Hi guys!! I just bought a 1995 Camaro Z-28 (with only 34000 documented miles). I was so happy to find the car and LOVE IT!!! Since Sunday, when I bought the car I have been reading up on the LT1 engine. Much to my dismay I have seen LOADS of posts about Optispark Failures. I am now wondering if I did indeed make a wise purchase now. The car is IMMACULATE and I just have had all of the fluids flushed by a GM dealer. This is my first late model GM purchase (always had Fords). Can someone please enlighten me if I need to get rid of this car before the $1000.00 Opti failures and replacements?? Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks PROS!!!!

 

When it does just replace it with a msd distributor. I think they last a lot longer than the gm ones

 

About 90%+ of the posts you read about "optispark" are usually nothing to do with optisparks at all. People just like to blame it for something they can't diagnose because they like to assume the worst case scenario for some reason it seems. LS1 owners LOVE to talk **** about the optispark too, so take that into consideration. Many times it seems someone who thinks they are having an opti problem finds an issue somewhere else ultimately.

But, sometimes they do fail, as all part do.
It seems that there are three main reasons that optisparks usually bite the dust:

1). Excessive moisture in the unit (say from being submerged in water, or catastrophically soaked with coolant somehow)
2). High RPM shifts (and when I say "high", I mean much higher than stock, and even then they don't always fail)
3). And the third reason they usually fail is because people either A). replace them with cheap, overseas replacement units (parts failure) or B). they install them incorrectly. (Many like to loctite the screws so they don't back out when replacing the optispark)

Take a look at those reasons and just let them sink in. Can you really blame the unit itself for any of those reasons? It seems that those 3 reasons are almost ALWAYS related to, or not completely the reason behind failure from what I always read. Also take into consideration that these things happening (high rpm shifts, moisture, crappy parts) don't always lead to a failure, either.

Also, If in need of replacement, get an OEM unit and don't mess around with trying to save $100 or so by buying cheap aftermarket junk. (and dont order it from a dealership). MSD is another popular choice, but actually seem to have more issues than the OEM units dispite the bigger price tag. MSD is a much better choice than any other aftermarket piece for the most part, however.

Also, just to ease your mind, my car has 110k miles on it and the original opti is still running like a champ. Some people have seen 200k+ on them. Several people on here have reported spinning around 7,000rpm on stock units without issue.

The labor to replace the optispark takes a while, but it's all pretty easy actually. It could be done as an evening project by a compotent person.

With your low mileage car, I wouldn't worry about it whatsoever especially if it's garaged. 95-97 cars were vented too, so that helps with the moisture aspect.

ENJOY THE CAR! They are great cars for sure! Also post up some pics!

Hope some of this helps. Im sure others will chime in.

 

Thanks MASTER!!!!! You have made me feel a WHOLE lot better about my new TOY
I understand that components fail in everything, I just didn't know if this was a chronic problem or not. I would reckon that there would have been a recall if it was as wide spread as I have read (on posts). I will post pics. Thanks again Bro!!!

 

Thanks JSTEELE!!

 

Happy that made you feel some better, there's a ton of info on here about them if you do some searching around. There are plenty of people on here that know more than me as well.

 

Just thought I'd put my 2 cents in here also. I have owned 2 LT1 cars, and anytime one these cars has the slightest misfire, everyone yells BAD OPTI!!! The first LT1 I had was a dream and never gave me a single problem, but the second was a different story. It was kinda like adopting a dog who had been mistreated. It Just gave me a fit until I got him retrained. Almost every part on that damned car failed at some point, EXCEPT the opti. Two leaking water pumps, I drove it though a puddle (small pond), and the top radiator hose split, spraying coolant directly on the opti. Guess what? OptiSpark still worked perfectly. Moral of the story.. Opti's are like Pitbulls, most of them are no trouble at all, but the ones the are, give all of them a bad name.

 

^Perfect analogy...

 

Thanks SLING!!!! Being a newby with this car, you and MASTER sure have made me rest easier about driving this car in the rain... LOL!!! God Bless you guys!!!!