opti again
 

After years of frustration, and knuckle busting, I took my 93 coupe to a machanic. He has gotten to SES system to work again. Got the car running, but rough. And code 16. Says it needs a new opti. I know I have put at least 4 new optis over the 5 years or more of this ongoing problem. Typically, it runs for a while the the same thing again. What are my options for buying a GM opti these days? Semms like I remember a post where GM no longer makes them. What are my best options?

It appears you can get a new Delphi opti from Rockauto for $375.00 - that's the option I would take. Forget the offbrand Ebay optis as they are hit or miss (I would say mostly "miss").:cheers:

I agree about Ebay Opti's. I wouldn't touch one. If I were in the market to buy a new Opti unit today, I'd buy THIS ONE. It's affordable, and has a one year warranty.

Last one I bought was from Napa (for $550.00) and it's worked fine for just under a year, so far.

either summit or jegs is selling supposedly OEM optis....



I've never had trouble with a GM opti...

Mike

Exactly how is your mechanic determining bad opti?

Code 16 (Opticle Sensor) High resolution signal.. [Chinese Crap]

would be my guess..

Forget the Dynaspark - a waste of time nowadays.(not as good as original since being bought out by another owner). Go with the MSD billet 'timing adjustable'. So far that is the one that is working well for me. :thumbs:

this one:

http://www.vetteweb.com/tech/vemp_07...1_distributor/

..... Take your Opti apart and clean the sensors and trigger wheel ... its not easy because there's very little room ... Opti is short for optical which means photocell ... ANY haze or dirt on any of them ( there are two each - top and bottom ) and it will affect the ability of the receptors to "see" ....... take a good look at the size of the slots in the trigger wheel and their proximity to each other and multiply that by several thousand RPM and you will realize why these things are so sensitive ... I'll be happy to pay the shipping on your old ones and take 'em off your hands ... :D .......

After some harsh words with the mechanic, I have decided to have my vette towed home and attempt to fix it myself. Here’s my plan, remove and clean the opti sensor, if that doesn’t do it, I may buy another opti. What is the part number for a '93 opti?
I also want to send the ECM to an ECM specialist shop, and have it thoroughly gone through. Has anyone one this board had experience with one of these guys you could recommend?
I'll keep you posted as to the outcome of all this.

Just a thought, and perhaps it will or will not apply to your case. But one day last fall, I went out for a drive in my '96. It was raining. The car started to stall, buck, shut off, all of that. The SES throw the hi res code. Nursed it home, and thougt to myself, I really don't want to change the opti. But I did get a new opti harness. When I pulled the old one, there was trace of coolant and moisture deep in the connector area. It had started to eat at the connector on the pig tail. I cleaned it all up with brake cleaner and a can of compressed air, put the new pigtail on, and no troubles since.

I put a new harness in when I changed the last opti. I'll check it again. Thanks for the suggestion.

I retro-fitted my new Delphi (acdelco) opti with the vented system.
I would imagine this will help with your situation.
Let me know if your interested and I'll give you specifics on how to do it correctly.

Understand what you are going through. It is no fun when your ride lets you down the way you explained.

I am also on the fourth opti in my '94 with 66K miles. With the exception of an MSD opti my current and other 3 were GM parts serviced at a Chevy dealer. Living in the Chicago area, my car is stored from Nov to Apr. Each time, with the exception of the MSD, the opti would fail shortly after taking the car out of storage due to a leaking water pump. The MSD was intermittent sometimes cutting out while driving the car or not starting after a short trip, waiting 10 - 15 mins the car would start and run perfect. Took my car to Libertyville Chevrolet where Kevin, (highly recommended) sorted out my car and replaced the opti with a GM part. So far it is running better than ever.

Good luck with your ride. Keep us informed on your progress.

..... Seriously , send me your old , tired , soggy Opti's ... I will do some failure analysis and try to come up with a more economical approach to dealing with Opti failures ... shoot me a PM with what you have and what you need to ship it to me ... I'll cover it .......

well, it's helpful to know I'm not the only one this has happened to.
I feel I need to do something, and having it here at my house will help. The last opti was a new AC delco with a MSD cap and rotor. Done primarily for the venting option. There were no codes. Finally, the machanic somehow got the codes to work again. Code 16. He tested the ECM. It tested good. I'm thinking intermitten.
If I can fix it. Will it be reliable? Can I take it for a trip?
I'll keep ya posted..

Ha! I am having the exact same issue. I replaced mine about 7K miles ago. I do not look forward to doing this again. It really ruins having the car. I would think that by now we should be able to fabricate a better system for way less than what the current coil on plug solutions are going for...I am thinking of changing it and then selling right away, unless after I drive it again, I get corvette fever back LOL