Need some serious Opti help! - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

ar0ck · 04-04-2007, 10:13 PM

Please don't move this, I need it in a high-traffic part of the site!

I've been having countless Opti-Spark problems on my Heads & Cam 1995 LT1.

I recently disassembled my 5 month (2 month running) old Summit Opti-Spark, to discover the entire inside of the Opti was burned up, possibly causing a horrible misfire with any RPM over 2,500. I spoke to Summit and they shipped me a new Opti unit, and I shipped my old one back to them.

Tonight @ 9:30pm I finished installing the new Summit Opti correctly, the cam & the crank have not moved since I removed the old unit. So I bolted the Opti in exactly the same way I took the old one out so it can only go on one way into the cam assembly. I bolted the water pump back on, reconnected everything, filled the car up with some anti-freeze. Once I double checked that I had all the connections surrounding the Opti securely connected, I mounted the intake elbow, and fired up the car. The car started up instantly and idled like a champ. I let the car run for about 5 minutes, threw a couple of very smooth & very crisp revs, and shut the car off. I went to go wash my hands and come back to the car to move it off the lift, and then it no longer started!

How could the car run for 5 minutes and then just not start again? I checked for spark between the spark plugs & the wire and I saw nothing, i tried it about 3 times. I checked for spark from the MSD blaster coil & it was good. I disconnected & reconnected every connection on the front of my motor and everything seemed visually fine. I checked & rechecked for the following 2 hours without any success. It was getting late & I didn't have any spare spark plugs to change out. But tomorrow I'm going to run new wires & spark plugs just in case.

Any ideas? Can anyone give me any run-downs or a check list? Does anyone want to come up and look at the car?

After I change the spark plugs & wires, and if it doesn't start up, I'm pulling the Opti off and dissembling it.

Bandit · 04-04-2007, 10:41 PM

Is it an aftermarket Opti? I hear of people with issues with aftermarket brands. You may need to pull it again and check it out. (some people have burned a hole in them right away)

If you need to buy one again buy a GM one only 12/12 warranty.

Ok I see it was an aftermarket deal.. Buy OEM replacement.

j0n · 04-04-2007, 10:49 PM

opti pin length could be too long

Firebird67dude · 04-04-2007, 11:14 PM

I order 3 optis from summit when i did my head gasket and all of them where indexed wrong. the car would run just like u said n the i'd shut it off and it would start. Try the coil also. the MSD coils are total crap. Put the opti on with no cap to make sure its indexed right. If you want to try a coil let me know. Ill grab mine off the T/A so you can try it.

ar0ck · 04-05-2007, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j0n

opti pin length could be too long

Opti Pin length from the cam? or the Opti pin going into the cam?

GP99GT · 04-05-2007, 10:07 AM

i wouldnt bother changing the plugs and wires if you arent getting any spark to any of them...sounds like your new opti died again

alamantia · 04-05-2007, 12:26 PM

Have you ever replaced the ignition control module?

NJLT1SS · 04-05-2007, 12:34 PM

The dowel pin coming out of the cam to drive the opti may be too long, causing it to push against the drive and killing it prematurely. I believe the lenght of the pin is supposed to be .620 for the vented ones. Are the optis that you are ordering from summit GM optis? If they aren’t, I would send it back for a refund, and get a GM opti. Also, the harness that goes from the opti to the main harness (it connects to the harness on the passenger side fuel rail) may be bad, and are known to go bad from time to time. They are inexpensive and easy to replace, so you can give that a shot. Here is a good source for GM parts:

Dal Slabaugh: 877-448-5451
lockitup@bright.net
VanDevere Buick/Pontiac, Akron, OH

V · 04-05-2007, 12:36 PM

i dunno if itll help, but can you take the opti that was on the motor i sold you? that car ran great so i know that one was good.

Pampered-Z · 04-05-2007, 01:34 PM

I agree with what everyone else already said, Sure sounds like the problems are caused by the opti.

Put a stock opti and coil in it.

ar0ck · 04-05-2007, 02:29 PM

Well as far as the cam pin, it was the same exact size as the the stock cam I pulled out in October.

right now I can only afford the stupid summit optis. I do have a stock blaster coil though that I'll swap back on. Only thing is when I swapped one last time I didn't notice a difference. And now I'm noticing that the Opti isn't sitting flush with the mounts on the Timing Chain cover.

I have a serious problem, because my boss is flipping a **** and wants the car off the lift.

Kojak · 04-05-2007, 03:54 PM

Your boss is an ass clown but he is your boss, thats what they do. I dont think switching the Blaster coil will fix the problem, the opti is fukucked. We have to pull it out again and see the problem.

How would the opti pin length being too long mess things up, because the new pin was longer then the old one..?

GP99GT · 04-05-2007, 03:59 PM

"blaster" is MSD's brand name for the coil, stop calling it a blaster coil

(OCD)

anyway like i said before, coils are usually either good or bad, not intermittent. check the pin length on your opti, compare it to the stock one from pauls LT1 (if you have it)

ryanfx · 04-05-2007, 05:06 PM

lol @ LT1

DieselKickYoAss4Sure · 04-05-2007, 05:14 PM

lighter + gas can = universal fix for optis

seriously jsut ditch the whole system take the opti off the car.

j0n · 04-05-2007, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DieselKickYoAss4Sure

seriously jsut ditch the whole system take the opti off the car.

Not that easy phil...in order to completely ditch the opti you need to block off the opti hole in the timing chain cover, cut the cowl above the engine, drill a hole in the intake manifold, re-route all the spark plug wires, re-route all the distributor wiring, and delete the egr

GP99GT · 04-05-2007, 05:43 PM

and thats why delteq ftw

ar0ck · 04-05-2007, 06:52 PM

Got it running today! I ended up pulling off the entire Opti again, replaced the cap & rotor with the MSD that I had laying around, and ran new spark plus & wires, and it fired up like a champ. I let it warm up, got the bubbles out of the system and took it for a test drive. At operating temperatures where I had the problem before the car performed amazing! It felt so much stronger then before. I had to leave it at my job while I went to class, but I'm going back to change the oil and bring it home. I'll report later.

ar0ck · 04-06-2007, 12:20 PM

Being able to do 120 down the highway at 2am felt really good again.

Its back

ryanfx · 04-06-2007, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j0n

Not that easy phil...in order to completely ditch the opti you need to block off the opti hole in the timing chain cover, cut the cowl above the engine, drill a hole in the intake manifold, re-route all the spark plug wires, re-route all the distributor wiring, and delete the egr

I guess it's kind of what's important to you. I would rather do a 20 hour job and never have an opti problem again...