did my opti finaly die or could it be somthing else ?

[wrong generation]

monday night. got into my car ( 96 z28) drove to a store everything was normal. went to leave the store about 20 minutes later. and the car would start up but stall out/die as soon as i shifted into gear. tried for 10 minutes and kept doing the same thing. sat there for about a half hour waiting for a friend to come. he showed up and all the sudden the car fires up and goes into gear. half way home the car dies and won't start back up. went home about 15-20 minutes later went back to the car and it started up drove home fine. 3 hours after that drove the car to work then drove the car home after work no problems. had to drive my brother to his job. on the way home on the parkway it started to hesitate you could tell it just wasnt happy but made it home. later on that day i went out again. the car was driving fine no problems then all the sudden died.


i figured its eather no fuel or no spark. i ruled out the no fuel issue as i can hear my fuel pump working. so that leaves me to believe no spark. now before we all just point directly at the opti-spark. is there anything else i should look at or is this deff syptoms/signs of the opti taking a crap ?

[FlyingDutchman]

Any stored codes? Does it stumble or just quit? A dying / intermittent ignition control module (ICM, mounted on driver side head below coil) has similar symptoms. I had similar issues last year where the car would randomly quit and left me stranded one time (crank with no spark, had to tow home). New ICM with heat sink paste and haven't had a problem since. I never had any codes.

[Blackbirdws6]

I've never experienced opti failure but those symptoms were very similar to my ICM taking a dump. Bought a new one, spaced it off the head and the problem was solved.

[wrong generation]

No codes.

Is there any way to test the icm ? That would be soo much easier to get to then the opti.

[DirtyBird]

Sounds like icm

[sweetbmxrider]

Some parts stores can test it. You should test it a **** load of times as they tend to fail with heat.

[ThoR294]

wouldn't hurt to test fuel pressure either. could be your pump on its way out.

[wrong generation]

For all those who said icm. I think i owe you guys a beer at the next meet.

[Blackbirdws6]

Sounds like its fixed.

Check this out if you haven't already. http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#ICM_cooling

[wrong generation]

****. Might not have been the problem. Just went to go drive the car. And its back to cranking but won't fire. Wtf

I swapped out the icm. It fired right up. A little while later desided to take the car for a quick spin it drove fine. And now back to this.

[sweetbmxrider]

Get a buddy and see if you have spark. Check fuel pressure. Spray carb cleaner in intake. Did you use thermal paste on the icm and heat sink?

[wrong generation]

Yes thermal paste was used. My mom is a computer tech so there is plenty of that around lol.

Just for the hell of it i walked out side this morning and the damn thing fired right up. But this time my check engine light was on. Po372.

Whats the cure for this code?

[sweetbmxrider]

Sounds like its the opti :rofl:

[FlyingDutchman]

Most likely opti failure, how many miles are on it?

Check out this Shbox (http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#opti_test) writeup on diagnosing the opti.

[wrong generation]

no clue how many miles are on it. it could be the original for all i know. the odometer had 251k miles on it when i bought it 3 years ago. im guessing iv put 20k+ in the 3 years iv owned the car. (odometer doesn't work)

funny thing is when i bought the car the guy gave me a brand new opti-spark saying the car needed it but i havnt had any issues in the last 3 years.

[maroman88]

check the power/signal harness the goes down into the opti on the passenger side. i just had a similar issue and found the end of mine the plastic was all cracked off the plug and was full of oil/coolant/water. ordered a new one for 12 bucks and its perfect now.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vented-Optispark-Wire-Harness-Corvette-Camaro-Firebird-/302018449144?hash=item4651b3cef8:g:AAgAAOSwbsBXjiz ~&vxp=mtr

[ThoR294]

check the power/signal harness the goes down into the opti on the passenger side. i just had a similar issue and found the end of mine the plastic was all cracked off the plug and was full of oil/coolant/water. ordered a new one for 12 bucks and its perfect now.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vented-Optispark-Wire-Harness-Corvette-Camaro-Firebird-/302018449144?hash=item4651b3cef8:g:AAgAAOSwbsBXjiz ~&vxp=mtr

this

[wrong generation]

well after spending all day yesterday taking the car apart and putting the new opti-spark in. and then today putting the water pump and other stuff back on.

is there any way i could have put the opti in wrong ? thought it only went in one way.

its running like ****. i ether some how put the opti in wrong or got my plug wires mixed up.

