Does anyone have suggestions on a reliable aftermarket optispark?
 

Okay, so the codes that my computer was throwing, P1371 and P0336, where the distributor was behaving fine has now turned into confirmation that the distributor is failing, loss of power, can't idle past certain RPMs, then a sudden jolt back to normal operation followed by light bucking and back to a loss of power. This felt all ignition related and nothing mechanical, thank God.

Pretty much I am at a crossroads and willing to spend the money to convert my LT1 ignition over to an LS1 coil over system just so that I can have my reliable daily driver, but I need member input. There are two optispark brands I have been considering, Petris Enterprises and AIP Electronics. I don't know how reliable these units are and if their company camshaft position sensors that are "Mitsubishi quality" will work with the computer and not throw any codes or not. Please help me with your experience and suggestions...

FWIW, I rolled the dice on an Advance auto parts optispark and it has been going strong for years. I took it apart before install and was pleased to see a quality pulse wheel without any warpage or contact with the sensor. Plus its lifetime warranty. I guess one could get a genunie Delco/Delphi but I will speculate it comes from the slums of East Beijing just like all of the others. Guess its just a crap shoot with any opti now days, but at least the AAP opti is a good bit cheaper.

At this point I am scared to play that game of rolling the dice and trying out different store brand remanufactured optis. I have gone through two over the course of three months since my last optispark, a NAPA, failed on me due to a combination of melted PCM wire harness on my exhaust header and an oil leak from the water pump seal that I only bitched about to my mechanics shop for three years and they insisted it was "normal" and not to worry about! I want to buy a Delco/Delphi remanufactured unit but it costs $500 from GM and you are right, I heard that Delco/Delphi parts have been outsourced to China, so that doesn't make me feel any better. For $1000 to $1500 I can get myself a complete LS1 PCM and stock tune for an LT1, coil over ignition conversion with all necessary hardware and in all likelihood never have an ignition system problem ever again! I am trying to go through college and I need my car to get me from work to a campus much further away and with this problem going on with my car my college career is looking questionable.

Just throwing an idea out there. Have you checked your opti harness for corroded terminals, burnt, broken wires? Something that doesn't cost anything to look at.

Mike

I purchased a dealership GM optispark harness. I am not sure if it was NOS but it was the last one at their warehouse. I pulled the harness off of the optispark and installed the GM harness. I did notice that the wire lengths and gauge were different so I assumed this might have been the cause for the check engine light, wrong OHM readings. The harness connections were fine! However, today when I had to run out on an errand I felt the ignition system acting up and it was downhill from there.

I am sick to my stomach thinking about converting my ignition system over to the 24x LS1, and of course I need an LS1 PCM mounting bracket which is not supplied in the kit I am looking at. Honestly, if I am going to gamble, I have read good things about the Petris optispark and for the sake of getting my car back on the road ASAP without killing my bank accounts, I should give the Petris a try, it may be my last ditch attempt at finding a reliable optispark...

Petris seems like the cheapest way out, and get the mitsubishi sensor. The last GM opti, I bought was in 99 and it was $234. His complete unit for $350, 19 years later, seems more than reasonable.

Mike

I'm pretty sure that AIP = All Ignition, which did not have a good reputation.

There was a post in an opti thread on here recently for someone on eBay that rebuilt optis and a few people had good luck with him.

The rebuild service was mentioned in this thread, https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-m...best-luck.html

There is a major problem, where do I get a new Mitsubishi sensor? Any left over genuine Delco optis from junkyards have likely all been picked over and even then I have no guarantee that what I buy now will be the real deal unless I verify that the sensor has the Mitsubishi logo and the sensor is working! Then, there is a chance that the timing disks on my failed optis may not be cut to spec and would throw off the Mitsubishi sensor, assuming I can even find one! There are problems galore here! I am pretty much screwed and need to look to the aftermarket because Delco/Delphi are really of no help now. Even when I tried to get my hands on a Delco/Delphi three years ago, the damn sensor was bad!

The Petris optispark is far from cheap but the company does offer a one year or five year warranty which has me seriously considering buying it so that I can install it hopefully this next weekend after prepping my car today. The unit can't be cheap, not if the company is honest in it's construction! I hope the following information is permissible and doesn't break any forum rules, especially to paying vendors...

