One of the items you briefly mentioned was the conversion to an electric water pump. The benefits are 1) when done correctly you eliminate the possibility of a coolant leak onto the opti-spark 2) better coolant flow at idle 3) and you eliminate one possible oil leak in your timing cover. I did mine several years ago and it still runs great.
I mean I have a 1997 WS6 trans am with 85k miles and it still has the original optispark and water pump. No problems. Also it never really gets hot either. If you install the stuff right you should not have issues with it.
@@Someguy6571your 97 has 85k. That may have something to do with it. Also your experience (as you should be willing to admit) has certainly NOT been the norm.
Bought an LT1 383 crate engine from Golen. I asked about the opti-spark and he said he never had any problems with the stock OEM vented units. My 96 Z28 never had problem, so I gave him a new opti to put on the crate engine for the dyno: 460hp/440 ft lb I track and autocross redline is 6500 and it blasts to 7000 before fuel cutoff. No problems with the OEM opti.
In this video, I say do all you can to maintain the stock base and Mitsubishi sensor. The guy at Golen must not know how bad things have gotten with the Current state of Optisparks. Anything can fail. Once it does, what I say in the video is very relevant. Just read the comments. Even guys buying $700 Pro Billet MSD's are having issues. Golen is right, stock is best until you have a problem. The last of these was was 26 years ago. They're long gone.
@@wheelstandr I appreciate your video as I'm aware guys have opti issues. I was relating my experience. Golen built my LT1 engine about 6-7 years ago. Most of his builds at that time were LS engines.
I bought a cheap Optispark distributor just for parts to rebuild the original. Hopefully I don't need much out of it but im prepared. I haven't done it yet but I'm getting all the parts together now so I can get it all done at one time
If the "good" parts in your original failed, what makes you think swapping a cheaper modules parts in would help? Wouldn't it be better to use a junkyard oem optispark if you wanted to rebuild? If you've already done this, Has it held up?
Must be a China special, been working on cars for 40 yearsand the amount of shitty parts that are peddled is astounding! Always use OEM or aftermarket that is made in the USA. Unless you want to do it twice or three times, time really is money! Thanks for sharing this, sorry it happened to you. Keep on wrenching!
I couldn't find a stock one anywhere. I didn't see good reviews on MSD ACCEL even! When I bought it, I knew my Mitsubishi sensor was still good, so I figured, just take the new one apart, put in my sensor, and blue loctite all the screws. Bam! Done! Nope. If this thing was clocked correctly, I'd been off to the races. Welded up the holes on the original, re drilled and tapped 6-40 thread and ran the cap-rotor from the Chinese one with the new screws. Works great. My only regret is not finding a way to add new grease to the hub bearing. Hopefully the 96 grease is good for a while, but if I find a way to do it, I'm taking it off, and greasing it. The cap and rotor at Autozone was $117, and didnt impress me. When I made this video I was tired and frustrated. I also don't know how to edit which is my new goal in life. Captions, music, etc. I could have made a lot of content by now, but haven't because I'm not happy with all the mistakes like forgetting e-torx! I couldn't spit it out! I felt like the word needed to get out on this no matter what, since its almost impossible to get a good one at all anywhere. I'd have to look through the comment, but someone mentioned a company that stepped up. Not a mainstream company most guys would know about. Sounded promising. Thanks for stopping by.
this is why i stopped working on cars. the shop i was at could not get good parts. we used to and all suppliers changed. even gm ford and fiat i mean dodge 2 couldnt get parts. because their supplier and autozone use the same supplier in china. my daily toy is a 94 chevy s10 blazer. i picked it because cheap parts were everywhere and a dime a dozen. i literally cant order parts for my car bro. chevy has none and parts stores are calling discontinued on most parts now.
Yep, the AC Delco is far better than anything else, every 100 thousand miles, pull it off clean it up relube the bearings, clean up the cap and rotor, good for another 100 thousand, 300 thousand on my red 93, original opti, I bought a 95 for road course tacking only, had an Accel on it already, it quit working so I put an MSD on it would quit every time the engine would get warmed up so I went to the junkyard found an AC been working great ever since.
