C4 Tech/Performance L98 Corvette and LT1 Corvette Technical Info, Internal Engine, External Engine
View Poll Results: How many miles have you gotten out of your Opti
<25,000
12.86%
25K to 50K
12.86%
50K to 75K
22.86%
75K to 100K
12.86%
>100K
38.57%
Voters: 70. You may not vote on this poll

Poll: Opti Failures.

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Old Oct 28, 2009 | 03:02 PM
  #41  
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My water pump went at about 71,000 and the second one went out 2,000 miles later and took out the Opti.
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Old Oct 29, 2009 | 04:43 AM
  #42  
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You people need to get over this obsession with the optispark. This is f***en rediculous.

But since im here, i got about 170,000 miles from mine, and it was still perfect when i removed it. I know this to be a fact cause i put on a brand new MSD optispark when i took the factory unit off, and i experienced no change what so ever. The car ran exactly the same.

And to add to this, ill dispell anoth bullsh*t myth while im here. I used to hose down my 94 LT1 engine at least every 2 weeks, and NEVER had an issue because of it. I saturated it. It never had spark delivery issues. Not once.
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Old Oct 29, 2009 | 06:45 AM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by Casethecorvetteman
You people need to get over this obsession with the optispark. This is f***en rediculous.
............

And to add to this, ill dispell anoth bullsh*t myth while im here. I used to hose down my 94 LT1 engine at least every 2 weeks, and NEVER had an issue because of it. I saturated it. It never had spark delivery issues. Not once.
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Old Oct 29, 2009 | 09:48 AM
  #44  
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Originally Posted by Casethecorvetteman
But since im here, i got about 170,000 miles from mine, and it was still perfect when i removed it. I know this to be a fact cause i put on a brand new MSD optispark when i took the factory unit off, and i experienced no change what so ever. The car ran exactly the same.


Mine looked new inside. Even after being leaked on by the water pump for several months.

Originally Posted by corvette-pilot



Got peanut butter?
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Old Oct 29, 2009 | 04:20 PM
  #45  
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What is the biscuit all about? Must be an American thing.... ( reminds me of the opponent in The Need for Speed on the 3DO asking if i want a hero buiscuit... )
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Old Oct 29, 2009 | 04:57 PM
  #46  
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Originally Posted by Casethecorvetteman
What is the biscuit all about? Must be an American thing.... ( reminds me of the opponent in The Need for Speed on the 3DO asking if i want a hero buiscuit... )
You have chocolate chip biscuits over there?


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Old Oct 29, 2009 | 05:26 PM
  #47  
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Originally Posted by Casethecorvetteman
You people need to get over this obsession with the optispark. This is f***en rediculous.

But since im here, i got about 170,000 miles from mine, and it was still perfect when i removed it. I know this to be a fact cause i put on a brand new MSD optispark when i took the factory unit off, and i experienced no change what so ever. The car ran exactly the same.

And to add to this, ill dispell anoth bullsh*t myth while im here. I used to hose down my 94 LT1 engine at least every 2 weeks, and NEVER had an issue because of it. I saturated it. It never had spark delivery issues. Not once.
Its never a good idea to rinse down an engine that has a distributor cap.Water can get into/under cap & cause running or no-start conditions.I always put a plastic bag over distributor cap to prevent this but if water does get into cap I take cap off the distributor cap & blow it out with air to remove moisture/water.This is hard to do on the opti-spark set-up due to its location & water intrusion can cause distributor failure.Not trying to say your wrong but are lucky.
But showing a cookie its means you get a cookie,american expression meaning you get a cookie for being/acting/being lucky.It is a sarcastic thing no harm.
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Old Oct 29, 2009 | 07:27 PM
  #48  
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Are you off your meds again?

Originally Posted by Casethecorvetteman
You people need to get over this obsession with the optispark. This is f***en rediculous.

But since im here, i got about 170,000 miles from mine, and it was still perfect when i removed it. I know this to be a fact cause i put on a brand new MSD optispark when i took the factory unit off, and i experienced no change what so ever. The car ran exactly the same.

And to add to this, ill dispell anoth bullsh*t myth while im here. I used to hose down my 94 LT1 engine at least every 2 weeks, and NEVER had an issue because of it. I saturated it. It never had spark delivery issues. Not once.
Reply
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Old Oct 29, 2009 | 07:28 PM
  #49  
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Originally Posted by rickreeves1
You have chocolate chip biscuits over there?


Brits and Aussies call cookies biscuits.
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Old Oct 29, 2009 | 09:33 PM
  #50  
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I had a ford guy tell me I need to pressure wash my engine bay when I first got my car.Glad I didn't listen to him.
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Old Oct 30, 2009 | 03:02 AM
  #51  
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Originally Posted by rickreeves1
You have chocolate chip biscuits over there?


Yeah mate, we do
Originally Posted by 94vettelover2
Its never a good idea to rinse down an engine that has a distributor cap.Water can get into/under cap & cause running or no-start conditions.I always put a plastic bag over distributor cap to prevent this but if water does get into cap I take cap off the distributor cap & blow it out with air to remove moisture/water.This is hard to do on the opti-spark set-up due to its location & water intrusion can cause distributor failure.Not trying to say your wrong but are lucky.
But showing a cookie its means you get a cookie,american expression meaning you get a cookie for being/acting/being lucky.It is a sarcastic thing no harm.
No harm done with the biscuit, i dont take life too seriously, if i got upset over something as simple as that there would be issues.

