My 95 Z28 vented opti car was running fine when the previous owner said that it started missing and idling rough. After he parked it, it wouldn't start after that, just sputter. I bought the car and had the local shop diagnose it. The original owner said there were no codes showing and the shop also agreed. The shop stated that the water pump had leaked and they were 95 percent sure the Optispark was the culprit, which they said was crossfiring. Without in depth research I purchased the MSD Cap and Rotor set through ScogginsDickey and have yet to put it on for fear that the actual optical eye and bearing in the distibutor could be bad as well. The original cap is filthy from being worn down by the rotor rubbing inside and all of the contacts within it look to be problematic. Here is my question, do I replace the parts in hand and hope my optispark issue is resolved? Also the male end on the coil is corroded and could possibly be a problem too... Please help... I posted everything I can think of, don't be afraid to ask anything else

 

Yeah, I would start by replacing the cap and rotor and the coil wire.

 

Quick question same issue, you mentioned the coil in your reply, is that part of the dist., rotor set? or that another part all together?

 

If you are asking about an LT1 (no info in your post), the coil and ignition control module are mounted on a bracket on the front of the driver's side head. They are totally separate from the distributor.

Courtesy of Shoebox:

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

 

Thanks a bunch thats because I crossed that picture earlier b4 i had that question. Same car as what the OP had above 95 Z28 LT1. Thanks a bunch for the link and info. (Will edit signature later on too)

 

Alright I will change that out tomorrow... Thanks for responding and I will definitely let you guys know the outcome, as far as it working or not. I have done some more research today and the local Chevy dealership has a distributor in stock originally $717 but marked down to $550... Good deal? Oh and the Optical sensor in the distributor, is there any way to positively check it before I replace the cap and rotor?

 

No, $550 is not a good deal. You can get one at Summit for half of that. If you are not getting any trouble codes related to the opti, the optical portion may be ok. Scan to be sure.

 

Good to know... Thank you Sir... I'll keep you updated

 

Alright so here it goes... Since I already had the car stripped down to the timing chain cover I pulled the distributor out and checked the bearing because what I have read on here they are notoriously a weak point. Well you could barely turn the distributor and the cap had wear marks where the rotor had rubbed it as if it were off balance or that bearing was bad and caused it to wobble. I found a new distributor that was complete with everything and put it on. With that in place I cleaned the coil wire and connector with DTC electronics cleaner and put it all back together. Fired right up tonight and is as strong as ever and more responsive than before... Thanks for all of the help guys and I am sure I will be coming back for more input!