94 TA Opti Replacement
03-10-2014, 07:37 AM
#1
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94 TA Opti Replacement Time to replace the opti and get the car ready for spring. Need advice. Should I use an OEM opti or an MSD opti? I can get them both for about the same price. If neither, what do you guys suggest?
03-10-2014, 08:31 AM
#2
If you can get them both for same price, I don't know how, but I would go with MSD. I've had mine for 8 years now, it's been through hell and back being parked outside driven in rain and snow, then parked inside with my dryer vent pouring humidity in the garage for 3 years so bad that all of my tools rusted, spinning to 6300 rpm and doesn't flinch. I did year it apart when it was new and loctite everything, but I wouldn't hesitate to use an MSD opti again.
And yes I did eventually reroute my dryer exhaust.
And yes I did eventually reroute my dryer exhaust.
03-12-2014, 02:34 AM
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I have an msd on my 94 and it hasn't given me any problems yet. only thing is that I noticed is whoever had the car before me didn't install the vent for the msd opti. if I recall reading correctly the msd opti has a vent even for 93 to 94 lt1's. mine is a 94. oh well it works good lol
03-13-2014, 02:03 PM
#6
I ended up replacing it with a "Duralast gold" $159 autozone one, it did fix a very sporadic low RPM misfire and high rpm breakup the MSD one had. Having that experience with the MSD, I cannot further recommend it, I'll keep it for a spare if I ever need to have them rebuild it. Oh yea, I would recommend BRIEFLY attempting to start the car once the new opti is on with the waterpump off the car, if the car won't even attempt to start, you may just have a DUD opti if everything else checks out (First duralast I tried was a dud 
), which would be a real pisser if you had to remove the WP, balancer, fan shroud, ect. AGAIN. Only reason I went with autozone...AC Delco and MSD only offer a 1 year warranty, AZ is lifetime, and they don't ask questions lol. All optis suck IMO dealing with them 17+ years, wish I had funds for a 24x conversion 
03-13-2014, 05:43 PM
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appreciate everyone's input. I'm leaning towards the msd, though i do like the sound of the lifetime warranty on the az one. definitely doing a waterpump, only reason mine went bad is because i had a waterpump gasket seeping on it and i didn't catch it til it was too late. and yes, from what i was seeing upon research the msd's do have a vent, even on the 94s.
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03-13-2014, 06:34 PM
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If you get the msd just loctite the screws that hold the rotor on. For the waterpump id do the barb t mod so if the waterpump craps out, it will **** out the barb and down the hose instead of the opti
03-15-2014, 06:26 PM
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You thread a hose barb into the weep hole of the water pump and route an eighth inch hose so that when the faulty water pump weeps, it is directed away from the opti. Eric L
03-17-2014, 12:51 AM
#13
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i did my water pump and opti a week ago. took a day. remember to put the shaft connector between the water pump shaft and the shaft on the cam. i forgot to do that(opti noob) and couldnt figure put y the car kept overheating at idle. i got a delphi unit from rockauto. did alot of research and most said go with OEM. also gonna need a real small deep socket to take the cap off and locktite the rotor bolts. i also put a bead of RTV on all the joints and dielectric grease on all the spark plug wire boots.
03-17-2014, 05:12 PM
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I had a friend do the exact same thing. He did a waterpump himself and it kept overheating, so he asked me to take a look at it. I figured maybe he had an air pocket in it or something. I bled it, and bled it, but still couldn't get it to stay cool.................than I noticed the collar in his cup holder, and asked, "hey, ummmm, what is this?". And he said, extra parts, lol. Once he pulled it apart and put that back on, problem solved, lol. Eric L
03-21-2014, 11:08 PM
#15
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I had a friend do the exact same thing. He did a waterpump himself and it kept overheating, so he asked me to take a look at it. I figured maybe he had an air pocket in it or something. I bled it, and bled it, but still couldn't get it to stay cool.................than I noticed the collar in his cup holder, and asked, "hey, ummmm, what is this?". And he said, extra parts, lol. Once he pulled it apart and put that back on, problem solved, lol. Eric L
03-22-2014, 12:49 PM
#16
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that's a great tip guys. anyone got a picture of it so I know what not to have extra? 
also, should I be getting straight plug boots or 90 degree boots for the wires? I haven't had to do them on this car before and don't know what works better.
also, should I be getting straight plug boots or 90 degree boots for the wires? I haven't had to do them on this car before and don't know what works better. 
03-29-2014, 04:42 PM
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I was incorrect in my statement on the optis, the local parts store quoted me for a standard small block msd distributor at my discount, not an opti.