rimo

Hello all,

I am about to start pulling apart and replacing my water pump and optispark. I am going with the AC Delco mechanical pump, but I am still confused as to which optispark to go with. I have searched and read all over the forum and online and am considering the AC Delco opti, but I am not positive that this is the best choice. What do y'all think? This is the one I'm looking at... http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...1995-1996.html

bogus

From what I have read, MSD is the best of a pretty crappy lot.

Check out this radical option:

www.eficonnection.com

What year and mileage? If it's a 95/96, and has lower miles, I would keep the opti and replace only the cap/rotor. The Gen II opti's are MUCH better.

Another option, if you have Gen II, is the LTCC:

www.bailey-eng.com

rimo

I have a 1995 that has 80k miles on it.

Lloyd Smale

this is the one ive been considering http://dynaspark.net/ aint cheap though. Lots will recomend delco but the way i think is if they were good to start with this thread wouldnt be here

bogus

I had a dynaspark... I would rather not discuss my experience, but here goes.

First off, the guy there, Bob, is great and will help out a lot.

Problem? They can't get, or won't use (donno which) the OEM Mitsubishi pickups. I had more problems with my pickups failing... ugh... nice piece, yes, but with suspect electronics, forget it.

Rimo - at 80k your GenII is good for another 50k. I would replace the cap/rotor and go from there. Make sure the bearings are good and the vacuum lines are safe.

don hall

Right on, Lloyd...... some very experienced members keep recommending the OEM opti, but I haven't experienced any longevity
with OEM. Installed ProComp opti in Jan-2014 (sold by forum vendor SacCityCorvettes).

rimo

Okay, after even further research and talking with a good buddy of mine who is a mechanic, I believe I will only be replacing the cap and rotor. Now, I have no experience with distributors but am willing to jump in and learn as much as I need to.

I plan on taking the entire opti off, then removing the old cap and rotor. How do I go about cleaning the actual opti before putting a new cap and rotor on?

Also, I have decided to go with this...
Any other suggestions? Tips?

don hall

Just be aware that the opti is a 'buried' item, and any install screw-up negates all your effort. "Buried" meaning it requires removing many parts for access. Take your time.

I think you will be advised to replace the water pump while replacing the opti, just preventive maintenance.

Also, you can start the vette (test) after installing the opti, but without installing the water pump. That will save some time if the
opti doesn't fire.

Here is a link.... step by step, that a member posted... should help:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-t...-pictures.html

Silver96ce

Bogus, could a good used OEM Mitsu pickup be substituted into the Dynaspark housing? I'm trying to decide what to do when my Opti craps out again. Thanks.

rklessdriver

I have the MSD on my 92....

Among other things I converted my early car to the later style GEN II 95-96 Pin drive "Opti II".

I have turned mine 7400 RPM on occasion and it's been on the car for 4yrs and a little over 10K miles with out problem.

I personally like the MSD opti and have used them on a few customers cars.... In fact I prefer to use them if the customer will pay for it. One MSD we thought may have had a problem, MSD took it back and rebuilt it for about $50.00.... turned out the problem we were having with that engine was actually a broken dowl pin in the cam... still he drove the car everyday for 3yrs and put 20K miles on the engine with the problem (intermittant) before he pulled it off to send it back....

I have also used the genuine AC Delco NOS/OEM in the (way back) past (before they were all re-built imported junk) and never had any problems with them - Other than the stock rotors blowing up in high RPM engines... but a cap and rotor from MSD cured that.

I know I'm not your average bear. My 92 and most of the LTX engines I build are far above (performance wise) what many LT1 owners drive. I really don't understand how so many folks on the internetz claim to have had problems with the MSD Opti unit and so far I haven't... that said, reckon I'll keep on using them until I do.
Will

Silver96ce

Unfortunately, I was one of the people who had a problem with the MSD opti. I bought my '96 in 2012 with approximately 48K on it. It already had an MSD unit on it. Last year at the end of February it gave out. It had about 52K on the car. I pulled it and found that the rotor was rubbing against the interior dust cover. It created a lot of black dust and debris inside the opti. I sent it in for a rebuild as it was the cheapest option -it cost approximately $155.00 with shipping. So far, knock on wood, it is working but I have only put about a thousand miles on it since the rebuild. I do have to say the rebuilt MSD unit looks like a quality piece and I hope it lives a long time.

Since I intend on keeping this car for the rest of my life as it is one of my favorites of all generations of Corvettes (C2 is my favorite with C4 a close second), I want to have good working parts in stock now while they are still relatively cheap and available. In order to keep my options open I am looking at picking up some used but working OEM optis for their Mitsubishi pickup. And then find a good new housing with a quality bearing to install them into. That is why I asked the question of Bogus.

dizwiz24

Note: an oem optispark (if this is a 92 thru 94) would be an ac delco new old stock with tan colored cap. Retailed for about $600+, not including the cap.

This is the best option if you can find one....

These can be made very durable by adding a custom vent kit (like 95 thru 96) to it.,

To clear up some confusion:

An ac delco remanufactured is not an nos ac delco optispark as the mitsubishi sensor is not new. In my case, they did a great job replacing seals/bearings...but recycle the optical sensor from the core. They put black spraypaint over the old mitsubishi sensor and called it 'new'. The optispark was defective out of the box. Note this was a gen ii optispark for 95 thru 96.

Lloyd Smale

Ive been around c4s for 12 years now and its not just the early cars that have opti problems. So the vented gm oem opti sure isnt a cure all. What we need is someone to take a well built unit like the msd and use a new mitsubishi sensor or redign the whole unit into something reiable.. Whats wrong here. Why doesnt some manufacture step up to the plate and make us a unit that will last a 100k. Id gladdly pay a grand for one i could really trust and i think alot of others would too. this has been the downfall to the c4 since they came out in the 90s. I get nervous driving mine more then a 100 miles from home because of it. I know they have the coils system now but it still relys on that optical trigger so the chance to fail still is there

don hall

five7kid

I'm confused. This http://www.eficonnection.com/eficonnection/24x.aspx says it completely replaces the optispark distributor (bottom of the page, under "LS1 Fuel Management for LT1 and LT4 Engines"). The crank and cam sensors are reluctor, not optical.

Am I missing something?

Tom400CFI

Yikes. I'm glad that I don't share that level of anxiety!

dizwiz24

I sleep pretty soundly having an oem gen 2 vented optispark with mitsubishi optical sensor.

Theres nothing to worry about, provided you arent using junk parts.

92 thru 94 optisparks (including mine that failed at 26k) fail because they arent vented. Add a vent and they last hundreds of thousands of miles. Maybe you will have to replace the cap/rotor, but thats it.

95 thru 96 optisparks....im sorry but i dont believe the people on here that claim theirs just broke. Sure, maybe if you dont take care of your car and the vent pinhole/ clogs, then i guess its possible the vent could fail and then you have the same problem as the 92 thru 94 users. Need to check and make sure your vent is still drawing a suction on the fresh side.

DrDyno

Recently installed an RPT (Rich Porter Technology) GM05 Opti. So far, so good! It was under $300.00.

http://www.partcat.com/richporter/sh...4.jpg:&pn=GM05

Lloyd Smale

I was under the impression from what i read that they used the optical sensor but i could be wrong there or possibly theres two differnt systems out there. this is the one i was refering to http://www.delteq.com/index.htm is there another?

Lloyd Smale

I hear everyone recomending the nos delcos. Is there an actual source for them. Im talking first generation for a 92, Ive searched all over the internet and all i find are rebuilt and new delfis.