Znewb

Hello All,

I've been given a 96 Z that has sat for the past five years and I'm in the process of bringing it back to life. I've replaced plugs, wires, Fuel pump, filter, Injectors, TPS, and MAF. In the process of cleaning up the engine of five years of grime and rodent nesting I discovered a broken wire in the Opti harness and have since repaired it. I've been reading through the forum and alot of threads suggest that the opti is a main issue with terrible running conditions in the LT1 engines, but the issue I have at the moment is that despite the few parts I've replaced I cannot afford the pricey optispark modual.

Now, is is possible to "rebuild" the opti like you would any normal distributor with a cap and rotor?

Kevin Blown 95 TA

Yes you can rebuild it with a new cap and rotor if it doesn't have too high of miles on it so that the bearings are shot or it has corrosion inside. Inspect the connector tower for corrosion inside where the 4 pins are. If you are comfortable with delicate parts, I suggest taking it completely apart first and (carefully) inspect the optical encoder, then if everything checks out, order an MSD cap and rotor and make sure you use some locktite when you secure the rotor and you should have a good opti when you are all done.

Znewb

Okay so.. Got home from work and decided to spin the ol Z over to keep the fluids churned. After spinning the engine a few seconds before remembering that i had left the opti test harness unplugged from the night before I plugged it back up and when trying to crake it again I hear this pop.. Checked the opti and it had literally spit the plug(Electrical connecter, not spark plug wire) from the harness out. Thinking that perhaps I hadn't pushed the plug completely to lock I did so and when attempting to crank the engine again it has this loud grinding like perhaps the rotor in the Opti has frozen and the spline is spinning inside?

I haven't pulled the opti to inspect it yet because it's dark but have any of you ever heard of an opti spitting out it's plug and locking up? I remember reading a thread about one of the rotor screws coming loose inside the opti was a common issue, could this be it?