jsetzer

Every 100k+ miles? Do it right with a new opti and you shouldn't need to change it. Delteq replaces the distributor part, not the optical sensor which is what usually gives trouble first.

Coolformula

Well I got 160k on the car, changed the optio once, its not time to change it again. But since coolant leaked out past my rags I had when changing the t-stat it killed it. It started right up after I did that(little hestation) and I lte it run for 15 secs and turned it off. Now it turns over fine, but won't crank. I did manage to crank it breifly with some starting fluid. It cranked twice, even with the gas on the floor it would sputtered shot smoke out the back and only ran for about 2 seconds since the opti is so screwed up.

I think I can get the reman for like80-90 from my friend sure beats 300+ one from Jason. That is where I got the lats room. And I'm really tight on money right now and not going to spend 300 bucks on it.

i'm still hoping the opti will dry out. I did this on sunday( so much for working on sunday's....)

Oh well. Me and my friend are going to do it he has done this several several times. The first time I did this me and my dad, it took us about 10 hours. So now I got me and my friend who have done it before, I'm hoping for around 4-5 hours.

Z28WannaB

I bet I could come close to that.

:-P

- Z28WannaB

jsetzer

Oh is 94 an nonvented? Costs more from gm I guess. Be careful at the store though. My autozone buddy price was like $80 for the cap/rotor and then another $150ish for the sensor portion. They (autozone at least) sells them seperatly.

12sec94z28

yes they do. and so does everyone else. just remember if you but all that new stuff that dont give the whole thing in as a core. there is a spacer that sit inbetween the actuall unit and the cap that you need. GM does NOT sell these unless you buy a whole new opti.....trust me i know. Also when mine went i tried going this route of piecing one togeather. NOT worth it. It even takes a special socket to get it apart (E4). and by the time you do it all you will be less then 100 away from a GM one fully assembled and sealed (so the magic is still in it ). Eithier way good luck and have fun. Just remember take your time and replace the water pump while you are at it, that way it does not go out and kill your new one.

chris

Coolformula

WaterPump is fairly new as was my opti. I think I have lifetime on the warranty pump, so I should be able to just get a new one.

So I'm confused about the reman from the autoparts store, the thing for like 80-100 or whatever its not the whole thing? What do I need to do to make it work? 80 and 300++ is a big difference, yes it is a 94 non vented one.

Crap I might let the thing just sit there and rot all winter. With school and working so much I don't want to fool with this crap.

So if water/coolant got in, what part did it fry the optical part should be fine right? When I get home i'm getting the hair dyer and seeing if that will make the POS crank.

infinitebird

That's probably for just the optical part (doesn't include cap and rotor).

Coolformula

I thought the opti was once piece and didn't have a conventional cap and rotor. So Can i just buy the cap and rotor and you gut your old one and replace the parts or what?

jsetzer

No, it has some really anoying e4 screws in it sandwiching it all together. I would replace it all.

Scan it to see if its the optical portion or the cap. Its misfires if its the cap. Mine was the optical sensor was bad on all the reman ones. On datamaster it would show crazy spikes in my rpms (cause thats the sensor for it) Would jump from 2k - 7.2k and cruising and back down in <.1secs.

Coolformula

IT did crank or try to crank it was all over the rpm chart in .1 second. I wouldh't think it would be the optical part if coolant fell in, but I could be wrong. I'm pretty sure it don't have a code since it won't crank, would that make it store a code?

The bad thing about codes, I have and OBD I reader, and OBDII reader, but mine is obdI and the one I got wont' read it or the paper clip trick wont' work so that sucks. And I never did buy a cable to hook up to my HPPIII to my laptop to scan. It sucks the OBD I scanner I got works for all the other cars around.

So the part orealy sells is just the cap and rotor and/or the optical and you have to assembly it?

The car will NOT crank, so which portion is more likely for that too bed if coolant got in there.

My theroy it was ok, and after I cranked it I didn't allow it to dry and when I turned if off and sparked inside and blew up....

jsetzer

From my understanding the sensor is the sensitive (lol) part. The cap and rotor once you get it apart is really crude. Center piece that spins and 8 points on the outer edge. The sensor is a really flimsy disk, almost foil. With a ton of little tick marks around the outer edge. One side has a lille led or something and the other side a sensor. It uses that to calculate how fast the motor is turning, if the pcm does not recieve that signal it will not start.

Only way I could see no start from the cap and rotor would be some serious damage in there, not just a little coolant.

Again, I have never seen an opti go from working to not cranking at all. Even bad ones give someting back. The only time I had a no start from an opti was when the wires going back to the pcm were shorting.

Edit* I have seen bad optis run for 3k miles before throwing a code. Some throw a code before you can even feel it misfire.

Injuneer

A total "no start" would most likely be loss of low res pulse from the optical sensor. That can happen intantaneously. And that sets a code (DTC 16). A "real" OBD-I scanner will work on the 94's. If you bought one of the $30 Actron "scanners", that is just a paper clip in a $30 empty box with a switch. That will not work.

One possilbe source of pulse pattern problems is a corroded harness connector. Spilling coolant on it may have made it worse, if that is the problem. Pull the harness connector off and look for a blue-green corrosion. Clean it off as well as you possibly can, and see if it helps.

blazzinbird

a little tip i learnd is to drain the coolant out of the drain plug some, i do this on alot of cars where i change the water pump or t-state. never had a problem with coolant, also this last time i didnt need a rag eaither

mattybz28

Exactly. Just add coolent when you're done

Coolformula

Yea I just had the paperclip 30 dollar scanner of my fathers. It's odd work on all the other obd I cars but mine that I have tried so that sucks. I let it dry out for couple more days. I got the hairdyer and warmed the opti lol. I don't know if that helped or not. I did get it to crank pretty easily. I like it idle for like 10 full mintues no misfire running a bit high, but it came down all was good. Took it down the road it ran 100% good, and then coming back I hit the gas a bit, it about died, it threw a SES light on and it died when I got to my drive way and I coasted in. Then it wouldn't crank again after 3 or 4 tries.

So it went completey dead, then it worked couple of days later. Is there anyhope for this thing drying out.

So is the issue the optical sensor how would the coolant get in the eye? And then why would be ok for over 10mins then die again?

Thanks guys