jet-hot coating.

What I'd like to see though is some kind of splash/crap guard for the Optispark - its just so suceptible to puddles, dirt, opossums, cats, dogs, rabbits and all manner of other types of roadkill and road debris. The crank pulley does offer some protection but IMO not enough.

thanks for all your help and sorry if i came across as a douche about the whole 'engineer' comment.

edit: and oh yea, i seriously doubt the copper autolites are a problem; autolite makes a good plug.

Injuneer

Did you check the header flange for flatness before you installed them? If they weren't flat to begin with, the bolts won't help.

pillagenburn

yeah, i checked the header - its flat. These headers have been able to seal correctly in the past; however, the header bolts just keep backing out. Now, over time they COULD HAVE warped but i don't know. I'm going to get a whole new set of header bolts more than likely, bigger/longer bolts and see if that will help at all - i'm going to get some new header gaskets as well.

I'm tired of exhaust leaks - VERY tired

med_reject

if your header flanges are still flat, which i suspect they should be, get the breslin locking bolts. When those things are locked, they will NEVER back out.