After looking at several Youtube how-to videos, I decided I would attempt to replace my opti. I have done a LOT of troubleshooting trying to rule it out but I'm convinced it is the opti.
The question I have is this - In order to replace the opti the harmonic balancer needs to be at least slid out of the way to get to the 3rd bolt on the opti. The traditional harmonic balancers can be slid out of the way after removing the 3 bolts on the balancer.
My issue is that the previous owner replaced the harmonic balancer with an ATI Super Damper. This balancer is not constructed the same as the original balancer. I have read that in order to get this particular balancer out of the way the engine needs to be lifted about 6 inches to provide enough clearance to get the balancer part off.
Does anyone have experience with removing the opti when one of these ATI Super Dampers have been installed?

Thanks,
Bob

 

To get the ATI balancer off you need to pull the rack. You can unbolt it from the hub to try and pull it fwd enough to get the opti in and out without moving the rack. It's a pain to do it but possible.

 

I know it's more cost, but if you are going this far you should just upgrade to a Torqhead system. I did this on my 96. My brother has the car now and it runs great and no more Opti BS ever.

When you order the TH system you get to choose a standard hub or and ATI hub (just the hub, not the damper it's self) at checkout. The hub has the 24x reluctor wheel for the crank sensor. I went ATI.

The balancer is absolutely the worst part of the TH install.

 

When you install TH, where do the ignition wires go from the coils in that cover plate? Do they run to the back of the motor then down to each plug? How easy/hard is it to get the plug wires in?

 

After getting some low profile torx plus bits I was able to get the screws out and walk the ring out far enough to remove the opti.
Thanks!