Anyone on wannahelp with opti problems
04-19-2008, 12:46 AM
#1
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Anyone on wannahelp with opti problems well i am in the garage with the computer right now... just changed a cap and rotor and cant get **** to run... we have spark and fuel, but its not firing... i have a 94 lt1... bought the msd cap and rotor kit... and we can't figure out what the deal is
04-19-2008, 01:49 AM
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well you could have fuel at the rail and spark from a wire, but seeing as i had the same problem (had spark and fuel at the rail), it could be the optical sensor because it controls when your injectors pulse.
04-19-2008, 03:36 AM
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I think its hard to misaligne a 94' opti since it is splined, and not like 95'-97'. Have you checked if your wires are routed correctly and on properly?
04-19-2008, 07:39 PM
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well i think we were off on the spline... but we are in the process of putting it back together... but we are gonna go at cylinder 1 at top dead center and we found which post inside the cap was the 1 cylinder connection... so we are trying to line everything up to where it needs to be and try again..
04-19-2008, 10:08 PM
#7
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alright finally... we got it to run now... but its def. out of timing... but my neighbor is a mechanic and the only transmission shop in town... and he said he could bring a laptop and get the timing adjusted for me to get it back on the road in the morning... but the problems we figured out were... the first problem was that we forgot to put that shim on the bottom of the rotor, so the rotor didnt spin freely and rubbed on the cap.. and secondly, we pulled that spline drive out and thought we marked it, but i think the pen was empty haha... so we had to put it to TDC and figure out what would be the number one cylinder post and then hope that the indexes were lined up correctly... so we are only off by a little bit now, but its better than where we were yesterday...
lol id like to get a vid of this right now because it sounds like a beast... although im not even gonna try to put it in gear because i know its not going anywhere till i get that timing fixed... but hopefully it will be on the road tomorrow
and yesterday it took us about 4 working hours to get everything torn down and back together.. but we had to make 5 auto zone trips for worthless stuff... and then today we tore it down and put it back together in about 4 hours again... and that was with trying to find TDC and another trip to the zone for some coolant... so its been a hell of a weekend... but the install is finally complete
lol id like to get a vid of this right now because it sounds like a beast... although im not even gonna try to put it in gear because i know its not going anywhere till i get that timing fixed... but hopefully it will be on the road tomorrow
and yesterday it took us about 4 working hours to get everything torn down and back together.. but we had to make 5 auto zone trips for worthless stuff... and then today we tore it down and put it back together in about 4 hours again... and that was with trying to find TDC and another trip to the zone for some coolant... so its been a hell of a weekend... but the install is finally complete
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04-20-2008, 07:11 AM
#8
if you have the spline lined up you are in perfect timing. there is no other way to adjust that besides going into the PCM with specific tuning software for the LT1. you said you didnt shim the rotor correctly and its rubbing. i think you answered your own question. definitaly get that fixed. the rotor should only be able to go on one way. there is a little plastic thing on the back of the rotor that fits into a hole so it can only go in one way. so i think you messed something up with your own stupidity 
you can also leave the waterpump off and give it it a test fire. just put on the air intake on and connect the sensors.
you can also leave the waterpump off and give it it a test fire. just put on the air intake on and connect the sensors.
04-20-2008, 01:16 PM
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yeah well we didnt even have that part until we got back in the car that we took to auto zone to see if they had a small enough torx head to take the old rotor screws out... and i guess between the trip back and to the garage it fell into the floorboard... but neither of us saw that it was even on there... so luckily we did find it.. and we got it to start last night, and my neighbor is comin with his laptop and software to tune it today to get it back to normal... because i think we are off by a couple teeth because we pulled the shaft out to try to figure it out and couldnt quite get it to go back in right, but its close now... and he said as long as we can get it to run he can get it back into timing...
04-20-2008, 01:43 PM
#10
If you just did cap and rotor and did not remove the Opti itself than the opti is lined up correctly with the dowel pin on the cam.
the "spline" shaft you talk about...that would be the WP drive sleeve. It does not mater what "spline" you put than on.
If you did pull the Opti from the motor there is only one way to put it back...unless you forced it on.
