moparman

The terminals on the opti should be marked as to which wire goes where.

jackrat454

I had a similar problem with my 96 Z28. I installed a new opti and the engine just sputtered and would not run. Turns out the new opti was defective. I swapped out the opti yet again for another new one and the engine fired right up.
Just thought I'd throw that one out there for ya.
Good luck

dirtgar

!Update
I took the opti of and noticed that I didnt line up the piece that sticks out, once I lined it I pluged evertything up and fired right up, the only issue now is that it shakes really bad and it doesnt idle, I think that I still have some wires crossed. Do you guys have any tips or suggestions on how to check wires to make sure there plug in correct order?

Procharged94Lt1

Like was said- the distributor should be labeled which wire is what...and like I said before get some wire markers to avoid confusion in the future.

dirtgar

Okay so I went back took off the water pump and marked the plug wires and made sure that the correct wires where correctly pluged into the opti. After that I reconnected the water pump (PITA). After everything was connected I cranked the engine and it turned on, but it doesnt idle and it only stays on when I accelarte the engine. At this point I dont know what else to check, on a side note one thing that I did change was that I didnt reinstall the smog pump. Could the missing smog pump cause the car not to idle??

bw_hunter

No, the AIR pump won't do that. Check for unplugged sensors, look at the TB to make sure the rubber connector isn't folded over. Make sure all spark plug connections are tight...they snap into place in the OPTI.

dirtgar

On some plug wire connections it doesnt snap when I plug them in, I noticed on most I heard a snapping sound but on a few I pushed them all the way in and still didnt hear a snap??????

Procharged94Lt1

They might not always 'snap'...double check to ensure they are intact on the inside of the boot. You can always take a pair of pliers and very CAREFULLY crimp the connectors back down a little- just ensure you don't go too much or they won't go on.

Once you get one on just verify that they are all the same depth on the opti- my wires leave about 1/8-3/16" gap between the boot and the square edge of the opti...hope that helps a little-

dirtgar

Procharger thanks for the tips, when I went back I noticed one plug wire looked loose so pushed it in further and it clicked, also I reconnected the smog pump and now the car seems to run a bit better but it still doesn’t idle. I also noticed that the smaller vent house on the opti fell off the opti metal tip and is just dangling; do you guys think that this little hose is preventing my z28 from idling?

Injuneer

The dangling Opti hose, if its the one that goes to the inlet manifold vacuum connection, is a minor vacuum leak. Either put the hose back on the Opti, or plug it temporarily. But that shouldn't cause the engine not to idle. There is always a small air flow in that line - that's its purpose, to pull air through the Opti. And there's a flow limiter in the line.

dirtgar

UPDATE!
I took the car for a drive and it idles really low at stops then it dies, I also noticed that it runs like crud, really weak and slow. On another bad note I also noticed that Im leaking coolant, I wonder where it's coming from becuase I used new gaskets and tightend all the bolts down.

dirtgar

VICTORY is finally mine!
All the issues the car was having was due to a bad Opti-Spark. When I installed the new opti I installed it incorrectly. The piece that comes out wasn’t in the correct hole this lead the car to turn on, but it wouldn’t idle and it would run really crappy. Finally today I installed it right! The z28 turned over and idled. To anyone new who hasn’t installed an opti yet, I will tell you take your time don’t rush the job and make sure that the inside dowel is lined up. Also make sure to mark your plug wires before removing the opti that will save you a million headaches! I took apart my old opti and found a lot of oil in the inside, it was all over the inside disk and sensor. I just hope that oil leak it had was repaired, because currently it doesn’t leak any oil.

Injuneer

The thing that puzzles me is why it took so long, and how you managed to misalign it twice. Read post #3 dated 10/28/10. Then you said you found you misaligned it in post #18, dated 10/30/10. Now you finally got it correct on 11/12.

The "thing that comes out" is the cam dowel pin.... not the first time that's been mentioned.

dirtgar

Yeah it sounds dum, but Im not that mechanicaly inclined like most of you. I did install the opti incorrectly twice, and finally I was able to install it correctly. I must admit it did take me a while a to fix the car, but that is what happened. Today I installed the water pump with new gaskets and RTV on the bolts, I installed and Im letting the RTV dry and tommorow if it stops snowing Im gonna fill the radiator with coolant. Im really nervous bleed the coolant system, I dont want to get the opti wet.

Injuneer

Stuff rags over the Opti, BEFORE attempting to do anything with the cooling system.