I just upgraded to the vented opti on my 92. I got the electrical and vacuum harness from Jeff Kopp. I went to plug the electrical harness in and it doesn't seem to match up with any of my harness. It definately doesn't fit the old opti harness. I was sold just one electrical harness that does fit in the new opti on one end and the other end has a wide 4 prong female connector. Anyone that has does the change, does this sound right?

 

My 94 has a connector that is attached to the middle of the intake on the passenger side where the other end of the opti harness connects into the main harness. 92 maybe the same.

 

When I did this to my 92 I had to use the 92 style base and guts and a 95-96 style cap to get the venting, It used the original harness.I hope this helps :cheers:

 

Hopefully this will help explain what I am talking about.


[Modified by ANTI VENOM, 8:45 AM 3/31/2002]

 

Come on guys! Nobody has run into this problem?

 

id be really interested in this answer too, im upgrading my opti in my 92 soon too.

 

Sorry, not much help here either. I used the guts from a normal one, and the vented style from a newer style. No muss, but a little costly at $425... but, I guess I am good to go for another 50-60K miles. :seeya

 

Perhaps you should send your picture to Jeff Kopp. I mentioned this to him as I will be updating my opti sometime. I noticed that the later style plug is different and I immediately became concerned. I asked Jeff about it and he said he had the harness for it, but he probably means the harness that you have, which obviously doesn't work.

I'm interested in this as I will eventually be installing a gear drive, and I have to install the new opti to make that work. I hope there is a solution. Be sure and keep us posted.

 

I just did this on my 94. I was warned that the new base was not "plug compatible" and that I should plan on keeping the old base. I only ordered the distributor cap (~$150). Mine only had about 15-20K miles on it and was in good shape. I only ordered the vacucum lines from Jeff (~$9 + $2-3 shipping).

I used the suggestions in the Tech Tips to drill and install a 90 degree connector into the base of the old opti.

The old connector was a poor design as it caused more places to leak/suck moisture. You'll see when you take it apart (what were they thinking). The old base seal was a bad design as well and in one place had actually hardened and shrunk. I went very liberal with black high temp RTV to seal it up. The seal on the new opti is much better, but alas, unuseable :mad .

You will need a couple of new tools to take the opti apart. I found them at Kragen (both in a set of 10, ~$15-$20 each set). A T-10 torx (very small) to take the old cap off and an E-5 (kind of a reverse torx, very very small).

I'm still looking for a good vacuum source, right now I have the vaccum lines plugged into each other.

Be sure the vaccum limiter in the vaccum source line, doesn't rub against the alternator cooling blades (don't ask :smash: ).

On a good note, I did give my engine a good wash down (still careful not to spray the opti, coil and plug wire directly).

 

Take a look at http://www.moreperformanceinc.com They sell a conversion kit that includes the plug you are talkin about and have a picture of all the parts. Did you get the new cover? Is the plug you have the one they have in the pic?

 

I used the original plug and Opti spark base. I only used the top distributor cap with the connection for the vaccum line. The guts of the opti were pristine so I figured it's good for a lot more miles if I can keep it dry. I didn't need to remove the timing cover.

The wire in the picture on the web site looks just like the one that ANTI VENOM is saying has no way to connect to the harness. To make it work, you may need to clip the new harness connector and solder the old one in it's place.

If I ever have to do this again, I'll go all out and replace the timing chain (with a double row, maybe gears), timing cover and full 95/96 opti.

The price for the conversion kit looks pretty reasonable. You might get a quote from Jeff Kopp (18carfan) for the parts as well.



[Modified by John Row, 5:44 PM 4/1/2002]

 

That connector in the above mentioned post does look like the one that doesn't work for me. In desperation, I did cut the connectors off and wired them up a,b,c,d to a,b,c,d. That seemed simple enough. The car starts and runs, but I am getting a code 43. I believe the code 43 is an electronic spark control fault. That makes sense I guess, but what could be wrong? The car runs and advances and retards the timing. The car idles like crap, but I think that is another problem. I will keep working on it, and will let all know what I find. Your input is still welcome.

 

I did this upgrade several years ago. I had the same problem with the electrical harness.
The easy way to correct this is to eject the pins from the new harness connector on that end and put them into the old harness connector from that end (one pin at a time, so you don't mix them up). Even though the connectors are different, the pins are the same. If I remember right, the pins are labeled A-B-C-D-E-F. Take the "A" pin out of the new connector and put it in the "A" socket in the old connector that you removed from the old harness. Then do the same thing with the "B" pin; keep doing this until there are no more left. You will end up with one pin socket that is empty in the old connector -- that isn't a problem. The new wiring does not have a shield wire, but that won't hurt anything.
I bought an electrical pin ejector tool at Pep-boys -- worked perfect.

I also filled the empty pin socket with sealer to prevent moisture from getting in.

Tom Piper


[Modified by Tom Piper, 7:49 AM 4/2/2002]

 

Sorry I haven't jumped in here 'til now but I've been doing some research on this subject and didn't want to risk confusing anyone until my facts were straight. Here's is what I've found:

The '92 harness (the top one in anti venom's pic) is all by itself. The engine side connector on it is obviously much different and it would be necessary to cut and splice or use Tom Piper's method (preferred). I apologize for the inconvenience anti. I did not realize the '92s were setup like that.

The '93-94s however are almost the same as the 95-96 (the lower one in anti's pic). There is however one small difference that will require modifaction. There are two small locating tabs inside the body of the connector. You can see them in anti's pic if you look close. These tabs are in a different location on the 93-94 connector (actually just one of them is). Therefore one of the tabs would have to be remove from the new style connector before it can be installed. Looks like it could be easily done with a dremel or razor or something.

I can supply more pics if anybody would like them since I now have both the 93-94 harness and 95-96 harness here. The 92 harness has been disc'd and is no longer available.

Hope this makes sense. -Jeff


[Modified by 18carfan, 1:59 PM 4/3/2002]

 

Damn Jeff.....you're good :smash:.

Tom Piper

 

Ok, for those who are interested or are following this post at all, this is what happened. The connector for the opti doesn't fit. This we all know. I did splice it in and it works great. The code 43 was actually a knock sensor. Diacom listed it as a EST malfunction. Hence the confusion on my part.

My new engine runs good, but needs some more tuning. This is what I've got!Ported LT1 heads, Extreme energy 224/230 cam, Hooker Super Comp headers, BBK 52mm, double roller timing chain, new style opti, electric water pump, 2400 stall. I currentely have 2.59 gears, but I have a dana44 with 3.33 that will be going in soon. Thanks to all who helped with my questions. Hopefully I can return the favor.