@@mrdeanv4414 Look up Petris Opti spark (Petris Enterprises), I think they can fix you up, all of the aftermarket are poorly made, even MSD, very disappointed.
@@itsonlydavid2046 If you buy one from them, open it up and look for the Mitsubishi symbol on the optical sensor. That’s what makes them good besides the fact a factory one will be clocked properly.
Wow!! That’s how opti’s can be bad out the box! I’d also add while it’s out update to a heavy duty rotor. Because those plastic rivets holding the rotor tip won’t last with high RPM..
I used the Mostplus cap and rotor on the stock base after I welded and tapped the screw holes on the factory base. If they dont fail right away, I won't get as mad. IF they fail early, I will be really pissed.
@@wheelstandrbro u need to play with loctite retaining compound 660 I think is the number. Could rivet it on or even 3m panel bonding epoxies there's a few dozen formulas even tap able.lord fusor makes even more compounds trust me I get the welding n tapping but damn fella lol n what we can't change optic sensor? N by sounds of optic sensor what base line or exciter wheel operates it? I guess I'll find out soon enough on a 94 w 65k n a dead miss. If optic and coolant steam sure tf will cloud pick up window odd though driving in rain doesn't fk it up but ya just thought I'd toss out a few options and yes yes yes your 100 percent supposed to rotate to top dead n clock everything or extensively mark all 3 components never in life pulled any distributor without one of two ways n they all still kinda blow to line up oil pump drive if applicable. One might think it's simple as popping rotor n moving it popping back on but I'm sure it's groved. I'm lost as why tf not crank trigger it w the 6al box n set up but again I will find out soon lol
I have changed out the Ignition Coil, Ignition Module, Electric Fuel Pump, Fuel filter, Fuel pressure regulator, Map sensor, Idel air sensor and the Fuel positioning sensor and the internet says that All these part should be replaced after 75,000 miles so i did just that.... my C4 just turned over 100,000 miles and just started running bad... rough Idel and making a popping and pinging backfiring sound so yesterday I changed all Spark plugs and wires the old factory wires were numbered from the factory... however there was no change in the way it ran.. I've been told that the OBD1 Scan Reader will not tell you if the Optispark is bad or good... so what's the point...? Just keep changing parts until you fix it or what...? The C4 Vette with the LT1 is an amazing car but the idea of the Optispark was STUPID...! THANKS FOR NOTHING GM.... If anyone reading this has any ideas concerning my problem I'm open to any ideas... Thanks Happy New Year
Fuel injectors. I have a 95 impala ss and had to replace the injectors because of clogging. Had to replace at 120k miles. Tunercat works great at diagnosing the issues. It will tell you if your opti is loosing high or low resolution signal.
@christopher c hey Chris thanks for the info... where can I find this Tunercat? And I did get my 95 C4 running yesterday... it was the Optispark.. she Purs like a Big Black Kitty...
The optical sensor gives up, or coolant gets inside the distributor years that were vented via drilled holes to daylight. If you have lower mileage on your distributor, you may want to clean the Mitsubishi optical sensor instead of relying on an aftermarket. That’s what I did. If yours is high mileage, you may have no other choice.
3:34 yikes 6:10 there is a gent that upgrades the Opti to the 96 and newer which has the Mitsubishi pickup and rarely will fail after that. Buick didnt have this problem as from the get go they had a different optispark system which was adopted by chevy/pontiac once the failures from the 92-94 modles where prevalent.
I bought a brand new petris Optus Park my 94 Corvette made it 100 miles before it threw a code 36 I contacted petris they said they had a batch of bad modules I sent it back and they made good on it so far so good no other problems Opti Sparks are a breeze to change
Don’t know about the petris, but I have heard the MSD optis are nothing but junk. MSD units sre made in China. So expect cheap China sensors in the as well.
@marionthompson7482 that design doesn't do well in such a harsh environment. Coolant and oil leaks from the intake manifold and timing cover can also contaminate the sensor. I had a opti fail because of the heavy rains and water splashing on it as I drove home. If they would have installed a distributor behind the intake like a SBC they wouldn't fail so much but I can understand why they tried because of the way it was packaged. I'll never understand why they went this route when GM was using coil packs on their V6 engines. TPI should have been the last time they used a distributor.
