Anyone ever had the OPTI go out?
08-30-2012, 11:29 PM
#2
-Avoid pressure washing engine
-Avoid puddles
-Move away from Flood Zones
-Don't let your EWP go out
-Drive like a granny in the rain
-No automatic Car Washes
-Change cap and rotor regularly
-Keep vent lines unclogged
-Don't over oil your air filter
-Locktite rotor screws
-Don't run a high voltage coil
-Keep timing cover from leaking
-Keep intake manifold from leaking
-Say a prayer before every road trip
See, totally reliable
08-31-2012, 12:11 AM
#4
Eh, I've known dozens of people with LT1's that haven't ever had an issue. These cars aren't garage queens either, driven hard and often for the most part. People love to blame the optispark for everything immediately it seems. Mine is fine at 100k miles all original.
Most people run into problems when they rev high past stock redline, get it excessively wet, replace it with an inferior aftermarket junk unit, and/or install it incorrectly. But honestly, most of these things are true for many different parts on many different cars.
Bottom line IMO, if you can't afford a couple hundred bucks and don't have a few hours to replace a part on a 15+ year old car, the used performance car scene probably isn't for you.
Most people run into problems when they rev high past stock redline, get it excessively wet, replace it with an inferior aftermarket junk unit, and/or install it incorrectly. But honestly, most of these things are true for many different parts on many different cars.
Bottom line IMO, if you can't afford a couple hundred bucks and don't have a few hours to replace a part on a 15+ year old car, the used performance car scene probably isn't for you.
08-31-2012, 02:04 AM
#6
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YUP Stock Opti failed... then MSD unit failed. Got a stock replacement, next week my engine is overheating.... pull my water pump to find the splines on the water pump drive gear's shaft stripped right off... Thanks GM. I was seriously ready to move on to another manufacturer of vehicle at that point. 
08-31-2012, 02:39 AM
#7
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I had the opti fail right after I bought the car...it was installed wrong. I bought a delphi with an MSD Cap/Rotor Kit, used silicone and loctite and ran that opti HARD for 2 years with ZERO issues driving across country several times...then my crank broke and took the opti with it when the balancer came loos and hit the opti. Replaced that with the exact same setup...no issues yet.
The opti is blamed a lot more than it SHOULD be IMO. I helped a buddy put his **** back together after he took it apart and he SWORE UP AND DOWN that it was a bad opti....got the new one installed, got ready to crank it and nothing........tested the coil and it was a bad coil...what WOULD have been a $35 fix turned into several hundred.
The opti is blamed a lot more than it SHOULD be IMO. I helped a buddy put his **** back together after he took it apart and he SWORE UP AND DOWN that it was a bad opti....got the new one installed, got ready to crank it and nothing........tested the coil and it was a bad coil...what WOULD have been a $35 fix turned into several hundred.
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08-31-2012, 08:18 AM
#11
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I've replaced the opti once on every LT1 I've owned, so 3 replacements on my cars. They were all higher mileage. Replaced them for several people as well. They aren't as bad as they're made out to be.
08-31-2012, 08:29 AM
#13
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When I first got my '93 with 89K miles, it had a slight miss to it and being a "noob" at the time, I bought a new Delco Opti and put it on and it didn't fix my problem.....found a cracked plug wire though.
So it didn't need replaced. Otherwise i've put 20K miles and 4.5 years of abuse on the Delco I bought without a single issue and I've driven in heavy rain and take it to the track and abuse it often. Seems durable enough for me....
So it didn't need replaced. Otherwise i've put 20K miles and 4.5 years of abuse on the Delco I bought without a single issue and I've driven in heavy rain and take it to the track and abuse it often. Seems durable enough for me....
08-31-2012, 09:44 AM
#14
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My origanal opti failed at 144k, replaced it. Now have 44k on the gm piece. ALWAYS go with the origanal equipment its solid. How does an opti get installed incorectly? Dont think thats possible! OP what opti's are u using? Because i think they are crap! Stop bying them! Do u have some sort of interference problem?(if thats possible. High voltage problem? Have u had someone qualified with electronics check the burnout ones as to why they failed?
08-31-2012, 10:21 AM
#16
TECH Fanatic
What kind of optis are you using? Are you installing them yourself? With a failure rate like that, I believe there would have been a massive recall at some point.
08-31-2012, 10:44 AM
#18
Only "problem" I ever had with an opti in over 12 years and something well over 250K mile I put on cars I bought used is one wagon I bought with 172K miles on it later developed a slight stumble in wet weather. I was actually doing heads/cam on the sedan at the time so I bought a new cap and rotor kit and put it on the sedan and put the USED 60K mile set on the wagon and drove it till 227K when I hammered a deer. I wouldn't consider that an "opti problem" I would call that a high mileage used car needing a tuneup.
I wash the engine, I drive fast in the rain, I do not silicon the cap. Only things I do are dielectric grease on the weatherpak and loctite the rotor screws.
None of my friends have had issues either and one couple in particular both drive cammed, stalled Caprices year round here in WI. Her car goes through a lot of tires and she always seems to break something in the dead of winter but never an opti. And they actually have a fair amount of waterpump trouble which I have not. Some of it goofy stuff like the pressed in pipes seeming to weep. If you listen to folks here that would kill an opti even if it was just a spare in the trunk sealed in a ziploc.
I wash the engine, I drive fast in the rain, I do not silicon the cap. Only things I do are dielectric grease on the weatherpak and loctite the rotor screws.
None of my friends have had issues either and one couple in particular both drive cammed, stalled Caprices year round here in WI. Her car goes through a lot of tires and she always seems to break something in the dead of winter but never an opti. And they actually have a fair amount of waterpump trouble which I have not. Some of it goofy stuff like the pressed in pipes seeming to weep. If you listen to folks here that would kill an opti even if it was just a spare in the trunk sealed in a ziploc.
08-31-2012, 12:05 PM
#20
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99.9% of the time its The Installer or Shouldve been replaced at 100k anyways LoL **** has a service life & doesnt last forever Youve gotta do maint.... on a vehicle Plain & Simple Had a buddy that would get pissed at his ole lady & do nuetral drops at Redline LoL I told him that 60E will frag He said I do it all the time Twice after he killed the 60E but not the Opti Took him washin the engine bay for an hour to do that LoL Replaced both The thing ran great when he sold it & that dumbass wrecked it Operator error accounts for most of everything!!! Hell if you use blue loctite on it & dielectric grease half the battle is over Then just line up the dots/marks!!! Hell its really easier than a SBC LOL You just tryin to get the rookies wound up TOFAST4LUV!!! LMFAO Hell the Attention to Detail under the hood of Your Race Car, I think you know what your doin under the hood!!! LMFAO
Had a buddy that would get pissed at his ole lady & do nuetral drops at Redline LoL I told him that 60E will frag He said I do it all the time Twice after he killed the 60E but not the Opti Took him washin the engine bay for an hour to do that LoL Replaced both The thing ran great when he sold it & that dumbass wrecked it Operator error accounts for most of everything!!! Hell if you use blue loctite on it & dielectric grease half the battle is over Then just line up the dots/marks!!! Hell its really easier than a SBC LOL You just tryin to get the rookies wound up TOFAST4LUV!!! LMFAO Hell the Attention to Detail under the hood of Your Race Car, I think you know what your doin under the hood!!! LMFAO Last edited by warriorcustoms; 08-31-2012 at 12:14 PM.