Mighty Whitey

I tore my opti-spark connector all to hell today when I went out to take off my distributor...
I am in need of the little short wiring harness "stub" I guess you would say; that goes from the opti-spark to the main wiring harness.

the dealer want something retarded like... $80 or $90 bucks for it. WTF??? it's like... 12 inches of wire with 2 connectors?!?!?

anyway, I heard that casper's electronics (the people that make o2 extensions, and USED to make o2 sims) makes one for something retarded-cheap (compared to the OEM) for somewhere around $30 bucks.

I'm open to options here, as I REALLY don't wanna put my junk one back on (kinda corroded a little bit too) as I actually broke down and got a new optical unit (distributor base) and paid out the wazoo for a new cap and button (with warranty though, so I assure I'll get my money out of it!). in the last siz months I haven't had an opti last more than 2.5 months. the previous year and a half I owned my car, never had the first sign of an issue with it..


junk design I know, but any way to polish this turd?

sssalah

Yes Casper makes this harness for the vented opti and it's much cheaper than GM.

Tony Shepherd

iTrader: (4)

Did you change cams recently? Your dowl pin may be too long and bottoming out in the opti drive causing it to fail.

Mighty Whitey

I never really considered this to be the problem, but it could be...

I bought a comp 503 cam straight from jeg's mail order back in march or april. when I first put the car back together the opti (and the whole underside of the car) got covered in oil b/c the freeze plug I had in the front cover where the water pump drive used to reside-- CAME OUT! I got a small miss under WOT and the SES light came on, said "low-res circuit interm. failure". needless to say my distributor lasted from that point till july 3rd and died (while racing a H/C ls1 car too!)

the next distributor was MY FAULT-partially, apparently I didn't torque on the bolts that hold the rotor button down very well, they back out a little bit, and I suppose, it let the wheel wobble a bit, and scratched the optical sensor-car made it a total of 20 miles and died

middle of july-new distributor, cap had a small crack on the outer edge (no money to replace, just repair) car ran for 2 miles, brought it back home, DEAD! pulled opti-spark plug-in and it was green (corroded) replaced with another used one on the counter, car ran fine (raced a few people that night)

from the middle of july till 2 weeks ago, the car ran fine, took it to the track, ran low 8's @ 89mph driving it to the track (same night I busted my centersection) went out to move the car after it sit for a week- NOTHING, just cranks, no hit or miss deal, just nothing.

I don't know how the dowl could really be too long, when I put the distributor on, the 3 ears that the opti bolts to the front cover (err... block) with, are mated just fine, there is not gap as if I would have to "draw" the distributor down with...

albeit, a fellow lt1 owner ran through opti's once a week, and for some reason the cam was walking in the block (150k+ miles)

I think it was just my carelessness to cobble the car together so I could drive it for the weekend more than anything.. I'll double check the dowl pin length, however. every other time I just replaced the distributor it's self, not the cap, or the harness. this time, it's all gonna be new (with warranty too!)

is dowl pin length a common problem with lt1's?

beast69camaro

iTrader: (14)

Yes, casper's is the way to go. Quality products. Also, I went through a couple optis when I first got the car and began to get frustrated, so I looked into the problem. I noticed that all my optis failed because the metal disc that rotates through the optical sensor was touching the optical sensor itself, rubbing the sensor down til it didn't work. So I went up to autozone and went through their stock till I found one that wasn't rubbing....I've had that one for over a year now w/ no problems (it's seen some hell too w/ my driving, lol). I was suprised to see how many new and rebuilt optis had this problem out of the box. Anyway...I would look out for the rubbing problem, and if you have that problem I imagine you could space the optical sensor as necessary w/ thin washers or something. Just my 2 cents...

Mighty Whitey

I agree on the quality/customer service of casper's.. 2 years ago when I put LT's on my truck, I needed a flat, 3-wire o2 extension.. yeah, look it up. everyone sells flat 4 wire (LT1) or square 4-wire (LS1) and round 4-wire (ford) o2 extensions... I called them and told them what I had, and asked if they could do anything, all they asked was
1) what is the connector (flat 3-wire GM)
2) how long do you need it (in 12" increments)and
3) what's your mailing address/credit card#

awesome people to deal with IMHO

I did the same thing you did with the optical wheel issue with autozone stuff, so far, all I've had to do is send one back, I think you actually have to bolt the rotor button down to get it to "true-up" as it will be in the car. the 2 little nylon washers then use don't apply pressure on the 'shaft like the rotor button does (or so it seems)