Opti-What?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 6,564
Likes: 6
From: Woodstock Georgia
92-96 LT1/4s have it. Distributor located below the waterpump by some brilliant engineering. 95-96s are greatly improved due to venting.
Would you put the dist on your L98 on front of motor, below the water pump, and well hidden, hard to replace? Even Ford had better ideas than that.
Would you put the dist on your L98 on front of motor, below the water pump, and well hidden, hard to replace? Even Ford had better ideas than that.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,694
Likes: 0
From: Beaverton Oregon
Originally Posted by aminnich
92-96 LT1/4s have it. Distributor located below the waterpump by some brilliant engineering. 95-96s are greatly improved due to venting.
Would you put the dist on your L98 on front of motor, below the water pump, and well hidden, hard to replace? Even Ford had better ideas than that.
Would you put the dist on your L98 on front of motor, below the water pump, and well hidden, hard to replace? Even Ford had better ideas than that.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 7,475
Likes: 2
From: Austin TX
St. Jude Donor '07
Originally Posted by All2kool
Ford always put the distributor up front for easy maintenance as they knew their cars would be requiring weekly tinkering. GM always assumed we wouldn't be needing accessing to the distributor. But putting it below the Water Pump is just dumb. Perhaps the engineer coming up with that one had one bonghit too many.
Last edited by VetteUSA; Oct 24, 2006 at 06:50 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 5,841
Likes: 19
From: CLT, North Carolina
The reason for the Optispark is because of the LT-1's unprecedented high compression with today's low octane unleaded fuel. The engineers needed a system that updated engine management controls very quickly and while admittedly an interim technology the Opti met the requirement for that time. Where else it could go? By driving the Optispark at the front of the cam, timing is more precise than driving it at the back. The Optispark is a pretty good system so long as you are aware of possible trouble if it gets wet; especially with 92 through 94 models. The 95 and 96 updated version is connected to the air intake so that fresh air is always being drawn through it to keep it dry. Granted if you have a waterpump failure the Opti should be replaced but really how often do LT-1 waterpumps fail? It's not like we have to replace the waterpump every year. Waterpumps are cheap; instead of worrying over your Opti you could just replace the waterpump every 50 or 60K miles instead. Coolant should be flushed and changed periodically anyway.
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 6,564
Likes: 6
From: Woodstock Georgia
Originally Posted by corvetteronw
Here is pic on an LT4. It is the tan object behind the lower pulley.