You should not have to do any timing adjustments on the computer to correct timing due to a Opti install.
if it is running now I suspect you have some plug wires crossed or not seated if it seems to misfire.
if everything is installed corectly and you have issues....The Opti itself most likely is bad.
the "spline" shaft you talk about...that would be the WP drive sleeve. It does not mater what "spline" you put than on.
If you did pull the Opti from the motor there is only one way to put it back...unless you forced it on.
You should not have to do any timing adjustments on the computer to correct timing due to a Opti install.
if it is running now I suspect you have some plug wires crossed or not seated if it seems to misfire.
if everything is installed corectly and you have issues....The Opti itself most likely is bad.
04-20-2008, 06:28 PM
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well first of all... we took the opti off the motor itself because i wanted to clean the internals because they were really dirty... so we did that and went to put it back in... and im guessing that it may be 180 off right now because since we messed up by pulling the splined shaft... not the water pump drive, but the 94 opti spline shaft... and so we went to put it at TDC and i think we may have put it on the exhaust stroke instead of the compression stroke... so this may have to continue another weekend, but hopefully we are only like off by a tooth on the shaft and it can be fixed by changing the timing... the shaft didnt seemed forced in at all and actually slid in very easily, but it very well could have went on incorrectly, but at least we know we are close... and if its 180 off, we will probably be tearing it down again anyway
04-21-2008, 12:32 AM
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and im not tryin to be a dick or anything, but this is just getting really frustrating lol.... ive worked on this over 30 hours this weekend, and i'd so much rather be fishing than doing this a whole weekend, especially for a job that should have taken us about 4 hours to do...
04-21-2008, 02:16 AM
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you dont have to TDC the opti when you take it off, mine came off with the spline shaft, and all i had to do was put it in so the key spline lined up with the one in the cam.
04-21-2008, 06:54 AM
#14
i would take it off and check to see if you didnt mess up the opti splines. there should be no reason to have to add or pull timing via tuning because of an opti install. get the thing in the correct slot and you will be golden. you have to be doing something wrong....
04-21-2008, 10:10 AM
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yeah we pulled the opti 3 times to try to get it to line up in both of those indexed places in the camshaft and opti... we have worked over 30 hours in 3 days trying to get this running and its just getting to be a pain to work on... and my neighbor said if we can get it running he could get it lined out with his tuning software... and i dont want to go that route because its not the right way to do it at all, but i just dont want to have to keep tearing into this and it either getting worse or a little better...
04-21-2008, 03:59 PM
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IMO.. I don't really think fixing an Opti to camshaft misalignment with timing parameters in the PCM is a good idea or will work. I guess once you figure how many degrees (teeth) the opti is off you could add/subtract that from all the applicable timing tables. you will end up with some really weird settings if it works. The gear , key or camshaft spline must be mashed up if it was put together a couple of times misaligned. I think there are about 14-16 teeth on the gear that ends up giving you plus or minus 23-28 degrees timing error if you are out only 1 tooth. That's a lot to make up in the PCM tables ??
04-21-2008, 07:05 PM
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yeah, i decided that i am gonna just wait till next week and keep playing with it until i get it right... i think im only off a couple teeth at max right now, but its just a pain to keep tearing apart and putting back together... i spent over 30 hours of my weekend working on this, and we have torn it down and put it back together about 6 times now... hell and the first time we put it all back together because we thought we had it all aligned, and i ran home really fast to grab my laptop and one of my friends thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and top it off with antifreeze before we tried starting it with everything together... so sure enough i have spent like $25 in coolant alone... not to mention the $160 cap and rotor and then the second order for water pump and thermostat housing gaskets because i forgot to put them in my first order... it seems like i would have been better off buying a new distributor and calling it a day
we all make stupid mistakes though, but i made too damn many last weekend...
we all make stupid mistakes though, but i made too damn many last weekend...
04-21-2008, 08:35 PM
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yeah we tested it every time without it on... and i dont really know why we kept it the way it was when it started but ran like **** because it was a bad idea... but we did and then put it all together... so i guess we will just have to tear it down again this weekend and get it lined out... this has been an opti change from hell though... i dont get why they dont key the drive outward so it only can go in one way, instead of putting an index tab sort of deal on there so it can go multiple ways and feel like its going in greatly, but being off the slightest can put the car way outta whack... so needless to say, this weekend will be another long one probably lol