opti question
06-01-2008, 10:02 PM
#2
how many miles on it? actually **** it that doesnt matter. if it runs fine most people dont bother.
however i am looking at picking up a 94 LT1 with 100k miles. i am probably going to change the opti as soon as i get it. one reason...i would rather change the opti at my convenience rather than on the side of the road when im late to work...
so if you are like me and want to change it just because, then change the whole thing, not just the cap and rotor. it sucks doing the same job twice.
however i am looking at picking up a 94 LT1 with 100k miles. i am probably going to change the opti as soon as i get it. one reason...i would rather change the opti at my convenience rather than on the side of the road when im late to work...
so if you are like me and want to change it just because, then change the whole thing, not just the cap and rotor. it sucks doing the same job twice.
06-02-2008, 06:34 AM
#4
Just my $0.02 worth...I believe in maintenance. A number of people here, at least those who don't wind the crap out of their engines, believe the opti should be good for 100,000 miles. I tend to agree, however I don't believe that ANY distributor car/rotor will perform well for that duration.
My '96 Z-28 currently has 71,000 miles on it. It was running just fine, but when it had around 32-34,000 miles on it, I replaced the cap and rotor. Yes, it was a bit of a hassle, but since the car was away for the winter, so what. Yes,the contacts on both the cap and rotor were fairly well burned, but that's to be expected with that many miles. The residue from those burned contacts was all over the inside of the opti. I CAREFULLY cleaned it out, installed new cap and rotor, and all was fine.
I've driven the car another 35,000 miles. Since I recently retired, I have more time on my hands, so I don't have to wait for winter storage in order to do my car work. I recently bought a new cap and rotor, and will be putting it on soon. The cap and rotor were $160 on the net, including shipping...a complete opti is twice that much. I'll go with the cap and rotor....
My '96 Z-28 currently has 71,000 miles on it. It was running just fine, but when it had around 32-34,000 miles on it, I replaced the cap and rotor. Yes, it was a bit of a hassle, but since the car was away for the winter, so what. Yes,the contacts on both the cap and rotor were fairly well burned, but that's to be expected with that many miles. The residue from those burned contacts was all over the inside of the opti. I CAREFULLY cleaned it out, installed new cap and rotor, and all was fine.
I've driven the car another 35,000 miles. Since I recently retired, I have more time on my hands, so I don't have to wait for winter storage in order to do my car work. I recently bought a new cap and rotor, and will be putting it on soon. The cap and rotor were $160 on the net, including shipping...a complete opti is twice that much. I'll go with the cap and rotor....
06-02-2008, 03:53 PM
#6
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change the entire thing! i totally screwed up when i thought i could get by with just a cap and rotor change... when i took the opti off the inside was caked in oil and when i layed it flat oil got inside the sensor and ruined it... so about $700 and about 30 hours later i decided it was a terrible idea to just get a cap and rotor lol
06-02-2008, 04:26 PM
#7
change the entire thing! i totally screwed up when i thought i could get by with just a cap and rotor change... when i took the opti off the inside was caked in oil and when i layed it flat oil got inside the sensor and ruined it... so about $700 and about 30 hours later i decided it was a terrible idea to just get a cap and rotor lol
Did you fix the oil leak before you decided "it was a terrible idea to get just a cap and rotor"? Cause if you didn't, you're going to waste another opti.
Conversely, if you don't have oil leaking into your opti, there's no reason not to do just the cap and rotor....and possibly replace the front cover's oil seal while you're in there....
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06-03-2008, 05:59 PM
#9
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yeah i fixed my oil leak problem... i just figured that after it was all said and done that since my opti had 150k on it that even though it was running alright but not exactly like it should be that i just needed a new cap and rotor... but after i got to thinking about it, i figured that 150k on anything is a lot of miles, and i should have just replaced the whole thing instead of going cheap first and then ending up paying in the end for it...
im just saying why not throw out an extra $150 or so and get the problem completely taken care of instead of just putting a bandaid on it if ya know what i mean... because my $300 or so problem ended up costing me and giving me about a $700 mistake instead of a $300 problem...
id say just replace it and get it over with, but thats just how i would look at it after i made the mistake of not doing it
and p.s.- if you decide to just get a cap and rotor, do not use electrical cleaner around the eye of the optical sensor... i think thats actually what caused mine to fail completely, but i even taped off around the sensor with painters tape to try to make sure that nothing got inside of it, but i think some seeped inside of it and pretty well destroyed it... but it was on its way out anyway
im just saying why not throw out an extra $150 or so and get the problem completely taken care of instead of just putting a bandaid on it if ya know what i mean... because my $300 or so problem ended up costing me and giving me about a $700 mistake instead of a $300 problem...
id say just replace it and get it over with, but thats just how i would look at it after i made the mistake of not doing it
and p.s.- if you decide to just get a cap and rotor, do not use electrical cleaner around the eye of the optical sensor... i think thats actually what caused mine to fail completely, but i even taped off around the sensor with painters tape to try to make sure that nothing got inside of it, but i think some seeped inside of it and pretty well destroyed it... but it was on its way out anyway
