Good evening all.

I have a 1992 LT1 with approximately 71K miles. I have recently brought my car into the shop to have some work done to get it ready for the season. I wanted to be proactive versus reactive and get it done early. The work included new:

Clutch/Flywheel
Water Pump
Radiator/Thermostat
Plugs/Wires (Bosch)
Distributor Cap/Rotor
Serpentine Belt
Battery (installed at home)

I went to pick the vehicle up last week and it started up just fine. I left the parking lot and did not even get a quarter mile down the road and could tell the vehicle had an issue. Under load, the car had no power. I could feel/hear a lot of hesitation. A shudder/shaking feeling could be felt in the steering wheel.

The vehicle was brought back right away to the shop. Only code was for an O2 sensor. Then additional work was performed:

Fuel Filter
(1) O2 Sensor
(8) Fuel Injectors (from FIC, thanks to the Forums recommendations)

I was informed today the vehicle is still running rough. The mechanic stated he made sure the wires are firing in the correct order and the wires did not have any arching going on elsewhere.

This car has never run rough like this before. It started right when this initial work was performed.

I have been researching the forum and I have seen a lot of talk about the Opti-spark. The cap and rotor was replaced but I am thinking the whole assembly should have been replaced instead.

Any thoughts?

 

Just a thought how long did they keep it for? Was it kept outdoors and did it rain?

 

If they did not remove the knock sensors and drain the block there is a good chance that the Optispark got wet from the water pump change. If antifreeze got into it - I would make an educated guess that would be your problem. If so, replace it.

 

The car is still there. It's been 3 weeks. It has been kept indoors at the shop. It's garaged at home as well.

 

That's what I think may have happened. I will call over there today and talk to them about it. Now the issue will be deciding which brand to go with! I have read countless threads about the different brands out there (MSD/Summit/Jegs/CMS/Delphi/Cardone). Not sure which at this point.

 

My 2 cents on the opti; get a Petris. While you are at it, have them reflash your computer. I did it, very happy. Takes 2 weeks door to door, and is not cheap, IMHO totally worth it.

C

 

Thank you for the advice. What is involved in reflashing the computer?

 

Very easy; there are 2 black screws on the front of the computer. (it is located under the hood, drivers side above the battery), unscrew them. Then there are 4 color coded wire looms plugged into the back of the computer; squeeze the locking tabs and pull them out. That's it.

I wrapped mine up in bubble wrap and sent it to Petris. Go to their website and purchase ECM reflash. They will contact you will mailing information. Takes less than 2 weeks.

Good Luck, and keep us up to date.

C

 

I will keep the forum posted with the results. Thank you

 

Update:

Got the car back and it's running great! The optispark was the problem and it has been replaced. I ended up going with the Cardone Select. Good price and good warranty.

I did end up buying a Factory Service Manual. For the amount of money I spent on labor for everything, I could have bought some really good/cool tools! Haha

Thank you for everyone's replies. I appreciate it.

 

Did they pay for the opti or lest give you labor for the second time?

 

I paid the labor. Was refunded for the cap and rotor. Difference with the cap and rotor compared to the new optispark was and additional $20.

 

They charged you labor both times!!!!! They would have a hard time walking with my size 14 up there butt did you get your old parts I would guess they killed your opti and I would have replaced it anyway being I was that far in

 

My 94 has three o2's I replaced the front two would never replace just one time to start working on your own car

 

yup and that's exactly what it would have been, a guess. It isn't the same bringing a 23 year old car to get fixed as it is a 2 year old car. Theres no way you can prove that opti wasn't about to go and just jiggling it around taking it off didn't put it over the edge. Sure they may have spilled some antifreeze on it but if the cap was in good shape to begin with it wouldn't have hurt a thing. Good luck finding a mechanic that's going to eat those costs on a car that old. thanks why most of us here have faced the fact that if we want to keep these things going we have to learn to so things ourselves

 

I also went with the Cardone Opti- Spark Dist. I did the work myself, including new plugs, wires and water pump. It was a three day pain, but the car is running better than ever! It all started with a blown TBC coolent hose. Living in Puerto Rico, I opted to by-pass the TBC. My advice to all is always check hoses and water pump. One leak and good-bye opti-spark.