You also have a problem with Vac with distributor put together try blowing through vac ports . You cant the distributor caps were not upgraded for vac ports Try blowing through them you cant. the 2 plastic rings seal bad gasses and water in .making cap flex and hit rotor also till finally loosening cap screws untill vac starts working. but now can let water leaks in. How to fix I took wirecutters and Sissor clipped and brok out quarter inch of 2 rings lined up at 6 oclock opposite the plug in for wiring. now vac works as intended
I tried to inspect it and three of the 6-40 screws broke so I figured just buy new cheaper one, and put the own sensor in. I had no faith in anything out there, so why spend more when the key component was being re-used. I never anticipated that they could be out of clock.
@wheelstandr Man , I'm working on a 95 , rough idle , misfiring and backfiring back through TB. It did all at once , owner said he reved it up a couple times and these symptoms started immediately. Ran good before so he says. I got good injector ohms , noid light flashes and have spark all be it orange. I'm betting on bad cap and rotor. What do you think? I did FSM steps and it says distributor.
My water pump leaked onto my opti, its a 94 so no vent tube, unfortunately it accasionally misses so I'm wondering if there's a way to dry it out or if I need to replace it
@@hazard4349 Definitely take the rotor off and the reluctor ring so you can get a towel in between the optical sensors. you dont want sticky anifreeze residue anywhere in there, and especially not on the sensor. Be carful not to bend the reluctor ring!
4:21 I had issues with 2 off rebuilds so no more biggest headache on these cars so took my time n it got expensive but I purchased a NEW OLD STOCK FIRST SERIES GM PART IN BOX NEVER USED PERSON OWN 3 VETTES WITH THE LT1 96 AFTER MARKETS ARE GARBAGE
Question, is that cause it's for a different car that's why it's advanced meaning like example if u bought it for a impala ss and they send u a Trans am or camaro one .is there a difference on them or no
Thanks for this video. My Buick shut off. My buddies shop replaced the opti and the car kept stalling at idle. P0335,P0336 codes come up. Replaced opti again with a accell, car kept stalling at idle. Replaced crankshaft sensor, replaced pci, car stalls at idle, same codes. Unfortunately the original opti is long gone since at the time we didn't know the headaches with these. Not sure if I'm screwed now, once the cars warm it stalls all day and has valves tapping. Would y'all get a old opti and rebuild or what because damn it's going on 7 months and I'm about ready to push the car into a lake
Very sorry to hear about your dilemma. It’s tough to say, but with no results from two Optispark’s, and changing the cam and crank sensors, the only other things left are the wires and plugs to those having an issue. Also the only other two things in that system are the ignition coil and module. You may have to go to an auto electric specialist to retain your sanity. Stuff like this is definitely maddening.
maybe one do it yourselfer in a ten thousand is going to follow your instructions. yes the optispark is a pain, thankfully they cost less than 100 dollars.
@@siliconvalleyengineer5875 I really wished I had planned out the video. I’ve posted 4-5. If I knew how to edit, I would repost a more thought out version. My plan was just to buy the cheap one and reuse the optical sensor cap and rotor. Everyone thought I was trying to buy this cheap one and put it on as is. I just didn’t expect the cheap one to be out of clock. People still asking me what they should buy. The only one I saw in the comments. Was a lot of money. My best advice is to reuse the Mitsubishi sensor in a properly clocked base. At least people know how to check that now.
@@wheelstandr The problem with the optispark is that is constantly subjected directly and indirectly to hot water condinsation since its located behind the water pump. The how water condinsation passes through even the tightest distributer body shorting out and causing electrical shocks to the optical circuitry. Optisparks last 2 years maximum if your lucky. My 1994 Z28 has fried 5 optisparks if 8 years.
All opti sparks are trash. Best thing to do is delete it with a Torque head or EFI Connection 24X. The only benefits i get from running a MSD distributor is that they always allow me to drive him when they fail and they can be repaired by MSD.