Quoting the webpage:

• Our Optispark unit is equipped with a MITSUBISHI-GRADE OPTICAL SENSOR MODULE. Our optical sensor is built using components that are equal to or higher quality than the original equipment optical sensor found in factory-supplied distributors.
• Our Optispark distributor cap has a ventilation port cast into it with high quality brass terminals and high voltage distribution straps.
• The brass tipped rotor of each unit is secured with Loctite, assembled, and then tested for leakage. The final touch is the installation of a vacuum ventilation hose assembly with the correct check and restrictor valves to prevent distributor cap damage.

Quoting the tech and faqs page:

• Our optical sensor is built using components that are of equal or higher quality than the original equipment optical sensor found in factory-supplied distributors.
• Our Optispark distributor cap has a ventilation port cast into it with high quality brass terminals and high voltage distribution straps.
• The brass tipped rotor of each unit is secured with Loctite, assembled, and then tested for leakage. The final touch is the installation of a vacuum ventilation hose assembly with the correct check and restrictor valves to prevent distributor cap damage.
• We make our own wiring harnesses using the correct TXL wire and high quality terminals. Many harnesses are imported from other countries and are of poor quality (incorrect wire, unreliable crimping, etc.).
• We also make our own vacuum ventilation kits. Our latest units come with a removable filter with a screen that can be cleaned.
• Other 1995-1997 Optispark distributors have been plagued loose rotors. We add larger diameter screws to ensure that the rotor stays in place. We also add a reinforcement disc to the shutter wheel.

With all of this said, I have to give this thing a try if the construction holds true to their word. Naturally I can't open their optispark or I lose the warranty and I am sure they have devised methods to determine if someone spun open those clamping screws.

At this point I will not trust a rebuild when I prefer a brand new and improved version of the GM Delco optispark. Petris Enterprises has been working with Corvette and GM high performance, selling parts and offering services, according to their webpage. I have to think that from this their units have to be somewhat good...

Pantera EFI Opti Spark
 

Hi ALL, I have sold my version of the Opti Spark to MANY here at LS-1 Tech with NO REPORTED problems.

There are two versions, the "spline drive" OR "clover drive".

The cost for the Spline drive is $136.00
The cost for the Clover drive is $146.00

O ALSO provide a 24-2 TW that fits UNDER the LT-1 Front cover AND is used with MY IGN-8 DIS ignition ?

Lance

I just found your optispark on your website for NEW Products. What more can you tell me about it than what is typed on the website? Is the casing coolant and oil proof or do I need to glop some dielectric grease over the entire seam? You use a Hall effect pickup sensor which I read is the predecessor technology of older distributors, still reliable, but not the optical sensor technology used by the optispark. This set-up is still compatible with the computer? Do we have anyone on this forum who can attest to the reliability of your version of optispark? The biggest problem with the optispark is the optical sensor and now that you mention your version, I am left thinking if hall effect is actually the better way to go. I do like the price but Chinese ripoffs sell for the same price as well.

rockauto.com currently shows 2 in stock of the ac delco remans...

I had a Delco "reman" put on my car 3 years ago, the sensor failed a month later and my car needed to be towed. I am done with remans but I just came across another problem on my damn car. I was going to erase the codes on my computer with my scanner when I noticed I had a new one, P0152, bank 2 sensor 1 oxygen sensor circuit high voltage failure. Researching this code and what effects it would have, it would result in misfiring and erratic ignition operation. So, I am about ready to rip my damn hair out of my head and I need Firestone to look into this problem. I am hoping it is just a bad sensor and this would explain the brief moments when I smelled rich exhaust out of my car, which I was blaming my optispark for. I am also going to have Firestone use an oscillator scope on my optispark to verify if the damn sensor is a problem. This is driving me nuts! Either way, I think I am getting a new optispark and that I will install myself! I can't trust whatever brand Firestone will use and for a guaranteed $1000+ charge for service, I can do the same quality work myself.

often a pre 02 sensor exhaust leak will cause that code. not the only reason for that code but a common one

if you think it is the 02 sensor itself you could swap it over to the other side and see if the bank 1 sensor 1 code comes up

I dred looking for a Opti now but from what I have heard, other than your post, is the AC Delco remans are better than the others...but in your case apparently not

another option I have no direct experience with but have talked to someone who got one after having 2 new off brand optis not work is this guy on ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/322692854278?rmvSB=true

...but you would need a ac delco opti with a Mitsubishi sensor to send him unless he has inventory he can sell you

I am not sure I ever had a genuine factory optispark on my car, even when I bought it back in 2007. What is on my car is a K&S Auto store brand optispark and I doubt it has a Mitsubishi sensor. The ONLY brand new aftermarket optispark that I am willing to try is the Petris which, I will add, is hand made per the website and they test every unit before shipping them. Now, after this fiasco I am now in, I also read that my PCM could be bad and I am fully aware that my wire harness is jacked up and replacement wires installed and the whole nine yards!

