http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...=egnsearch.asp

 

NONE are out yet, they are pulling the same crap as MSD did with their cap and trotor and is currently doing with their whole opti. Offering it for sale then repeatedly pushing back the ship date every time it draws near.

 

its because its a bad design overall, ive never heard of another car having to replace distributors as much

 

MOST of us go past 100K without so much as a cap and rotor replacement. It is just mass stupidity that makes the opti sound bad.
The unvented one was problematic, but the vented is a pretty good piece not perfect but then what OEM is.

Name one other distributor you have left a cap and rotor on for 100K+ before it acts up. The opti cap and rotor get neglected because they are expensive and a hassle to replace. Now I am not saying everyone should do it with plugs the way they did an HEI just that when after a whole lot of miles when it finally does go UNDERSTAND a cap and rotor are wear items simple as that on every distributor ever made.

Simple logic like this escapes most people these days and the internet just gives those idiots a louder voice, and few logical folks have the stuborn streak I do to keep telling people how wrong they are.

 

There's not a car that exists with a "distributor" that doesn't need periodic cap/rotor replacement. Its just that ours in in a really bad place.

FWIW when its working right the opti is extremely accurate at timing ignition events. The only real weakness IMO is the succeptibility to moisture.

 

The design and idea isnt bad, just like what Chris said, where it lives is.

 

good thing i live in Arizona muwahahaha

 

TRUE! My 94 Z has 115k on it now. Im doing plugs in my 01 SS and my 94 right now. I still trying to decide if i should replace the Opti now

 

Opti = crap....i have run about 4 of em on my 93. Yeah i know i have the worste year. They arnt even that good for high RPMS. Everyone i know around here who has one has ignition problems. They work for about 5 months and then the high rpms eat them. Without water. This is just a personal experience, maybe others have had better luck with em. Personally i cant wait till i get money for delteq. The MSD opti might be an option to but when will that ever come out lol.

 

my car had an accel coil and it sucked......thats y i had to replaes mine

 

All comes down to moisture, and yes, there were and are fleet cars with optis like cop cars and cabs, with 200,000 and no opti replacement. I have a theory that maybe most of the opti problems are related first to the original opti design, which didn't run air through the distributor, and secondly that cars that sit for long periods of time, and allowed to build up moisture, have much higher instances of failure. Just a theory though, no spreadsheet to back it up.

 

This is but one testimony for the masses. Before my vette I owned a 93 Camaro Z28. I owned it from 88k miles to 134k. I never had to replace the opti. It was a great car.

 

90k miles on mine and no problems yet!
im wondering how that accel opti will do, its priced pretty cheap especialy compared to the msd

 

I had over 100K on mine before it finally went out. Then I bought a reman to replace it--BAD IDEA! So I bought a Delteq but ultimately still needed to buy a good GM opti to get it to run right.

 

For those of you with vented optis the vent harness can get plugged and cause some running issues so a $10 vacuum hose set might be all you need to fix an "opti" issue. My wagon began to run poorly when it was wet out and I found the harness to be plugged, fixed that and it has been perfect for weeks since, 193K on the car unknown on the opti.

 

Neglect destroys opti's, not design.


If you never replace your cap and rotor and then get pissed off when you have a misfire at 150K miles, don't say "damn opti's suck". It's your fault.

If you have a water pump leaking that you never check or fix and it takes out the photo emitter, don't say "damn opti's suck". That's your fault as well

Sure, you need to be a little more cautious due to the area in which it's mounted. However if you use common sense and normal maintenance logic, an opti will last you a very long time.


That being said, on the end of aftermarket ignition. If your going to replace the unit with something aftermarket, I would not go with an opti unit. Not by fault of the opti, but because I do not favor single coil setups. The opti works great for ignition control, but using that system with multiple coil setups is really the best of both worlds.

 

I think the msd opti is available.Pretty sure saw it in stock on summit site.its a bit pricey though. Can you change a cap and coil eaier than a whole opti or is it about the same work to do either.

 

Right here http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...-84811&FROM=MG the MSD distributor is not yet available and EXPECT that date to get pushed back again.

Your post seems to indicate you think the coil is part of the opti?????? Have you popped the hood on your car? To change a CAP AND ROTOR it would be downright silly to try to leave the opti on that car, the 3-4 bolts that hold it on are nothing compared to what has to be removed to get to it and the coil is mounted up on the head.

The MSD cap and rotor kits are available but keep going out of stock due to high demand, everyone swears they are a huge upgrade but having only been out a few months that remains to be proven. The price is reasonable and they appear to be a better constructed rotor in particular so I bought one and will give it a shot. To claim all these untested parts are wonderful is irresponsible though.

 

Oops meant cap and rotor not cap and coil.I know the coil is separate.
Just wondered if you could replace the cap and rotor without having to do as much work as a full opti replacement.
I will likley replace it if do have to do same amount of work either way.
Car is under the snow in storage so can't go look at it right now.Have glanced under there but not really looked at it all that close.

 

Once you get everyting out of the way to get at the cap and rotor which would include the damper and waterpump it is only 3 more bolts to pull the whole opti off.
Murphy's law says you have to replace the waterpump at the same time otherwise it will begin leaking shortly after you reinstall, ask me how I know. NAPA reman pumps are pretty cheap like $40 or so and from what I have seen have a better trackrecord than the "new" GM ones which seem to like to be bad out of the box and cost 3 times as much.