What you're saying is true. I had intended on using my low mileage sensor in a new body and obviously that didn't work. As you saw, I had to recondition the factory distributor using a new cap and rotor. I was intending on selling the car, but after all I had to do from it sitting 20 years, I figured its a new car again. The car had a bad respray so I stripped it down and it just got repainted last Wednesday after being in the body shop for 6 months! It's dark blue metallic instead of black now. If this distributor issue comes up again I'm going to do as you said or put an LS like my 93 caprice. Dirty Dingo mounts, Holley manifolds and accessory brackets. Cost a lot more than I thought. I'm the local carb guy and have the Edelbrock carb intake box, and harness, but cant use it. The rear float bowl of a Holley touches the firewall and theres absolutely no way to get an air cleaner on it. Now I have to get an intake, rails, ECU and harness. Next time I need to get an engine from a Camaro or Corvette if I can afford it. I need to get my white SS clone running!
Yea delco by far the best. My original finally failed at 250k on my 97 Z after several coolant leaks. Purchased an aftermarket brand and im not gonna say the name and it didnt last 3 months. Left me stranded and a huge tow bill. Returned it for another and that one lasted about a month and a half. Said screw it goin back with delco and has been running great every since.
You really shouldn't take apart an opti. You can find the correct parts from aftermarket vendors (USA made, not from overseas), they will come with a warranty and no messing around necessary. If you have no choice, the reference you are looking for is on the metal wheel which slots into the camshaft. If you are doing this, odds are the cheap opti won't make it longer than 3 months depending on how often the motor is started.
That’s why I didn’t buy an MSD either. After extensive research, I found that this is one problem you can’t buy your way out of. We live in a time of unprecedented incompetence. If I had to do it again, I would have done an LS swap. I have one already installed in a 93 SS clone. The only thing I would say is get one from a Camaro or corvette. I’ll probably spend as much on induction, ecu, harness, and Holley brackets/accessories as I did on the LM7 with cam and springs. Maybe more.
If you have access to a press, its no big deal. Press the shaft off of the impeller and install the included freeze plug in the back. From there the main thing is having a harness to run it. Gary @ Innovative wiring is the only show in town that I'm aware of that makes one just for our cars. He lost his son and he and his wife were having health problems so his site is down. I emailed him while writing this. I'll let you know if he'll take care of you. If not, that up's the difficulty, unless you are comfortable making your own relay harness.
Not sure if you're still checking this, but for someone who is just looking for reliability and not tuning, etc...would you recommend the Torqhead conversion? I noticed you and a couple others in the comments talking about it and it's the first I've seen of them. Looks interesting.
@@TwentyFortySeven Try Petris. Some guys in the comments say there really good. Haven’t heard otherwise. If you go with the efi connection 24x or torque head. Make sure you research. One of them is better. I forgot though.
Do you have too set the timing on the optispark? I keep reading mixed things you don’t have too because it’s controlled by the Ecm and it only goes on one way . Reason i ask is because I’m only getting 15 inches of vacuum that indicates low timing i would appreciate your feed back i have a 1992 corvette low miles brand new optispark
You do not time this distributor. 100 percent positively not. The small hose with the blue elbow is fresh air into the distributor and the vacuum from the intake pulls the air out at a reduced rate via the small white and blue plastic canister. It does nothing to advance it. There is also no mechanical advance. The only way the timing can be off is if there is a problem with how the distributor was made, as in this video. I hope this helps.
@@wheelstandr that’s weird i don’t have that blue vacuum going too my optispark is it different for Camaros and corvettes ? Car doesn’t run too bad just when it accelerates has a little lag
@@rossschultheis8098 Theres typically a blue plastic elbow that's in the intake boot connected to a hose that leads to the base of the distributor, although that feature was not necessarily present in the earlier spline drive distributors. If there isnt a port on the metal base and one on the cap then your car just doesn't have that. The main point I was trying to make in my answer to you , is that this is only to vent out electrons and is not to for a vacuum advance as no year had that.
