Hello Everyone:

I need your help regarding my 92 Corvette. I've read all of the
threads about the opti spark assembly and can't make any sense out of it. First off, I am no mechanic, so the technical talk will not do any good. I brought my car to the shop to see why the service engine light
was on and they told me I needed to replace the opti spark assembly.
They gave me a price of $800 for the part, which is the factory GM replacement part. The part on Ecklers is $400, and I see various
ones on EBay for around $100, does anyone recommend which parts
I should use, a couple of years ago everyone said to use the EBay
bearings and they should be fine, which they have been. I only use the car about 500-1000 miles per year, light use. Is there any
difference in performance with the lower cost ones from EBay.
Thanks for everyones help.

 

Seems everyone has been satisfied with the Opti's from ThePartsLadi on Ebay. They usually go for under 300 there.

 

That's where my last Delphi opti came from....I would stay away from the $100 optis on ebay....I had bad luck out of Accel which used to be a good brand name years ago.

 

thepartsladi works fine. They're GM units.

 

You should be able to get a A/C delco opti for around 350-400 bucks.
i have never changed one but I don't think it's too hard.Have you considered doing it yourself and saving about 450 bucks.

I would go with an A/C delco unit or maybe a MSD

 

In your case I'd reccomend the stock replacement - thepartsladdi on ebay is what everyone uses for a good price. If I were you I would also replace the waterpump at the same time.

If you are not handy then it can be difficult. If you were in the Atlanta area I know a few folks that would be happy to help.

Basic R&R is remove everything to get to the waterpump
Drain all the water (you can pull the knock sensors to drain the block or use the blower attachment on a shop vac to force it all out)
Remove the water pump
Remove the damper (only the three bolts holding it on the snout)
This may be the most difficult part of the process. I had to have a helper under the car with a bar on the hub, wack bar a few times, use the center bolt on the hub rotate engine 90 deg, wack a few more times and repeat until it comes off.
Remove the three screws holding the opti on.
Take a note of where the gap is on the drive gear and the filled in teeth are on the opti.
Rotate the drive gear on the new opti so the filled in area matches the gap.
Put the opti on - it should "pop" on, the bolts just hold it in place. DO NOT USE THEM TO PULL THE OPTI ON!
Hook up the opti wires, put the plugs in, etc and start the car. Let it run less than a minute. put the damper back on.
Install the waterpump, I used a dab of rtv to hold the gaskets in place while mounting the water pump. Be sure to use thread sealer on the waterpump bolts.
Fill it with water, run it until hot, add more water, run it until hot add more water, check it in a few days and add more water.

There are lot more details, but hopefully you can see why the replacement requires a lot of labor hours

 

Sorry to be the devils advocate but lets back up 3 squares. First of all how do you really know you need an opti. You never said the engine runs bad and you having problems with acceleration or such. If the engine runs well, and the engine light comes on, then a code is set. Did the shop tell you what the code is.

I have never heard of a good running engine with a engine light on and the opti was the problem.

Unless you are not stating all the problems and facts, I would get a second opinion because that whole thing given the current facts just sounds to off color. You may not be a mechanic, but get more facts and the code as to why the SEL is on. Them saying it is an opti does not cut it for me. If they won’t give you the information or it does not sound like they know what they are doing,…..RUN

Get on the Forum ask questions, protest yourself, its your money and car.

 

Good points.

 

Im not trying to start a pissing match, but I would stay away from MSD opti.

There have been plenty of complaints about those units on here over the past few years they have been available.

Really, any MSD product in general has went downhill in quality over the past 8 years and sells based on its name.

 

Also, be aware:

your mechanic is not going to be happy and may not want to install any part you bring to him.

Why? Most mechanics make money off of selling you the part and the labor. (ie. he buys it for $100, then sells it to you for full GM recommended price of $800).

This reason is why I bought a chilton book, accumulated the tools, got a house with a garage, and perform heavy mechanical work in it.

I got tired of getting ripped off.

The worse thing was when I would get my car back and a new problem was present.

Example: I had a speedshop replace a camshaft, I get the car back and now the timing cover is leaking. Of course, the shop refused any responsibility leaving me to pay them to correct the damage they did to it.

 

Wow,I would be bitching until they fixed the leak(timing cover gasket).At the shop I work we would fix that free of charge for the customer since we did not install gasket correctly.You should of took them to court on that.People/shops like that give us honest technicians/shops a bad rep

 

I'm not saying it isn't your Opti but be aware that an Opti is like any other distributor ever made, occasionally they do need to have the rotor and rotor cap replaced; pricey, but nowhere near as expensive as replacing the whole Opti; then there's the issue about plugs and plug wires.... and occasionally coils go bad too.

$800 is WAY too much for an Opti; you should be able to get a new GM unit mail order for half that. Or less.

 

I just wanted to state that the shop that I took the car to said they
were getting a code 36. As far as the car itself, it has a slight hesitation it starting, but there is not any hesitation or pause during
acceleration. Does anyone think it is still the opti spark? This is what the Chevy dealer said, they also said to replace water pump, wires
and plugs which I see here on many posts regarding this subject.
Your help is appreciated

 

Water pump, plugs, wires are all normal when doing the Opti. It's kind of like you're already there might as well do the rest of it while it's apart. The water pump will be off anyway and the wires will be halfway off.

Do a search on the forum for codes. I don't have my list with me at work. With every Opti I've ever seen go bad the car runs like crap all the time, or doesn't run at all.

 

Please tell me you didn't pay someone to fix a leak in a timing cover that they had just R&Red!

 

Get another opinion; the opti either works or it doesn't. The problem doesn't go away once the car warms up.

If you have to replace it you can do it yourself. This thread is a great instructional with lots of pictures. Just skip over the part about "rebuilding" the electric water pump and install an OEM pump.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-t...-pictures.html