94 opti went, and the bottom cap (that sits in between the cap and aluminum base) crumbled away...
Any options with getting another one? MSD and AC Delco are out of my price range at the moment.

 

Rockauto has many reman unit at lower prices, just i don't know anything about quality part

 

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...optispark.html no experience with them but some say they work fine

 

if you can find a new old stock acdelco, i recommend paying the money a d getting it (note im not talking a out an ac delco remnaufactured). In early 2012 i found some partshouses that still had thrm and wanted about $700.

Being broken down on the side of a busy highway is a real risk with the cheap units

And the 'well the OEM one broke down on me so whats it matter' argumenT becomes a moot point because once you add a custom vent to it, and seal up the gap with rtv (as a backup) It will become reliable


The msd opti is a po$. Too many failures on those units from posts i read here.

Whatever you do add a vent.

Ive had no experi cle wih sac city corvette optispark (but others chime it might be a AIP branded optispark - which can be bought cheaper through aip

Whatever you do be sure To add a custom vent to the opti (like 95-96 units) or you ar going to have the problem again

 

Rock auto $110 shipped, been fine for a few thousand miles now with some moderate abuse and close to 6k shifts from time to time, ran a 13.6 with my 93 6speed with the rockauto cheapy. Quality seemed great and it was new not reman. I want to say it was wps power select (world power systems).

 

Anyway i would spent some money to get one and take a quality part for am important item like this...

I like to try to get cheap parts, just for places that are easily accesible. An IAC a MAP or a TCS, think we can try them.

But to replace an opti, you think about all that labor you will need to do. Remove WP, damper drain coolant.... And when you have re-fit all after few miles you have to re-do again in case opti will fail

 

Is MSD a contradictort item? Factory sell it as an high quality part, but many guys all around complain about it.

So which is the right one?

 

**no opti is better quality than the one that cAme oe with your car**

(Just need to modify it to make it reliable adding a custom vennt)
The MSD opti is certainly not an upgrade as some people here think. It has some feature where you can change the timing a few degrees, but if you use tunercat, you can do the the same thing - the correct way


Theres plenty of people running msd opti here without issue, but many had the wonderful experience of installation one, buttoning everything back down, and then having it break within 500 miles.

Just do a forum searc h if you dont believe me.

It seems that once they send them another unit, under warranty, they have had better luck. Some still had to have them send yet another before they finally got a working one.

Whichever one you get, id take it apart and inspect it before installing. Make sure the reluctor disk isn't warped.

Low quality or non automotive quality optical sensors seem to be the maIn issue


I personally sonly look for the mitsubishi symbol on the optical sensor which was what came OEM. Of course the aftermarket ones arent ging to have that.

I personally dont believe the 'our sensor exceeds oem mitsubishi optical sensor' claim that one vendor here is making

 

Is Petris an Opti to consider?

 

The only thing I like about msd opti is the red colour, I would put a little red in my engine bay, spark plug wires coil and so on..

Anyway if A new opti will need since that there's this doubt I will stay on Acdelco

 

Seems that only words of good are always been said

 

These are very hard to find. The dealer will sell you an ac delco 'remanufactured unit'.

I learned this the hard way trying to buy one from gmpartsdirect. I figured they couldnt screw me if i entered the correct part number for the oem part... How wrong i was. They swapped me a defective acdelco remanufactured unit with a different part number than what i ordered.

You might need to ask around here or see if someone has a real oem ac delco optispark laying around.

Maybe a hobbyist has one they bought as a spare laying around they want to sell.

Or perhaps someone with a 92 thru 94 removed a known to be working ac delco unit to swap in an lsx engine and doesnt need it.

I personally would rather have a used known to be working ac delco unit (with mitsubishi optical sensor) then a brand new shiny non ac delco unit.

That said, i would take it apart. Clean it up. Check bearings or seAls, using rtv silicone and/ or transplanting new seals from a knock off unit if the seals were bad.

Id also check to make sure reluctor disk isnt warped.

I would put in a new acdelco cap/rotor. I would use the gen 2 cap/rotor for 95-96 because it has one of the two air ports that you will need to add a vented harness.

Lastly, i would absolutely be certain to install a vented harness from a 95-96.

Use one of the 3 weep holes for thr vacuum line of the vent system (and epoxy the other 2 shut)

 

I put in a Petris and it's running fine but I don't have many miles on it. I like the venting and believe it will add to longer life of the unit. I would stay away from the low priced units, I put a Chandlers unit in which was about $110 and it lasted less than 5K miles. Hope this helps in your choice.

 

You know what? I bought a Chandler when I first got the car just as a backup should it be needed, it being my first Opti equipped car, knew nothing about them, anyway its still in its box on the shelf, it'll probably stay there too!

 

I hear so much bad things about the Opti, but mine was good until I changed it at 125,000.I have a 92 vette. Daily driver. It was still working great. But when I put in a new Waterpump I decided to put in a new Opti also. I put in a Duralast with a lifetime warranty so if/when it fails I will just take it off and get a new one for free?

 

Exactly, mine also has a lifetime warranty, (cheap rockauto)so why spend 4 times the price for the originals or an MSD? For the price of the MSD I got a new opti/wire/plugs/and a set of bosch3 injectors.

 

Are you not recognizing that there is a bunch of garbage coming out of china? have you not noticied that ac delco parts for our cars are being contracted out of somewhere in china.

And i would say the person did not make a wise choice replacing a working ac delco oem optispark with a non ac delco optispark likely made in china.

I would have opened it up, cleaned it up, replaced cap/ rotor and added a custom vent.

I encourage you to do forum sear h about optisparks if you dont believe me

 

Ive long ago learned that just because something is newer doesnt make it automatically better.

Usually its cheapened up so some ******** somewhere up top can make more money.
Thats my opinion about non mitsubishi opticAl sensors.

I also dont believe that you had a nos ac delco optispark, that failed in 1800 miles, installed. Unless it was installed wrong, or the seals didnt align properly/ cracked allowing a point of moisture intrusion.

In may 2012 i searched high and low for an oem optispark. The ac delco ones thru the dealer were not nos. they were ac delco - remanufactured in china. Not the same.
Unless you got this optispark many years ago, or knew what you were looking for on ebay (even then hard to find) it likely was not nos.

I too got burned on one of those remanufactured units.

It comes in an acdelco box but is not the same.
They do a great job replacing bearings, seals, painting it to look new, but they do not replace the opticAl sensor. In my case, they painted the black plastic of the opticAl sensor to make it look shiny and new. Who knows maybe thats why it failed ? (Paint contamination).


I agree with you that when comparing failure rates need to also look at other gm units (not just corvette) that came with it.
Once venting is performed, and the distributor is sealed with rtv silicone (as a backup) the failure points become the cap/rotor high voltage contacts just like any other distributor

 

All I can say is, if and when my opti fails, a Petris will be going in.

 

Not a bad idea...

That is until the car leaves you stranded. Been there done that with an Advanced Auto unit with a lifetime warranty. They honored the warranty but I asked them for a refund instead. Replacing the opti isn't a big deal, but being stranded a ways from home and having to pay $150 plus for a tow $ucks *****.

Get the best unit you can find and run it. To hell with a lifetime warranty on such a critical part.