[sweetbmxrider]

Its a lot harder on the pin drive vented optis and I don't think it would run if it was wrong. I would check, recheck, and check the plug wiring again. Very easy to mix up on these cars with the routing.

[wrong generation]

Its a lot harder on the pin drive vented optis and I don't think it would run if it was wrong. I would check, recheck, and check the plug wiring again. Very easy to mix up on these cars with the routing.

Lol adam. You say check the firing order like its easy. Any chance you could take a quick ride and help me with it? Your not that far lol.

[sweetbmxrider]

It is easy, go one by one. I'm on call so can't leave.

http://shbox.com/1/opti.jpg

[wrong generation]

lol iv got that diagram loaded on my phone. but when you have things like a/c on the car and everything else in the way its a ****ing nightmare. would be easier if i had 2 people.

so far iv verified 6 as being correct. i have 2 more to do on the passenger side. had to remove the crank pulley to get to the ones on the passenger side. trying to figure out how to trace these last two.

[V]

so far iv verified 6 as being correct. i have 2 more to do on the passenger side. had to remove the crank pulley to get to the ones on the passenger side. trying to figure out how to trace these last two.


If your down to only two, just switch them and see if it runs better

[wrong generation]

Ok all 8 plug wires are correct. So much for that being tge issue.

The two vacuum lines on the opti if i mixed them up. Would that cause it not to run right?

[wrong generation]

Here is a vid. Maybe you guys can tell me the issue based off the sound.

[deadtrend1]

The cam dowel pin is inserted correctly in the opti? Also, what brand opti did youninstall?

[wrong generation]

The cam dowel pin is inserted correctly in the opti? Also, what brand opti did youninstall?


As far as i knew it could only be installed one way. But that's my thoughts arm. Need to rip it all apart and some how make sure it gets installed correctly.

As for brand. Its made by cardone. I think.

Any tips for making sure its installed correctly?

[FlyingDutchman]

As far as i knew it could only be installed one way. But that's my thoughts arm. Need to rip it all apart and some how make sure it gets installed correctly.

As for brand. Its made by cardone. I think.

Any tips for making sure its installed correctly?

No real tips, its pretty simple. The back of the opti should have 3 slots, 2 look different from the 3rd, the 3rd should have an indent, the cam dowel goes inside that one, should slide on relatively easy. If not, it's possible to force it on wrong or just from new seals.

No codes? Even if light isn't lit, you could have codes pending.

[LTb1ow]

Could be very likely you got a crappy opti thats bad out of box. Verify you installed correct and then return if not improved.

[ThoR294]

Did you clear codes after replacing opti? I want to see if that code comes back

Make sure wires are not arcing anywhere too. Check your vacuum lines you touched. Could be a bad opti but cardone is decent.

How did the opti electrical plug look?

[wrong generation]

I'm getting way to good at getting to the opti. Got everything out of the way yesterday in about 30 minutes if not less lol.

Took the opti out and realized right away it got put in wrong. So i took the cap off and held the rotor so to make sure it went in the slot this time. Car runs great now. Well so far do good anyways lol. Iv taken it in a few short trips as well as a 40 mile round trip to brick and back. So far no issues. Or codes.

Hmm should i return the icm or just keep it whats your guys thoughts ?

[wrong generation]

How did the opti electrical plug look?

Like its seen better days

[ThoR294]

I'd return the ICM and make sure that connector is good and tight lol