hey guys so im in big need of a tune up and i found different opti's online anywhere from 154 at summit for the msd all the way up to $515, my car is a daily driver and is bone stock will the $154 opti work fine for me or is there something else i need? why such a big price difference? thanks for the help

 

I would go with a stock AC Delco replacement. Summit has them for $310 I believe.

 

does this work on a 94 lt1?

 

Yes, but you will need the non-vented version. Summit has the non-vented ones for $395.95. One of these is your best bet.

 

There are alternatives for getting cheaper GM replacements. Do you actually need a new distributor?

 

I woukld look at the MSD cap and rotor kit as long as the opti is still working. This will be like $150 and convert what you have to a vented setup.

 

well how do you really know if you need a new distributor? im not a mechanic i just love to drive camaro's i have a 79 z28 as well my family is a chevy family. My car drives fine and everything it just idles rough and i don't know when it had a tune up i just bought it last year and the guy i bought it from didnt say he had done a tune up on it,

 

also how do you convert to vented? and what's the difference?

 

The MSD cap and rotor kit converts the unvented opti to vented, that is part of the kit.
From what you are saying a cap and rotor is all you need, guys are way too quick to throw away a good distributor base.

 

well i just don't know how i know if my opti is bad, if i can save the money on just buying the cap and rotor then that's great, im already spendin 450 on a tune up without the opti in the price.

 

If the car runs without any opti codes being thrown the opti base is good. The cap and rotor may well be worn out.

Problem here is you are letting the internet stupidity of opti bashing influence you.

I have put a combined 180K miles on my LT1 and L99(baby LT1) and only "opti problem" I ever had was one worn cap and rotor. It is a good setup just the internet gives the stupid and the intelligent an equal opportunity to speak and the intelligent usually give up arguing against the stupid. End result is A LOT of bad information that takes experiance to wade through and sort out the good details.

 

^^ i agree completely.

 

Yep, I will have to agree with caprice 100% on that one!

 

So you are saying that no one else knows anything, but you are saying that the opti is definitely good to go as long as it runs well? Have you ever pulled an opti and checked out the bearing on the back? There is no logic to your post and you shouldn't bash other people with your lack of information. There is a 95% chance that thing is work out and loose as heck and should be replaced. So to say what you say is not the right answer without at least telling him to pull the whole thing and look at it. There is good reason that the entire unit is usually replaced, and it's not internet stupidity.

 

actually more of what he is referring to is just about EVERY drivability complaint someone speaks of on this forum, opti is the first thing people say to replace. i do not disagree to take it loose and inspect, but being that i have looked at and changed TONS of them myself, it is a good possibility that the base is perfectly fine.

 

The base can be fine, but it's just WAY too common for it all to seem fine until you pull it out and the bearing pieces fall everywhere. If you didn't pull it out all the way and just did the cap and rotor you would never have known there was in issue.

Due to the very vulnerable nature of the opti internals simply based on how it works I would prefer to put a new one if I had it torn down regardless. It's not the most intelligently thought out system. It's innovative and actually pretty interesting how it works I guess, but it's not sensible.

 

I've had my car since new. Never had any issue with the optispark. In 2005, I finally did heads/cam----replaced w/new GM optispark(just because) 11 years old. Nothing wrong with GM replacement.

 

I suppose it is possible the bearing is damaged but I am speaking from the 180K miles I put on my LT1s and those I have worked on on friend's cars.
Got a handful of guys agreeing with me which doesn't happen often, so let's just chalk this one up to a sponsor wanting to make a $400 sale instead of a $150 one.

 

Actually you don't know what you're talking about there. Ask him about the pm's between him and scoggin dickey, the msd cap and rotor WAS an option on the list that he was given man. He wasn't quoted prices on the expensive stuff and told that he had to go with that, he was given a list of the cheaper options as well and had the differences in options explained to him. It's not about a sale, it's about the FULL information rather than only the cheap or expensive way out.

You're trying to give him one side of the situation, at least say "pull it out and check it" rather than "it's ok if you don't have codes, and anyone that says it might be bad is due to internet stupidity".

You're outright wrong that no codes means the bearing is ok, what the heck do a bearing and SES codes have to do with each other? Mine never had a code and ran GREAT. I pulled it out and it was GONE and barely holding in place. It's being suggested that he look at it, live with it that it's a better suggestion than listening to you say it's ok when you have no idea. I pulled mine at 112K and it was perfect, and at 160k it was destroyed. Towards the end of a part's life, it tends to wear faster and faster. 100k might show hardly show any wear because that is within a part's lifespan, excede the typical lifespan and the wear really accelerates. Example: Say the typical lifespan of your conventional engine oil is 4000 miles, at 4000 miles you get an engine oil analysis and it has degraded 10%. Does that mean you can run it 8000 miles and it will be 20% degraded? No, chances are that by 6000 miles it will be 50% degraded and by 8000 miles it only provides 20% of the original lube and protection. That bearing is the same situation.

If you can do that work yourself and it doesn't cost you extra money to have it pulled apart a 2nd time at a later date, just check it out and put it back in if it's currently ok. But if you have to pay someone else to do the work, it is cheaper in the long run to pay for the whole unit upfront rather than paying someone labor a 2nd time in addition to the new setup.

I'm not trying to be a ****, I just don't see why this isn't the sensible way to look at it.

 

i really appreciate you guys and all your info, thanks for lookin out for me i guess im just gonna end up buying the entire unit the scoggin guy told me he has an accell unit for 300 so that's about all i can afford since im not doing this myself i totally do not have the patience to work on this car.