Bowtie_Aaron

iTrader: (3)

my stock opti lasted 200,000 miles. i DD it for almost 25,000 miles in snow, rain, hot cold, never an issue until about 200,000 miles.
replaced it with a thepartsladi opti and put another 12,000 hard miles on it.
and i never babied the car either.. maybe i had a freak?

aaron

QwikLSA

Sorry OP, but welcome to the LT1 world! I've owned several LT cars and after my last '93 I finally decided to throw in the towel. If it's not one thing it's another with them, I swear, every little thing that can go wrong can and will go wrong in an LT1. The motors can make good power, but it's the reliability in them that makes for a big issue. Let's just say i'd never buy another LT-powered anything again.

QwikLSA

Who wants to work on their car everyday? Wouldn't you just rather drive it?

Speedy

LT1's problem is that it is one of the most misunderstood engines ever made. An opti that is installed properly will never get wet. My stock unvented 1993 opti lasted for 90,000 miles. There's no doubt the LS1 is a more reliable engine x10, but an LT1 properly maintained can run forever with few problems.

Bowtie_Aaron

iTrader: (3)

agree'd.. see my post above..

i sold my 94 ta with 212,000 on the bottom end! i put head gaskets on it at 185k, and an opti at 202k.

put over 30,000 HARD miles on that car. i beat the ***** off of it every day. i got 5000 miles out of my tires! donuts, burnouts, beating the ***** off it. but i kept it maintained.

screwing around, taking pictures cuz i was going to make a write up here.. it took me 3 yes three hours to take off the opti, take my time, clean the motor, put new one on, and get it running with air bled out of the system.
but i am by no means new to working on cars, but it was EASIER than what every one said it was.. and those ppl have either never worked on an LT1, or owned an LT1.

aaron

vtec

iTrader: (1)

i think what he was trying to say was that most of the complainers get rid of their LT1's after they screwed their car up several times trying to learn how to be a mechanic. so they sell the LT1 and buy an unmolested LS1 car and wallah, they have a reliable car. (as long as it stays bone stock)
90% of the time, reliability issues will fall back on whoever has been working on the car. there is unmolested LT1's running around everywhere with no problems.

97camaross

iTrader: (6)

first I didnt mean I work on my car every day some times I dont touch my car for weeks at a time...

Im a mechanic I work on many different cars every day and im good at it I make real good money doing what I do and I under stand that its not for every one, all I was saying is that I believe most of the people that "Hate" the LT1 motor have little or no mechanical ablates and when they try to do something they get frustrated and they blame the motor and they do not do not think it might be their own ignorance. working on a lt1 is no different then working on any other motor you just have to understand it....(which i think many people do not)

TAEnvy

iTrader: (2)

My LT1s been pretty reliable and all my problems have stemmed from me working on it, its been a learning experience and Ive become pretty good at diagnosing and working on them.

I literally hit standing water on purpose when I drive mine, and I will get the underhood so wet my belt will slip, but never ahd an opi issue. When I bought mine to PO had capped all the vent lines and i iddnt notice til I did the cam, and I still never had an issue with it, even when the WP went out and the weep hole pissed all over it. I took the original ou at 108K since I was doing the cam and the only issue with it was the bearing wasnt as smooth as the new GM one I replaced it with.

camar0corey

iTrader: (22)

Opti opti opti, blah blah blah. Yep I still don't understand what is up with people habitually having issues? I've only changed the opti once on my 192k 94 Z28. I live in FL which well when it rains it pours, can't see the road half the time, stuff is def. getting wet!

69gto96z

iTrader: (13)

My 130k mile factory LT1 hit the red on the temp gauge, check gauges light on, multiple times. I then proceeded to spray a 150 shot on it, probably a good 10 to 15 bottles. That motor ran great until the day I yanked it to put my rebuilt/cammed motor in. Sure the LT1 has its problems, but these motors are strong and will take a beating.

kinglt-1

iTrader: (26)

I will agree that some prolly get away from the lt1 because they hacked thier setup and sold it to to buy a unmolested ls1 and say its far more reliable. That was not the situation in my case... I sold my lt1 to my brother because I knew he would take good care of it. It ran great when he bought it. I simply just wanted to go back to a fast simple bolt on setup, and this ls1 car in sig does that. Its running mid 12's now on street tires with boltons and some suspension work(full weight). When I get the stall and nitous plate installed, Im shooting for bottom 11's on a 100hit. Not to mention the car is still going to get 25-26mpg... Also I can use hp tuners and have been wanting to get into tuning my own ride for years. The fact is the ls1 dont need many mods to be fast and reliable, while maintaining great fuel economy. One thing that I never liked about my 383 lt1 is that its a gas hog. 3.00+ a gallon kept me from driving it like I wanted(some of that is the tune im sure)... It was still getting 15-17mpg but thats still not very good for recreational driving. Not to mention it's getting harder to find somebody that tunes lt1's. My old car has been running on a pcm for less mailorder tune for 3yrs now... still waitin on Bryan herter to come to this a area and finish tuning. Supposedly he is going to be in the area this month... also you can't buy good tuning software for the 96-97 lt1's. So I tried an obd1 swap at one time, but could not get the knock sensors to work right. even switched to a 95 knock sensor with no luck. Put the original 96 pcm back in and that issue went away, but it limited my tuning options again. Its all the little things that will drive you nuts with the lt1. If I had a Speed Inc next door things would be a whole lot different, but I don't have that luxury. All we have around here is lingenfelter, they wount touch your car unless they built it...

camar0corey

iTrader: (22)

I plan on the Ls1 PCM conversion, but its not really due to the opti, it is due to the tuning. I rode in a pcm converted car, it ran so much nicer. It is only going to get harder down the line to find people who will tune a LT1 in person, I'm going to shoot for the route of the better PCM.

kinglt-1

iTrader: (26)

If I would of kept my lt1 that was the next mod... I think the ls1 pcm will really help the lt platform out immensely for guys that dont have lt1 tuners in thier area. That was really the biggest frustration with my car. Hp tuners is so easy to use on the ls stuff...

mpe331lx

iTrader: (5)

That is another key reason that I'll eventually swap to the 24x kit. The drivability tune in our LT1 is marginal. It is tuned in open loop, and VERY rich @ part throttle to soften up the cam surge at cruising speeds.

As it sits, it's TERRIBLE on gas I'm hoping that the LS1 pcm will help towards better drivability and efficiency.

Z28Roxy

iTrader: (4)

OP can I have your car?

kinglt-1

iTrader: (26)

Hey I just seen your from port charlotte... I was down at pine island last week on vacation!! Nice area... I think thats fairly close to you?