Anybody have any reviews or experience with them? They are going for $145 shipped on ebay. Will the dealer put them on since its an aftermarket part? thanks

 

I believe thats just the cap and rotor, the whole assembly should run you around 500. Might as well go with a GMPP.

 

Unless you have a speicial understanding with people at the dealer, they aren't going to put anything but GM parts on your car.

 

How much will the dealership charge me for parts + labor? What do I need besides the cap and rotor isnt that where the problem usually is??

 

What you need depends on what the problem is. A problem with the high voltage section - carbon tracking, dielectric breakdown of the cap epoxy, burned terminals or rotor tip, leaking seals, etc will be taken care of by replacing the cap and rotor. But the back 1/2 of the Opti, the body houses the optical cam position sensor, the bearing and the harness connector seal. If you have a problem with any of those parts, the cap/rotor will not help. The entire unit would need to be replaced. Problems with the optical sensor will set trouble codes. Problems with the high voltage section will not set codes.

I suspect the average stealer.... ooopps, I mean "dealer" is going to charge you list price for the Opti ($550-650 depending on the year of your car) and another $300-400 to install it. You could be looking at $850-1050 from Mr. Greedwrench.

Based on reading numerous posts over the last few years, I'd say that most people feel the MSD Opti is equal to or of lesser quality than the OEM AC/Delco (Delphi) part. Only a few people seem to feel the MSD has performed better or is more reliable than the factory unit. The MSD seems to have a frequent problem with the rotor screws falling out, requiring that you loc-tite them before installing the unit.

 

Could I get the assembly from autozone (if its cheaper) and let the stealership put it on. The reason I want the dealership to do it is because I want to make sure its done right. thanks for the info!

 

Most replacements/rebuilts/eBay sellers have proven to be less reliable than the OEM factory part.

Check "thepartsladi" on eBay for the lowest price on a genuine factory unit. Price will depend on year of your car, which you never told us.

 

Reman optis are not the most reliable. Re-read post #3. If you go to the dealer, expect to pay what Injuneer said.

 

All you need are some directions, some tools, some beer & some time and you can do it yourself. You'll be saving yourself a lot of money, learning about your car, and you might even think it's fun. In the end, it will be more rewarding than paying someone else do it.

Are you certain there is something wrong with your distributor?

 

ive had the msd unit in for 3 years now, the only trouble ive had is the terminals on the cap were a little burnt.. i put dielectric grease on the terminals, reinstalled it, and its fine. i dont know why people try to say the oem opti is better. especially for 92-94 lt1s. the msd for those cars have the air lines that eliminate a lot of problems the opti 1 had.

but like BTC said, its kinda fun to tear your car apart, take your time and learn some stuff about it, how it works, and you can say you did it. cant mess up too much on one of these. just spend $20 for a haynes book and that will save you $500+ at a dealership.

 

While it's true the MSD opti has vent lines for the early years, a search on MSD opti will reveal that the MSD has proven to be less than reliable.

 

It's not that the OEM opti is better, it's that the MSD is no better (except for the afore mentioned vent for early models) for the additional price you have to pay for it.

 

The MSD has definitely been better than the OEM for the early years because of the vent option it provides as everyone mentioned. Other than that, I am not sure it is worth the extra money over the OEM price.

 

My reman from Carquest has been working fine for 4+ years now.. Maybe, I just lucked out...

 

Yeah, the remans are a crapshoot. Like alternators for my wife's car. Went through 3 in a couple of months, but the last one has been ok for a couple years. The last one I changed in the parking lot of the parts store (not so easy to do with an opti ). For easy to get to parts, the lifetime warranty is not such a bad deal.