I have read alot about making sure that the "opti" on the c4 has been replaced. How can you tell if it has been or not? Does this effect all c4's?

 

other than a speculative visual inspection, or removing the 'cap' from the OPTI to inspect its internal appearance of age, there is no real way I know of, perhaps others might know of one.

However, mileage might be another determiner, but it is more applicable to earlier models (94 and earlier). Generally, by 100k, they have/should be/need to be replaced.

However, assuming your ID indicates the year of your Corvette (96), you have the much improved OPTI, which has a much better seal between cap and housing, a vacume venting system to maintain a dryer interior, and an improved drive gear/seal assembly to reduce oil contamination.

Since yours is the newer/improved version, it could go much more mileage, so maybe putting up a poll of mileage when the newer OPTI's have been replaced might give you an idea.

Remember that whereas the OPTI is technically advanced, certain components will continue to wear like normal (e.g. rotor/cap contacts) thanks to their function (to 'distribute' spark).

However, whereas the older design typically requires a complete replacement (housing/cap/etc), with the newer design, replacement of just the cap/rotor might be possible (and I believe is available or at least was a year or so ago). So that might be something to consider, which might be an easier and much less expensive option.

 

Just leave it alone unless your car starts acting up.

 

 

 

Started using opti in 1992 with teh LT1 motor...not sure when they went away from it. Any help here?

 

The opti ended with the LS1 engine

 

 

 

81k on mine

 

Cool I am a 1996 with 84000 so hopefully all is ok!

 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

I've got more than 112,000 miles on mine. The Opti and water pump were changed at 63,000 miles when I bought the car in 2000.

No issues to date. I think the trick to early-style Opti longevity is to DRIVE the suckers.

The majority of owner's who report problems tend to garage-queen them (not that there's anything wrong with that) and the seals dry out.

 

What are the symptoms? My car will cuts out around 3500 rpm, it acts like clogged catalytic converters. It runs kind of rough too. I checked the fuel pressure and it's around 35 psi. It also has 129K miles on it.

T.I.A

Prasad

 

10 bucks says it's your ignition coil.

 

No symptoms at all, she runs great, was just curious

 

161,000+ on a 92 opti The key like you said I think is I drive it

 

I too have come to believe that the Gen1 Opti tends to hold up better in cars that are driven regularly, but I don't think it's got anything to do with seal hardening issues. The seals in an Opti aren't going to harden any less if the car is driven regularly. In fact, I'd guess they'll harden more quickly as a result of more time spent at higher temperatures.

I suspect the Gen1 Opti will survive better if driven regularly because the frequent thermal cycling helps to bake out condensation that can lead to early carbon-tracking failures if allowed to accumulate. I can't prove it, but I do believe this theory is true.

Be well,

SJW

 

Symptoms for an opti going bad are, engine misses, especially after it warms up. Engine suddenly dying and wont restart until it cools off. Sometimes while running down the road you will notice excessive pre detonation knock when accelerating. Mine also would backfire up through the intake on occasion when setting at an idle and reving it up. As you can see the opti can pull all kinds of things when its going bad. Can be just one thing or all of them. Most of the time it wont throw a code either.

 

My 92's went at 75k, though it had a waterpump failure with a previous owner.
Same problem, cut out at 4,000. Fuel press. was 40. I too thought coil, replaced it, replaced the ICM, no help. To make it worse, the car would rev past 4k in open loop. Finally pulled the opti, it was totalled. I'm blown away that the car even ran.