I need trained technicians to diagnose my car properly because I will just keep blaming the optispark and it is best I pay to have the wiring corrected before immediately voiding a warranty by putting on that Petris optispark. My car is almost back to optimal operation but she needs some more work that wasn't obvious without this new code...

Dayton Engineering Laboratory COmpany 2004
 

Hi ALL, I truly DOUBT if one could BUY a DelCO "opti" as THEY "closed their doors" in 2004.

I do supply Delphi Purchasing items, OEM grade items.

My "opti" has a one year warranty, the same as WorldPac, the same "opti".

SO I ASK, "why pay more money for the SAME ITEM ? "

Lance

….well this news adds to the issue..."jacked up wire harness..", IDK to what extent or parts of the wire harness you refer to but paying someone to probe through all that will be costly. If you are capable of probing and repairing through it I would.

I have heard PCM's getting "bricked" during flash process but if wiring to it is compromised and it involves ignition than yeah replacing all the parts on the car will not resolve anything until the wiring is sorted.

It is a long story of the different mechanics/engine builder hands who have touched my car. To make it short, my engine harness from the PCM was supposed to have been repaired by mechanic/engine builder #1, the same guy who turned around to tell me this engine had melted cylinders on the driver side, a cracked head, cracked block, and warped crankshaft even though he said he checked the compression ratio on all cylinders and they were fine. This guy also has a side job of flipping cars and he was trying to get me to buy his fixed up 1988 C4 convertible with carbureted intake. Maybe he was trying to get me to part with my Trans Am to flip it...

Firestone replaced the wires to my crank sensor in the engine harness but they may have to replace some more if my P0152 code is the result of a wire failure and not the sensor itself. However, this still doesn't answer the question of why I am getting P1357 and P0336 codes with my distributor and yet the car starts up and runs fine! I did try to contact someone for a custom stock program to have these codes not trigger the check engine light and only to store them but I think they are avoiding me. If the distributor continues to run fine and there are no apparent issues as far as emissions go, I may need to find someone who will pass my car until I can figure out what to do about these two codes. I won't know if my car is reliable or not until I can start driving it for more than half an hour a day.

Wait, your car is starting and running fine, just throwing the codes?

Do you have an aftermarket cam in the car?

Mike

The engine is a Jasper reman LT1 since I couldn't find anyone back in 2015 to rebuild my factory LT1 when a winter storm and a punctured radiator tank took it's toll and cooked the engine. Even when I got the engine back on day one, the car was misfiring and the engine certainly sounded like it had bad pistons. I have been suspicious that they gave me a raced and worn down engine block and gave that guy my reman Jasper LT1. Every mechanics shop asks me if I race my car, I don't! Yes, I had the suspension and chassis parts put on to stiffen up the car and plant all of the engine's power to the rear wheels, which the added stiffness is beneficial for winter driving but I don't race this car! They don't believe me and that has me suspicious if this car has been bandaged to function yet has underlying problems that they notice.

The engine sounds wicked with the Magnaflow exhaust and the Hooker shorty headers but power wise it is still no better than when I had it before. The car sounds like a racer but it is quite stock from what I can tell. Now the computer was supposed to have been rebuilt by a company in Texas on behalf of NAPA and the computer was flashed with my car's stock factory program. I am not sure if anyone in the past gave my car a slightly modified program to address the P1357 and P0336 codes in the past. One shop did ask me if I had used a custom program on my car in the past and they were suspicious of me when I said no, and they too kept drilling me on whether I race the car. So, something is up and it worries me...

If you go out and start your car right now, it starts and runs fine? Just keeps setting codes codes?

You lost me with the reman Jasper engine story. You think ,the shop that was to install the jasper engine for you, gave the jasper engine to "that guy". Who is "that guy"?

Was the computer that was "rebuilt" the original one for the car? Why did it need "rebuilt"?

Sounds like there is more to this than needing a reliable optispark.

Mike