@@wheelstandr i got the car smoked tested found no vacuum leak. Mechanic pulled a spark plug and said the car is running lean just by looking at them he still thinks it’s the timing but doesn’t make sense. I’m stumped on what the problem is
@@rossschultheis8098 if it’s running lean the engine light should come on and with a code reader it will give the appropriate codes stating such. If that’s the case it should be on bank one and 2. If there’s no light, it’s not too lean. If it is on, there’s only two things to look at. Fuel pressure, or a vacuum leak. The leak is usually a bad hose or elbow on the PCV.
Do i have to change my cap and rotor, or can i just change the optispark..my car has been sputtering pretty bad and i havent had a tune up in maybe 6 years.. also my upper radiator hose was leaking from the thermostat housing and i think it leaked on the optispark, any adive is appreciated!!
It sure sounds like you got moisture in it. If that's all that changed and it wa mine, I would buy a new one from Speedway if they still have them. Pull the cap off and see if its clocked right. If it is, I would just put the new one on. If that isnt available, I would buy one like the one I bought on Amazon or get one on eBay. Clean and dry the the factory base, take off the disc and spacer under the rotor, clean and dry that off and finally use some glass cleaner on a soft towel, and clean between the factory sensor where the disc gets read. Put the cap and rotor from the new distributor and you're off. I would refrain from using the Chinese sensor when doing this because they dont seem to last. The whole distributor on Amazon is usually $70 less than a cap and rotor at Autozone.
When you have taken one apart, you realize how simple it is. It’s tough to pay that kind of money. I haven’t bought one to see if it’s clocked properly, but if my deal didn’t pan out, I was going to buy the summit racing branded one or the ones on eBay sold by speedway motors as a “garage sale item.”
@@hazard4349 I just got a notification from Speedway. They have the LT1 optispark on sale for $52.49 $147.50 discount. For that price, I’d check it out. Open it up and verify the rotor is clicked correctly against your stock one. The only thing is, is that it’s a pin drive not spline.
Don't buy the cheap China MSD look a likes. If you can find an OEM Opti Spark that's still new, buy it. Back in the 2000's I went through 2 Opiti Sparks a year. They do not like high RPM. A company called Deltech came around and developed coil on plug and that eliminated the Opti all together. It was pricey back then but worked flawlessly. Since I am not in the LT1 game anymore, I am not sure if they are still in business. But the good thing with todays after market ECM's, you can do LS type coils on it with a crank position and cam position sensor and have way more tuning capabilities than with the opit spark. I can tell you one thing, watching this video made me cringe.
The new one (out of clock) is a Most Plus bought on Amazon. Many of these are out there sold under various names. I opted to use it because I thought I'd just swap in my optical sensor and go. Its cheaper buy the defective one just for the cap and rotor. Also has brass terminals. The cap and rotor at Autozone was 117. to 134 dollars if memory serves me right.
No, I haven’t. I’d just read the feedback before you decide. See if people are having any luck with them. I know I did, but I can’t remember what. If it was good, I think I would have bought one. I could swear guys were saying they only got a year out of them, but I literally researched every single one I could find, before deciding to weld up the screw holes, tap and reuse the factory base. This is the world we live in now. Sad but true.
Ok so aftermarket has came in and corrected the problematic spider/tbi with retro fit mpfi systems on the small black v6/v8s ... Is there not a way to retro fit a distributor-less ignition system of these style engines?
The most important thing is the optical sensor with the Mitsubishi logo on it.i always keep my old opti and just replace the cap and rotor, and silicone it all around on the gasket it brings,and replace the 2 o'rings on back and you'll never have a problem, those after markets are garbage, even the aluminum housing because there not spaced right,the metal disk that rides on inside the optical sensor is not supposed to rub on the sensor..
I haven't started mine yet buy I already asked why not use factory optic thank u for answering that one smdh. Poor guy drilling n tapping needs loctite retaining number 660 n any metal on metal ain't separating till over 300f. 3m panel bond or lord fusor theirs tons of compounds for all types of surfaces many drill and tap able!! I'd have riveted the whore n sent it not like ya can get to screws or rivets without removing ingredients all else. Seconds n done bye bye lol I hope doing my neighbors shortly here
Just bought the mostplus all black cap one going to use it for the cap and rotor since it was one of the cheapest deals on those and came with a new cord too. Hows your frankin opti holding up?
