He's been chasing running problems for a week or so now and has verified good working order on all of the most usual suspects - new plugs, wires, 02s, no vacuum leak, valve train, no codes, on and on and on. So with my help, we've touched all the bases.

Boils down to the Opti being the culprit. Before buying one I just ordered a scanner to see what the timing shows, but to get a head start on the purchase of a new ACDELCO Opti, am wondering who has the best price.

ACDELCO, only guys. Please no alternatives. Thanks for your consideration on that.

Jake

 

Lowest I can find is $300.00

http://all-ignition.com/ac-delco-95-lt1.html

 

Thanks for that fc; that's lower than the others I've found.

Jake

 

Jake what kind of scanner did you buy? How did it tell you it was the opti, just through the timing being messed up? What were the symptoms? Thanks!

 

I used to use "thepartsladi" for all my WP and Opti needs. However, I can't seem to find them on fleabay now ?????? I think the last time I used them was 2 years ago for a '94 AC Delco Opti.

Anyone know if "thepartsladi" is still in business ?

They used to have the best prices on almost all OEM AC Delco stuff ...

 

Supposedly went belly up for one reason or another.

A search will find the details.

 

Today, I stopped at Advance Auto just to check. They want $533.00 for the GM Opti.

OUTRAGEOUS!

Jake

 

Just curious, what running problems and you never mentioned coil or ICM. ICM's are the number 1 problem causer, followed by IAC.

 

The scanner will simply show what timing cell (and associated timing value) the PCM is commanding. You won't see the actual timing.

At least you'll have a new toy to mess around with

 

There are several other things I didn't mention too. Not my intention to list them all and ask for help but only to get the best price on an Opti IN CASE I need one, that's all this is about.

Once I scan and it tells me whatever it tells me I can go from there. My policy is to diagnose first then buy whatever parts are needed to fix the problem. I'm on top of this right now, but should I find I need advice, I know to ask here.

Jake

 

Diagnosis continues. He plans to spend the day in the garage on post as Ft. Lee checking various other things. Possibilty of a leaking injector(s) or FPR, MAF wiring, etc. I'm determined not to buy an Opti unless I really need to.

One of the last things I'll do is ship him my coil and ICM since they're known to be good. He can bolt them on and see if there's an improvement, if so BINGO! but if not we move on. I'm holding off on that since it'll call for my car being down for a few days.

I've developed mistrust in auto stores ICM testing since I've gotten very inconsistent results using three different stores. A few years back, one O'Reilly's said it was bad, another O'Reilly's, a couple of miles away, said it was good and AutoZone said BOTH!

Anyone checked the price on a new 96 ACDELCO Ignition Module lately? WOW! Be prepared for sticker shock.

Jake

 

No, it doesn't show cells. It shows degrees of advance which move up and down dependent on the RPM of the engine.

My thinking is that if "Commanded" was NOT being translated into "Actual" the engine would let me know in short order since it wouldn't run very well with 15 degrees of timing advance at 2500 RPM, LOL

Just finished playing with it a little and it's doing what I hoped it would.

Jake

 

$285 for a NEW Delphi unit from us-AC Delco does not make the part.

 

Do you have a link to your site ??????

 

Who is us? What vendor are you associated with?

 

I'm sure you know this, but...

If you do a GM opti, take it apart and check it out before you install it. Everyone I've done has had horrible casting flash inside (it's plastic, so a file or dremel will knock it out in short order) and check the rotor screws. About 50% of the ones I've done have had at least one loose rotor screw from GM/Delphi.

 

NO, in fact I didn't know that. I was under the impression that ACDELCOs were being so highly recommended because of their high quality control.

Had no idea about the flashing and loose screws on ACDELCOs - although I'd read about loose screws on other threads.

THANKS MUCH for the heads-up on that.

Jake

 

I thought this was only on the import ones

 

Hi,
I picked up an OEM for ~$250 off eBay. Have seen them for as low as ~$150 clearanced. Start an eBay search engine and get email notifications.
Replace the following also while you have it off:
Water Pump,
Wires,
Thermostat,
EC sensor,
Spark Plugs.
My cap was badly carbon-tracked due to worn out spark plugs/excessive gap.
The greater the gap the more the timing is retired.
Best of Luck,
92WhiteVetteGUy

 

I forgot to mention you will need special and not readily available (ie expensive) tools (small torx size) to open up a OEM distributor. Look on eBay for an inexpensive set.
Best of Luck,
92WhiteVetteGuy