I have washed Corvette engines on a weekly basis the whole 11 years i drove them daily, and never had an issue. If common sense is used and the hose angle isnt such that water ingress will occur, and the vehicle is kept correctly maintained, highly unlikely anyone else will ever have an issue either.
Originally Posted by MK 82
Are you off your meds again?
Are you trying to be funny are you? I dont even think i know who you are. Youre probably someone i rubbed the wrong way in the past since there are so many of them, and if you are, chances are you earned it. If youre not, then thats good, youre probably a decent bloke and you can grab yourself a beer if you like
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Old Oct 30, 2009 | 11:04 AM
  #52  
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Default distributor failures 93 vette

I got the car in 2006.The owner had replaced the opti at 69,000.It had
99,000,on it.I replaced the motor and the opti failed with in a week.I brought a MSD,it lasted two months,returned it to summit,and got another,it lasted six month and 300 miles.I sent it to msd in june 2009,they repaired it free.I went to my corvette convention in july 2009,it failed.
They sent me a new one this time.I did not install it.I brought a summut brand unit and it spins to seven grand and no problems.
I did not run the car in 2007 transmission problems kept appearing.
replaced three times
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Old Oct 30, 2009 | 11:27 AM
  #53  
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Originally Posted by MK 82
Brits and Aussies call cookies biscuits.
Sorry, I guess it was a failed attempt at a little humor.


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Old Oct 30, 2009 | 12:45 PM
  #54  
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I replaced it on my 96 T/A with 41000 miles on it. The optical module was dead. I took it apart and found the high voltage side was in good shape and the RTV seal between the cap and body was still intact.

Warren
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Old Oct 30, 2009 | 04:07 PM
  #55  
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Originally Posted by MK 82
Brits and Aussies call cookies biscuits.
and french fries are chips

and.....chips are crisps....

They may talk funny but their beer is OK


Mike
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Old Oct 30, 2009 | 04:13 PM
  #56  
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Originally Posted by Casethecorvetteman
Yeah mate, we do

No harm done with the biscuit, i dont take life too seriously, if i got upset over something as simple as that there would be issues.

I have washed Corvette engines on a weekly basis the whole 11 years i drove them daily, and never had an issue. If common sense is used and the hose angle isnt such that water ingress will occur, and the vehicle is kept correctly maintained, highly unlikely anyone else will ever have an issue either.
Casey I'm still washing my LT1s (I have two 1995 lt1s a Imp SS and the Vette) and the opti is not a limiting factor.....it is not any more fragile than a regular distributor.....and removing the parts that limit access to the opti is not a time consuming process. I guess most of the guys that complain about how hard it is to access the opti are not very mechanically adept.....

My vete provides outstanding access when I'm working on it. The only vehicle I own that is easier to work on is my 48 Pan........



MIke
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Old Oct 30, 2009 | 08:50 PM
  #57  
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The water pump went out on my 95 at 83,000 miles, and leaked on the opti for three weeks before I got to work on it. While installing the new pump, I went ahead and put an ACDelco opti on. I took the old one apart and it looked fine inside(It was still working well when I replaced it. I probably could have left it on, but I decided that since I was already in there I would put a new one on. I saved the old one for a spare.
22,500 miles on the new stuff and no problems.
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Old Oct 30, 2009 | 09:49 PM
  #58  
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Originally Posted by Casethecorvetteman
I have washed Corvette engines on a weekly basis the whole 11 years i drove them daily, and never had an issue. If common sense is used and the hose angle isnt such that water ingress will occur, and the vehicle is kept correctly maintained, highly unlikely anyone else will ever have an issue either.


Originally Posted by aboatguy
Casey I'm still washing my LT1s (I have two 1995 lt1s a Imp SS and the Vette) and the opti is not a limiting factor.....it is not any more fragile than a regular distributor.
I wash the engine in my LT4 all the time also. Just a tad over 100K miles now.
As Casey mentioned, a little "common sense" and don't point a pressure washer directly at the Opti and it will survive.

I also see a trend in most Opti failures.
It seem that the original Opti seems to last quite a while. But when it gets changed, they seem to be much more failure prone.
To me, that could be more of an issue with the install procedure, or inferior parts.
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Old Oct 30, 2009 | 10:15 PM
  #59  
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It seems like there are also more failures on the first gen optis.
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Old Oct 30, 2009 | 10:21 PM
  #60  
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Originally Posted by RollaMo-LT4




I wash the engine in my LT4 all the time also. Just a tad over 100K miles now.
As Casey mentioned, a little "common sense" and don't point a pressure washer directly at the Opti and it will survive.

I also see a trend in most Opti failures.
It seem that the original Opti seems to last quite a while. But when it gets changed, they seem to be much more failure prone.
To me, that could be more of an issue with the install procedure, or inferior parts.
Installation is very critical, especially if you change camshaft etc.
Reply



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