t/afrom504

will the chiltons repair manual help me out alot??? because im going to change the opti myself....

I8ASaleen

iTrader: (9)

No it will not.
Raise the car up, take off the intake tract.
Disconnect the fans and get them out of the way.
Drain the coolant and start taking off hoses from the waterpump.
Take off the accessory belt.
Remove the crank balancer (3 bolts and then a balancer removal tool should take it off)
Remove the waterpump.
Remove all plug wires from the opti and vaccuum harness.
Remove opti (should be two bolts holding it in)

Installation is reverse of removal, depending on the year whether or not you have a pin to align the unit or not.
Mine is not a complete write up.

1badzee

iTrader: (12)

Or just use my write-up. I have pics and stuff as guides

http://www.lt1engine.com/tech/93-97-...emove-replace/

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

What about a Haynes Manual?

James Montigny

iTrader: (13)

Neither if the major manuals are all that helpful for opti replacements. Service manual is nice.
Fortunately, it's not terribly complicated.
I've done it a few times lately LOL An air ratchet sure makes it a quicker job, but you can to it with manual tools too.

1badzee has a great step-by-step.
(I don't know what year car you own, but his writeup is for a 95+ ... which is close enough to a 93/94 except that
those years have a spline and drive shaft to line up instead of a pin. If you have it in right, it just pops on.
If you find yourself needing to use any force at all, you've got it in wrong)

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

It is pretty much straight forward, take apart and put back together..

camerory

iTrader: (10)

If you guys are thinking of getting a service manual, def. get the GM factory service manual. I picked up a 1995 service manual (total of 3 books) off ebay for like $40 bucks. It was one of the best investments I have made so far on my car. All the other manuals are not thorough enough.

great421

iTrader: (1)

The info below is correct; I'd just add that the balancer will only line up in one postion correctly. There are three fasteners so, if you can't seem to get that last one to "line up" - rotate the balancer 120 degrees and try again. Do not struggle with it for an hour (like I did on my first Opti repalcement).

Oh, you'll need to get a Snap-On T4 reverse Torx Deepwell tool as well - $20 off the truck.

It's not tough, especially if you remove the fans!

BTC

I'm sure the Haynes & Chilton manuals are better than nothing, but I would recommend getting some factory service manuals off EBay if you intend to do a lot of your own work. My Haynes manual had the location of the fuel pump relay on the passenger side of the car. I looked for it forever, and finally found it on the driver's side.

camerory

iTrader: (10)

Yep, and some times manuals like Haynes tell you a certain job is too difficult so they say "see your dealer". I saw this problem with a Haynes manual for the Grand Am and also with a Bentley manual for a Volkswagen Jetta.

CamaroRacing12

iTrader: (5)

they r good for the nitty gritty things... torque specs, vague guildlines etc... online write ups by other members r always the best!

koolaid_kid

iTrader: (21)

I have never found them very useful. They tend to be very general. For example, when I wanted to pull something off and wanted to know the procedure, they would say "Remove". Well, heck, what I wanted was the how to do it information, and they seldom supplied it.
I always go for the factory manuals when I want to work on something. *I have several motorcycles and a Focus as a DD, and factory manuals for all.)
I haven't snagged the factory manuals for my Formula yet (IIRC there are two), but probably will when I really need to dig into it.

camar0corey

iTrader: (22)

If you don't have a tool truck in your area the local parts store should have a whole set of the funky reverse torx bits. Seems some foreign automakers use them fairly often, or at least the sticker on the holder implies this.

impaled

haynes/chiltons are good for some simple things, but leave alot of complex things out.
if you are looking how to do a simple job, they are easy to navigate and easy to follow.

whereas the service manuals are very in depth, and sometimes they are a PITA to navigate for simple things, but i would have both.