Please! help needed loud pinging under acceleration
I'm having a hard time picturing how the opti could send spark to the wrong cylinder. It does the same thing as a rotor in a traditional dizzy. As it spins it comes across the post for the cylinder and the spark jumps the gap. I'm not saying I can't be wrong just having a hard time wrapping my head around it.
A long time ago I spilled a lot of coolant on my engine/opti as I was topping it off. I went to start it and it backfired and tore the front of the starter off on me too as it was still cranking when it happened. I couldn't believe it either.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 92
Likes: 0
1. I had the the ***** to try and do it myself, if I messed it up, it is what it is
2. mechanic says he sees light water in oil, ie- blown head gasket, another $$$$$$ repair
3. I only have 1900 in the car, so 3k is good to me
4. the car needs other small stuff, suspension, alignment , interior, etc to be up to par with what I want
5. I would take money and buy an ls1 powered Camaro that I really want and in the condition I want
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 92
Likes: 0
I'm having a hard time picturing how the opti could send spark to the wrong cylinder. It does the same thing as a rotor in a traditional dizzy. As it spins it comes across the post for the cylinder and the spark jumps the gap. I'm not saying I can't be wrong just having a hard time wrapping my head around it.
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Gas Monkey Built a 6-Wheel Ferrari Testarossa With a Corvette LT4 Engine
Verdad Gallardo
7 Most Reliable High-Performance Engines GM Has Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
Amazing '71 Camaro Restomod Is Modern Muscle Car Under the Skin
Verdad Gallardo
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo I like how people who have no clue about anyones situation runs their mouth about people on an internet message board!
1. I had the the ***** to try and do it myself, if I messed it up, it is what it is
2. mechanic says he sees light water in oil, ie- blown head gasket, another $$$$$$ repair
3. I only have 1900 in the car, so 3k is good to me
4. the car needs other small stuff, suspension, alignment , interior, etc to be up to par with what I want
5. I would take money and buy an ls1 powered Camaro that I really want and in the condition I want
1. I had the the ***** to try and do it myself, if I messed it up, it is what it is
2. mechanic says he sees light water in oil, ie- blown head gasket, another $$$$$$ repair
3. I only have 1900 in the car, so 3k is good to me
4. the car needs other small stuff, suspension, alignment , interior, etc to be up to par with what I want
5. I would take money and buy an ls1 powered Camaro that I really want and in the condition I want
On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 184
Likes: 0
From: Sewell, NJ
when you put in your opti you probably didnt have it in the right way, depending on the year, vented or non vented theres a different number of splines so a different number of ways to install it wrong basically. Mine is a 94 and luckily someone marked it previously when i did my opti (opti wasnt even broken just misdiagnosed) Yeah the car requires 91 or better when you read the manual, it isn't exactly a truck motor. I mean you can put regular in it put for an extra 10 or 20 cents a gallon why not have your knock sensor not turn your timing down and actually get all 275hp or so?
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 92
Likes: 0
he just said it had bad head gasket, says maybe one cylinder is filling up with water and maybe that is causing the backlash that is snapping the cones on the starter? not sure , I have never seen this before or even heard of a starter cone being snapped in half , ??????????
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 92
Likes: 0
either way I sold the car, just would like to know where I went wrong, ive changed transmissions and done all kinds of diy jobs, and never had a problem, I research a lot before I do something to my car, so I am just lost on where I went wrong on this job, found a trans am I want 99 model ls1 powered so hopefully i'll be driving that 
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 92
Likes: 0
no, but the guy who brought him, bought it, things I know for sure---- there is a little white residue on oil dipstick, the starter cone was snapped in half, the mechanic installed a brand new starter $137 the guy who bought the car bought the starter, they started the car, it ran rough, had spark knock, shut it off cause temp went towards the high side, tried to start a few minutes later and the new starter snapped at the cone-- none of these were issues before I installed the opti, no spark knock and was not snapped starter cones , now it is , its a mystery to me lol, somehow someway I guess I installed opti wrong and timing is off, I thought I read enough diy guides to do it right, but I guess I was wrong, not sure
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 92
Likes: 0
In case anyone comes across this thread with a similar problem. Here was my cause and solution. The opti install was clean. And opti worked fine. The spark knock was caused by cylinder #8 filling with water. Due to a failure in the head gasket. The starter nose cone snapped also due to water in #8 cylinder. The opti was not at fault.
TECH Regular
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 461
Likes: 0
From: Hastings, Nebraska
im not getting where 'regular' gas is causing the problem... lol. my car as is runs on 89 octane without pulling timing. It ran 89 octane when it was stock also .... although most of nebraska's regular mix is a 10% ethanol blend