bobbyk3lly

guessing by your name youre either in detroit or clse to it?


theres a guy on craigslist right now selling these opti-sparks or $400 installed, if you offer him like $200 or $250 for just the opti he will sell it to you, thats what i did and its a great opti, ive even wet my motor and its still alive...


but whenever i wet my motor i unplug my optis short harness.... then spray it down and let it dry out for a few hours in the sun, and it fires right up

Injuneer

You might want to rethink unplugging the short Opti harness. The seal in the harness tower is one of the major leakage points.

detroitlt1

ya i saw that guy and spoke with him he is very educated on these motors. I found a kit at advance auto with a lifetime warranty and hey will do 200 brand new I forget the brand right now I will update later. I am assuming any OE replacement will spin to atleast stock cam rpms and with the lifetime warranty I know I can swap it out I just have to do all the labor again. The install seems straight forward for the most part

detroitlt1

I am looking for a complete opti and everyone is having trouble locally looking up the part. What all comes with a opti kit? cap rotor what sensors and modules?

detroitlt1

Richporter is the brand. lifetime warranty it is 241 but they will discount to 200. One review on advance auto says that person had high resolution fail

Injuneer

Get an OEM AC Delco (aka Delphi) unit. All the cheap aftermarket brands have problems, mainly short life expectancy. The Rich Porter unit is just like all the other cheapies....

A "high resolution" failure would be failure of the optical cam position sensor, which is in the back 1/2 of the case.

detroitlt1

ac delco and delphi are 200 more atleast than a rich porter. I really am not looking to spend alot on this car I am just trying to get it running decent again. I really wish I could test the cap and rotor and the opti stuff seperatly. i know if is probubly better just to replace the whole deal. I am looking for insight

Injuneer

What "opti stuff" are you wanting to test? A problem with the optical cam position sensor will set DTC 16 and or DTC 36. If you don't have those codes, there is no problem with the optical sensor. There is nothing else in there. That just leaves the cap and rotor, which can be visually checked.

A cheap Opti may last.... if you are happy running the risk of frequent replacements, buy whatever you want. Some people have had good luck with cheapies, others have had them fail upon installation.

detroitlt1

what are DTC 16 and DTC 36? I am not showing a check engine light...

detroitlt1

i just started the car again... it idles 1500-1700 and it was backfiring when I got on it. I just want to know exactly what parts I should buy injuneer. I want to know what is actaully wrong before I go replacing parts. I did not get alot of water on the front of the motor and I have washed it before without trouble. Its possible the washing wasnt even the culprite. Its been hesitating to start for a while. It also would break up and backfire at times When I get on it.The car has 108,000 and I changed the plugs about 6 years ago and the wires, cap rotor and basically everything else in the car is factory.

detroitlt1

I am confused and need clarification.

Is the opti for sure what is wrong with my car?

Optispark includes cap rotor and what else?

Is it possible just the cap and rotor need replacing?

How do I figure this out?

bw_hunter

The optispark is the entire distributor....just like in the old days but driven off the nose of the cam. It consists of an optical section and a high voltage section. The high voltage section consists of the rotor and cap.

Injuneer has already told you how to see if the optical section is bad. Codes 16 and 32 relate directly to the optical section. They can be present without the SES light being illuminated, as Injuneer already mentioned. Have the computer scanned and report the codes.

There is a stickly at the top of the forum that tells you exactly how to diagnose the opti to see what's going on. Read it and follow directions and you'll be able to determine what's failed.

From what you describe, I'd be willing to bet that the problem is the cap and rotor and maybe the plug wires. That's just a guess....

Most people change the entire opti just because it's a pain in the tail to do and changing just the cap and rotor isn't much easier. Yes, it's expensive...

As mentioned, you're much more likeloy to be happy with a Delco or Delphi optispark than an aftermarket AutoZone special. A lifetime warranty really doesn't mean much...it's probably the same part as the one without a warranty priced higher. Since it's a pain to change out the opti, it's false economy to buy a cheap opti with a warranty and keep doing the job over and over...

detroitlt1

well stated. i agree

detroitlt1

what is the lowest price anyone has got on one of these optis and where did you find it?

detroitlt1

anyone know where to get a discounted rate on a ac delco or delphi unit?