I have a 95 formula firebird lt1...
This has to be the worst design in the world or i have something else that is causing this optispark to go bad and i know its the optispark because the first time at about 80k it died on me in the middle of the 4lane i left it parked beside the road came back the next day and it started ran about a week and did it again then it wouldnt start back, i had it towed to the shop ( i own a exhaust shop and have a lil mechanic experience, and worked at advance auto for about 3 years) ok i replaced plugs, wires, coil, ignition control module, fuel filter and checked everything... still wont start at all, will crank but wont fire, so my friend at the chevy dealer says change the cap & rotor, so i did but still nothing. so i changed the distributor and put that cap i bought on it, Fired right up no problem at all.
2nd time it started acting up about 96k then it died on me in the 4lane again had to have it towed to the shop, since i bought the distributor from gm my friend replaced it for me and i put the old cap back on it and it fired up first crank
3d time 108k car died again towed it back to the shop water pump was leaking on the optispark, replaced the waterpump, cap & rotor & distributor,
fired right up.
4th time, same ol **** replaced the distributor and the cap and fired up
2 or 3 more times same thing.. replaced the pigtail going into the cap as well and even tried to seal it... fired up
NOW its down again will not start and i know if i replace the cap and the distributor, ( which is all free replacement and i figure since the first time i replaced the cap and it didnt fix it i just replace the distributor as well since its free but im going to wear the bolt holes out if i keep going through this) is there anything that can be causing this to keep going bad... the engine has been bored 30 over and it runs great when its running i live in va and it rains often. but i think i could **** on the front of the motor and it would die... im thinking about puttin the plate on the optispark and a hei distributor in place of the oil drive.. ive seen it done i just dont want to pay the moneys... any help appreciated.. thanks

 

I replaced 4 optis in about 30,000 miles. When I put in the 4th one I put in a new vacuum harness and this one has lasted over 50,000 miles. When I ordered the opti from Dal he told me GM wouldn't warranty an opti anymore unless the harness was replaced with it. I guess they have a problem with check valves wearing out.

 

i have not tried that, i figured if it wouldnt gettin air through it then it would get hot but its not it looks fine when you take it off the dampness is the only thing i can figure. but ill try it.. i know you make think im kidding but i swear this is at least the 7th time this has happen and its the 2nd time this year

 

your best bet is to get one that is offered by msd i have one designed by dynatech but they sold out to msd (i think) but it was well worth the extra cost the msd is a bought 4 or 5 hundred but inprovements in design have all but elimanated all past trouble

 

yeah if the vaccum line is disconnected or isnt working then itll build up moisture and itll crap out on you. thats the problem they started having with 93 and 94s. thats why they changed to the vented opti so that moisture did have somewhere to go. but i guess they forgot to make sure the system worked for a long period of time. i running 115xxx and ive replaced my opti once and havent had anymore problems.

 

I say how long my factory opti has been going strong, but Im sure as hell not jinxing myself.

 

my factory opti was still going at 150k (vented of course) it had some bad carbon tracking, but nothing a new cap and rotor couldnt take care of.

But as mentioned Dal gives you a two year warranty IIRC if you purchase a new vent harness with the new Opti. CHeap $15 insurance.

Also IMO if youre replacing Optisparks, I'd be staying away from local parts store stuff ie GP Sorensen..!!

 

yeah i went throught a few local optis and even spoke with a rep from gm performance he said that they get a lot of calls on the remaned units and there units inharit the same as the oe units but its not unheard of the oe opti to last a long time mine only went out because the water pump went and all the others were crap now my dynateck is a rock

 

dyna tech is what i have and i highly recommend it. try thunderracing.com and see if they have any in stock. thats where i got mine from.
mine did basically the same thing yours is doing and i got sick of always having down time on my car and after this it was just the a4 trans i was breaking.