I am replacing the opti of my car and the car won't start. Before putting the water pump back I decided to check and make sure the car starts. It won't. I plugged all the sensors but there is no water pump, so it shoudl start as it is shouldn't it? Help, I am thinking about checking the old opti to see if it starts, but I have no time for this, help please..

 

Are you certain it was an opti issue to start with? Might have been a bad coil or ICM. Did you do some checking or just assume it was the opti?

 

Assuming you had a classic opti problem of poor running which is the assumed reason you are replacing it, it should start again with the water pump not connected. It will run Ok for five seconds, then get real rich and lope due to the sensor in the pump not connected.

Assuming it was running, you probably did not align the shaft correctly with the missing tooth either into the engine or opti. Hence the ignition timing would be way off and not start. The opti should go on with light pressure as it seats in the seals and contact the timer cover with a tink. The screws should not be used to pull it to the case but only the hold it in place.

I would remove the opti and reinstall again an paying attention to the alignment.

If you engine was not running before you replaced the opti, then you have to make sure the shaft alignment is correct and then you can start troubleshooting the no start problem.

PS: the sensor wire for the connection to the temp sense in pump is long enough if you lay the pump across the top of the intake and MAF.

When you are all done, clear all the codes.

 

You are either skipping too many steps or leaving out enough information for us to help.

If you haven't connected the water temp sensor, the car will be difficult to start, at least that was my experience, but my car did start. I would first check to see if you are getting spark, then check as described above.

 

Are you sure the original opti was bad. The ICM will cause a no start condition. A bad coil will cause a no start condition. The engine will start without the water pump and the sensor connection. You need hook up the MAF.
93cruiser

 

Double check that ALL your sensors and wires are connected properly and snugly, including MAF sensor, CTS, IAT, Coil wire, main Opti communication harness. Also double check that you didn't cross any spark plug wires. You were smart to check Opti prior to WP install.

Here is a pic of my '94 with new Opti just before test without WP installed. Notice everything is plugged back in, even the CTS just hanging there.

 

check the ICM...mine was bad and I replaced everything and left it last. fired right up. take the ICM to autozone. they will test it.

 

coil wire pluged in??
Coil bad ??
Are the plug wires on correct on the opti ?

Do you have a FSM to troubleshoot your problem?

 

I removed the new opti and re-installed the old one and it fired up. Is there only one possible position for the opti? I mean, could I installed it incorrectly? and how do you know the proper position for it? I noticed that there is a pin and I made sure that the squared slot and the pin are aligned. It appeared to be ok but I seemed a little bit cricked. Thanks. 96 Lt4

 

The opti and the shaft alignment can only go on one correct way. There is always the chance the new opti is bad.

I would add a pix to the post of the shaft but only have pictures for 92-94 opti which is a different opti. Perhaps someone might chime in with a pix but it think it sound like you understand the basics of aligning the shaft.

What was your original problem which led you to change the opti?

 

This is the slot you should use. It's the one with the little square on the top. My arrow got in the way...

 

The GenII Opti ('95 and '96) has a better interface design than the GenI design. It is virtually impossible to mount a GenII incorrectly. Try as you might, you cannot get a GenII to mount FLUSH to the front of the timing cover if the cam dowel pin is not positioned correctly with the indexed groove in the Opti. That's what the dowel pin was designed to do, only allow Opti to fit one way. So I think you installed the new one correctly if you got it lined up and the Opti popped on FLUSH.
Get a flashlight and look inside the Opti rectangular harness connector. Make sure that there is not a bent pin. There are 4 male pins deep inside. These pins are responsable for sending the Optical High/Low resolution pulses to the PCM for spark/timing control. I would even open it up and check that the rotor is securely fastened(I do this no matter what. I put loctite on the 2 rotor torx screws as a measure of safety).

Did you buy an OEM Delphi unit, or something else ?? Getting a bad Opti right out of the box is not unheard of, especially some of those Chinese knock offs....

Good luck....

 

I replaced the opti spark distributor tried to start the engine and it did not start checked for fire and I am not getting any fire so I replace all of the sensors the ignition control module ,map sensor , the idle control sensor and the cooling temp sensor and the engine still want start . I have a 92 Corvette LT1
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temp.sensor. And the engine still wont start .Could someone please help me with my problem

 

Is the spline drive aligned correctly?

 

Yes everything is aligned correct.