cleaned engine area and thats when my problems began
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
From: DELAWARE OHIO
cleaned engine area and thats when my problems began
I cleaned the engine area trying not to spray the electrical area, started ok , ran a little ruff, and I parked it in the barn.I let it dry out and it started just fine, idle great but once i started to drive it, the car misfired and back fired, then stalled and would not fire back up had to tow it home, i let it set a few more days and it fired right up and idled fine, but once i put it in gear it started missing and running real ruff, Im thinking opti spark, but my mechanic thinks bad plugs/wires , any help would be fine. , as this is my 1st C4 and I'm learning on the fly, thanks.
Racer
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 319
Likes: 0
From: Daytona Beach Florida
If its moisture you need to let it dry... Best way is to let it idle and get good and hot a few times ..With the hood up to vent the moisture ..If in fact water did get into the opti.. It's will continue to condense every time it heats up..if your LUCKY it will dry after a couple of heat cycles and time with no I'll effects....
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,482
Likes: 196
From: folsom california
I'm not saying you didn't get moisture in your opti; but in my experience something easy to check related to the opti is the low voltage pigtail that plugs into the opti; yes supposedly it is a weather tight connection, but it plugs into the opti almost straight down, and once water gets into it, there is no way for the water to escape / drain out (at least an opti has drain holes); my original harness actually showed green moisture related corrosion. Some electrical or brake cleaner (and a little compressed air if available) should dry it out. good luck.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 5,139
Likes: 482
From: H-Town Texas
I'm not saying you didn't get moisture in your opti; but in my experience something easy to check related to the opti is the low voltage pigtail that plugs into the opti; yes supposedly it is a weather tight connection, but it plugs into the opti almost straight down, and once water gets into it, there is no way for the water to escape / drain out (at least an opti has drain holes); my original harness actually showed green moisture related corrosion. Some electrical or brake cleaner (and a little compressed air if available) should dry it out. good luck.
If you don't have an air compressor, get a can of that computer duster stuff, it's basically compressed air in a can. The opti is alot tougher than many give it credit for.
Advanced
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 79
Likes: 0
I bought my first Corvette last November and I did the exact same thing. I had to replace my opti-spark. When I took the cap off the old opti it was full of water. And that was after a couple of weeks of trying to let it dry out. If you do replace it I recommend replacing the waterpump since you have to remove it anyway. I also added a nipple to the weep hole in the bottom of the water pump and routed a hose away from the opti as recommended in this forum. My Vette runs great now and I'm glad I went through the trouble of replacing it.
