TheGreek!

Just like the thread title says, are there any good decently priced optispark distributors? If so who makes them and what is the cost? I really don't want to spend 500 dollars or more for a top of the line optispark, I just want one that is decent in quality and price. I need the vented style optispark distributor. Any suggestions/recommdations?

Tom400CFI

I got the one from SAC CITY for ~$165, IIRC. Is it any good? IDK, but it's been working just great for, I think, about 2 years now.


My recommendation is this:
If you don't mind wrenching, buy the cheapest unit with the BEST warranty.
If you can't wrench, find a NOS unit w/the Mitsubishi optical unit.


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don hall

SACCITYCORVETTES - http://www.saccitycorvette.com

Not sure why members suggest the Mitsubishi optical unit. That technology is 26 years old, Yes, it was the best in 1992+,
but this is 2018. If that unit is still the best on the market, that is a new world record for component longevity.

2LZ

Let's hope so. I bought the AIP unit from Sac City, then cleaned my stock Mitsu sensor and swapped it into the new opti. It's run great for a year. If it fails, I have the AIP sensor in back stock.
I'm not up on the reliability history of the AIP sensor (they advertise it's better than the Mitsubishi sensor) but it seems the general consensus is that the Mitsu unit is the key to a lasting opti.

pacoW

+2, installed one from SAC City a year ago, no problems. And I got a year left on the warranty.

MatthewMiller

It's not as if we can't produce a better sensor in 2018. It's just that nobody who can make good ones is willing to make them for cars that are more than 20 years old, because there just isn't a big market for them. The AIP version may be the one exception. The others are all made-in-China crap that simply doesn't last. This isn't unique to opti sensors, either. It's a real problem with C4 parts including wheel bearings, throwout bearings, clutch pressure plates, and probably some other electronics such as coils and ICMs.

Renfield

Wait, what? A C4 thread about the Optispark?!? That almost never happens - more than three times per hour.

Yes. No. Maybe. They are all a crapshoot.

the one I installed after wasting $350 on a Petris Optispark that lasted less than 2 years. Same AIP unit that Sac City sells, minus the $60 2 year warranty. At 60 percent over the price of new, the warranty is not worth it IMO.

If it fails due to the sensor, I have two Mitsubishi sensors at the ready.

Once you get that damn Harmonic Balancer off and apply anti-seize, future replacement operations are relatively simple. Easier than plugs and wires.

Cue fans of the Optidoc...