Don't Tell Me...Opti??

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Aug 21, 2003 | 03:36 PM

HOWSER

Thread Starter

Race Director

Joined: Dec 1999

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From: Work

St. Jude Donor '09

Don't Tell Me...Opti??

I hate to say this but I'm fearing my opti in on the way out. I'll give you my symptoms and you folks can give me some input.

To start out with the current opti is around 2 yrs old. The plugs and wires are even newer than that. I never had a problem till this past spring after my header install. The shop who did my install washed the engine...quite well at that.

Since then I had noticed a erratic idle and a general rougher running engine. The idle seems as if all spark just falls off for a fraction of a second. It may do this once a minute or 30 times a minute. It varies...but almost always after the car has warmed up. Lately it seems to have gotten much worse. The idle has been rougher and now at times during excelleration it will cuttout/miss horribly with the exhaust popping and cracking. Then, out of the blue it will run fine.

My only guess is the opti. I have not checked the fuel pressure since these symptoms don't sound like it would be related. The fuel filter is a year old.

What do you folks think??? :confused:

Regards,

Eric

Aug 21, 2003 | 03:49 PM

bstirn

Racer

Joined: Jul 2003

Posts: 287

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From: sykesville md

Re: Don't Tell Me...Opti?? (HOWSER)

Sounds like the opti to me. Good place to start looking.

Aug 21, 2003 | 06:46 PM

_freakmonkeydogboy_

Drifting

Joined: Jul 2002

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From: OKC Oklahoma

Re: Don't Tell Me...Opti?? (HOWSER)

Sounds about like what's happening to me. Mine's getting hard to start sometimes too... :nonod:

Aug 21, 2003 | 08:05 PM

Mr Mojo

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From: Exit 89 GSP,Lakewood,NJ The Land Of Mojo

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St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07

Re: Don't Tell Me...Opti?? (HOWSER)

Check all your wires also, make sure none are touching any metal(like mine were).

Since you mentioned they washed the engine, the opti is a good guess, have them pay for it.

Aug 22, 2003 | 11:52 AM

HOWSER

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From: Work

St. Jude Donor '09

Re: Don't Tell Me...Opti?? (Mr Mojo)

Can anyone think of what else it could be? I think I've eliminated all other possibilities. I did fail to mention that it's not throwing any codes at all. That's one thing that confuses me!

Aug 22, 2003 | 12:44 PM

John Row

Melting Slicks

Joined: May 2001

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From: San Diego CA

Re: Don't Tell Me...Opti?? (HOWSER)

Call the shop that did the wash. See if they have a TECH II. You can use it to "cut out" individual cylinders (spark & injectors) to see if one cylinder is causing the problem. If you are lucky you'll find a single cylinder.

Otherwise, replacing the opti is an interesting job.

Aug 22, 2003 | 05:22 PM

BrianCunningham

Team Owner

Joined: Mar 2001

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From: Boston, Dallas, Detroit, SoCal, back to Boston MA

Re: Don't Tell Me...Opti?? (John Row)

I didn't get any codes when my opti cap & rotor went.
You can actually pull the coil wire and not get any codes! :rolleyes:

You may just be able to clean it it's an optical unit, kinda like driving down the road with oil on you windshield. Just check the cap and rotor. While it's apart install a vent kit and put sealer on it.

With the header install, make sure a wire didn't get fried, but that would only affect one cylinder.

And get the shop to pay for it!
They're the ones that washed it!

Aug 22, 2003 | 06:46 PM

Strick

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Joined: Feb 2003

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From: Lake Wylie SC

Re: Don't Tell Me...Opti?? (HOWSER)

I'm curious if your shop is familar with Opti-sparks and their problems. I know some shops like to wash down engines before working on them just to keep things clean.