Working great. At the end of the day, it was mostly about welding the holes and re tapping them. Put the most plus cap and rotor on with the new screws. Done. I just didn’t see good enough feedback on any so I figured swap the good sensor in the new one and blue loctite the screws, should be good. Never even considered it being out of clock. It sure made a simple job a pain in the butt.
Thank you. I had to know when I went to get them, but just couldn't kick it out. The screws ar 6-40 thread. That was what was really screwing with me. Had to burrow the tap from a gunsmith.
There is nothing wrong with the Optispark. Anyone that says that is just ignorant. Sure its in an inconvenient position, but it is a very accurate distributor. The reason for them failing are usually either people thinking they don't need maintenance or the waterpump failing. With a proper installation and not being cheap on a replacement Optisparks are very reliable and fine.
@@barryscarlett462 It is A LOT of work and VERY expensive to switch over to an LS based ignition and even then you still need the optispark's sensor because that's how the ecm still uses the crank sensor. In all honesty just stick with the Optispark.
I don't consider myself ignorant, since i probably have more experience with these than most anyone since i have worked on them since the day they came out. I have changed more of them than you changed your babies diapers. they were junk from day one and they continue to be junk especially the replacements. the only real fix is ls coils. might want to watch who you call ignorant, might come back to bite you.usually happens to know-it-all amatures. you may end up in rush hour traffic and can't move.
Your finding out the reason why people prefer the LS engine over the LT 1. Dealing with the optispark is a pain in the ass. And the ones from the parts store are a crap shoot .
Oh no, I was already quite aware long long ago. In fact I already was in the process of an LS swap in my 93 Caprice SS Clone. My wife thought she'd do me/us a favor and bought this work farm before I could say no. I've been pissed about this car since the first minute I laid eyes on it. 50,000 miles doesn't mean anything if the car wasnt stored properly. Now It need paint! I could have bought every top end part and more to finish the other car. All it needs is an intake tb, injectors and an ECU. Done and a very nice car. Spohn Performance sway bars, powder coated boxed control arms, eibach springs, hotchkis-bilstein shocks, Rear z/28 spoiler, SS wheels, 96 rear disc axle w/3.73 gears. Even the one year only 94 quarter glasses. Now I'm going to have two. A gutless stocker and one with 400 plus hp. I figure now I may as well put an even bigger cam in the 5.3 since it doesnt need to be fast and as good mpg. In closing, I have never been so pissed while working on a car in my life as one I didnt pick. Let alone having to do a semi complete restoration of an entire powertrain. Every seal on this is new. every hose, but the two AC hoses. AC compressor, dryer, intake gaskets, grommets, plugs, wires, starter, alternator, radiator, radiator overflow tank, fresh air intake, sway bar bushings, shocks, calipers, pads, air pump delete, mufflers, tail pipe, seat base covers, headlight system, electric water pump, innovative wiring relay system for water pump, complete heater control, speakers, Double din conversion on the dash, respray dash pad out of the car and the dash plastics, lloyds mats, sandblast suspension parts and epoxy paint those. remove transmission, replace rear main, transmission gets new corvette servo, pump removed and resealed, and all others. .500 boost valve. finned aluminum pan with drain, new radiator plastic top. Now I have to strip everything , glass moldings bumpers, door handles to get ir painted. I'm sure I left something out, but if something is going to be mine, its going to be nice. My wife is lucky I'm not younger, this was hard on the marriage. I have lots of other cars that haven't been part of any videos. I definitely didnt need this one.
@@wheelstandr When funds permit I'm going to install the Torqhead coil per cylinder ignition setup for my 94 firebird formula 6 speed . dealing with a shit optispark after getting stranded in morning rush hour traffic was enough of a headache for me. The engineers at GM must have been smoking some Hella good weed when they thought up that shit stom optispark.
