Greetings,

I'm a newbie here - I've been a lurker on this site for awhile but I decided to register tonight so I can share some pictures I have of my Optisprk which was recently pulled off and replaced on my newly aquired 1994 Corvette LT1 with 7,542 original miles.

The reason I metion the mileage is because you can look at my car top to bottom inside and out and you can see, smell and no doubt realize this is practically a new car.

Well the other day my car was running a bit rough at idle and and I blew it off as maybe the o2's were loaded up or maybe it was qwerk of Vettes of this era. And for the record, I have a '95 Trans Am w/ 53k original miles on it and I replaced my own Opti, waterpump, wires, plugs etc... as a precautionary thing when I bough the car 5 years ago. Therefore, I am familiar w/ LT1's, Opti units and the like.

Back to the rough idle, I forgot to metion I just finished "lightly" washing the motor (and I was very careful not to get the Opti wet) and detailing the car and engine compartment so upon finishing I started the Vette up let it idle (which seemed to be fine at the time) and when all of a sudden it died. I cranked this thing for hours it seemd like so finally I pushed it into my garage at the end of the night. Needless to say I was feeling ill - what did I do or didn't do? I know these motors, I was careful, this Vette has 7.5k original miles on it NOT 107k miles now WTF!!!

The next day I had it towed to the Chevy dealer and they diagnosed it as a bad Opti (kind of what I expected knowing the history of the Optispark unit...). 1 day later and $1,200.00 (which includes a Mobil 1 5w-30 oil change) my Vette was running like a new car.

My gut feeling was right - it was the opti but why @ 7.5K original miles. My curiosity got the best of me today so I decided to methodically open up my old Optispark to see if the Dealer was cheating me or were they reallly right?

If you are the least bit interested check out this link >> http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x...slideshow=true

My guess is either condensation was present sinday one in the Opti since the NON ventilation design sucks or perhasps some water or moisture seeped in from the Opti's connector?? If you seen my car and/or engine coompartment you could pretty much eat off it and I see no rust nor oxidation on any ferrous or non-ferrous parts as if they were exposed to H20.

In any event, the pictures are for those that may think just because your mileage is low DOES NOT mean your Optispark CAN'T be bad - because that was me 3 days ago. Do yourself a favor at the slightest bit of hiccuping, stuttering, misfiring of your LT1 atleat pull your cap off and look at the contact. If they are corroded like mine replace that Opti ASAP or you could be stranded in BFE and at the mercy of Joe Schmo wrecker service and his brother Billy Bob's backyard repair shop. I'm greatful I was in my driveway and only a few feet from my garage when mine died and I was able to get it repaired fairly quick by a dealer.

Thanks for listening and I look forward to hanging out on this forum - I am a big fan of LT1's/LT4's and the commerradery that comes with them.

"J"
Owner of Two LT1's

 

First off, it you were capable of changing the opti in the T/A, WHY did you pay the dealer $1050 to swap it in the Vette?

How many times have you detailed the engine on that car? Looks like you need to be MORE careful. I got my Opti wet at the track once from ice bags. I eased it home(ran like crap), left the hood open and placed a old style drop light as close as I could get it to my non-vented opti...next morning it dried out and was fine.

That damage is purely from moisture. You need to find a way to keep that opti warm and dry if you plan on letting the car sit for long periods.



David

 

Low miles is nowhere near as easy on a vehicle as people think, it destroys a lot of stuff. Keep driving the car and you will have MANY problems that 100K mile cars don't have.
Being an unvented opti was a part of the problem too, remember GM admitted that was a mistake by going to vented on the 94 b-bodies.

 

Man, that's just downright nasty.

Just like you, I bought a car with relatively low miles. So far I've replaced or had to replace the opti, wire, plugs, all hoses, blah, blah, blah. Almost everything was stock, not good for a ten year old car. I also took a good look at my tires and noticed that while they had good tread, they seem to have a good number of cracks, not a good thing for a hi-po car. Some times it's better to buy a higher mileage car that's been taken care of, instead of a car that's been allowed to sit and deteriorate from non use.

Machines are made to be used, not stored.

Oh yeah, nice Vette.

 

[QUOTE=FASTFATBOY]First off, it you were capable of changing the opti in the T/A, WHY did you pay the dealer $1050 to swap it in the Vette?

First, you can access the Opti and water pump from the bottom of the T/A when it is up on ramps the Vette you can't. Second, with 7.5k miles I DID NOT even consider the Opti being bad especially since I felt I didn't even get it wet. If you look at the pictures the rust did not develope with a POSSIBLE light misting of water let alone over a 4 day period.

How many times have you detailed the engine on that car? Looks like you need to be MORE careful. I got my Opti wet at the track once from ice bags. I eased it home(ran like crap), left the hood open and placed a old style drop light as close as I could get it to my non-vented opti...next morning it dried out and was fine.

I should've mentioned bought the car Monday 7/1/07 and it was Friday 7/5/07 when I had it taken to the dealer to try to figure out was wrong with it. I really feel condensation had to be the culprit here. I was told and I can see the car was not driven in the rain. Therefore, condensation or moisture from sitting was the premise for the rust.

That damage is purely from moisture. You need to find a way to keep that opti warm and dry if you plan on letting the car sit for long periods.

 

Typical non-vented opti.

 

I agree, that rust is deeply rooted in the metal. That didn't happen a in few days. If it had been a result of the washing and detailing, it more than likely would have still been wet and the surface rust could have been wiped off.

 

Regardless of the mileage, if this is the stock opti then it is 13+ years old. That's more than enough time for moisture to seep in, especially with the nonvented style. Nothing really surprising about that.

 

Agreed

 

You know , when I replaced my opti (GM) I siliconed where the seams are and so far knock on wood I haven't had any problems. I also tapped the weep hole under the water pump and threaded a brass fitting and attached a vacumn hose then routed it away from the opti so when it does leak the opti will stay nice and dry.