jgalfo

I used one from O'Reilly's auto parts. carries a 2 year warranty and seems to be working fine for now about 1000 miles cost about $200.

SR71!

I gotta ask....

What is a 24x conversion?

rocco16

Ya' got me....

Ranger72

Thinking he's referring to the LS coil conversion? Just a guess.

drcook

the 24x conversion does away with the opti-spark all together, employs the coil on plugs and in some (maybe all) cases, adds a LS1 ecm into the mix, to piggyback with the LT1 computer.

so what I was alluding to, is if all the available decent opti-sparks go by the wayside, then all you are left with, is either dealing with ones that last a year, a month a day (or not at all) swapping out the engine, or doing the conversion such as the 24x conversion.

even the Bailey LTCC coil on plug conversion needs an opti that can read

I am putting my 16,000 one on the shelf to save and putting one of the ones in that I purchased from the link above. then I might have my original gone through

I want to make sure that in 20 yrs, if we still have gasoline, that my kid will be able to drive the car when I give it to her. so I am going to stash enough parts away to keep it running,

MRPVette

I would go with Delphi or AC Delco.

2LZ

126k on my '96. Did the intake so I pulled the water pump and Opti to check it out. The car ran fine....but I found the Opti bearing was shot and wiggling. Just replaced it with an AIP from Sac City....and salvaged the Mitzu sensor out of my stock Opti, just in case.
Time will tell.

SR71!

So as a consensus, do Opti-spark's typically fail due to age, mileage, conditions(humidity/rust), or a combination of one or all?


I have a '96 with 23k, but I've read about folks replacing them with far less miles than that.

SR71!

Wait, what? You mean if you go to the parts counter at a Chevy dealership you can still buy a new Opti-spark??


.....or is it just a cheap version of OEM wrapped in a AC Delco box?

2LZ

My understanding is that GM designed it to last approximately 100k....and that's why I chased after mine at 126k and I'm glad I did. From everything I've read, the majority of Opti deaths are due to bad water pumps and sensor failure....followed by flying rotor parts and eventually bad bearings.


I'm not sure about the "real" AC/Delco/Delphi Opti's. I just replaced an AC/Delco water pump that was on the car for less than a year. The weep hole already has some dribble staining on it. It was already starting to leak coolant. The pump was marked "AC/Delco" and right below it was the mark "China". Who knows what you're really getting these days. It's why I rolled the dice on the AIP Opti.

vette196

can you send the link....I've been tracking the $254 one, but I'll take one for $120

MRPVette

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/a...RoCiOQQAvD_BwE

Ranger72

There was only one available at that price. It was an Amazon Warehouse item with a damaged box. Lucky for me, not so lucky for you. Hahq

Renfield

The specific year matters. 95-96 Optisparks were vented. Earlier optisparks were dying prematurely from the corrosive gasses produced internally by the high voltage. Really exceptional work by GM. Right up there with bolting the ICM to the block.

Ranger72

New pump arrived today. It was missing the gaskets, but ran to Autozone; bought two felpro brand ones for $1.99 each.
Bonus, the pump came with a thermostat.

ColaBear

Make sure to use the white Teflon paste on the threads that go into the block. If not, you'll have leakage. The bolt threads go all the way into the water jackets in the block so the white Teflon paste helps to seal the threads.

SR71!

With the options that are available is this AC Delco unit one of the "better" choices?

2LZ

I ordered a new AC/Delco "professional" pump through Amazon. It showed up last week (marked "China" on the casting) and it had a foreign object rattling around inside it. I finally got the object to roll toward a water jacket and it was a red lava rock. How it got in there, I have no idea. Promptly returned it and went to Napa and got a new Gates brand. Hopefully it will be a good one. Between the first pump that lasted less than a year and now this experience, I'm becoming "less sold" on real AC/Delco stuff as time goes on. There was one more AC/Delco pump above the "professional" on Rock Auto. Maybe I should have tried that one?

SR71!

I too have had this happen with new parts on some of my other cars that I've done work on. They're stamped with "China" and last a couple of years. It's extremely frustrating to have had a part last for 10+ years (I keep my vehicles for a long time) to only replace with a new "OEM" part and it's toast in 2-3 years.


Even though the description on the one in the Summit link says it's a remanufactured part, making me think it is indeed an OEM Opti-Spark with new guts.

Ranger72

Luckily this one doesn't say China anywhere on it or the box. It does have "GM" on it though