Hey I'm new here, I own a 94 Z28 Camaro 6 speed. Completely stock other then a K&N Cold Air Intake. It has 130,000 miles.

My car began to stall intermittently and threw the DTC code 16. When it ran, it ran normal, plenty of power. It would spin the tires from a roll in 1st gear. I replaced the Opti-spark with a NEW(not re-man) A1 Cardone unit, it starts and runs normal. Idles completely fine and doesn't stall anymore. But when driving it now has a huge loss of power. Under load the it has a hard time getting into high rpm. The Prius I drive at work would put up a good race.

I've heard of indexing the Optispark wrong, but it sat flush against the timing cover and went in very smoothly. And Usually when indexed wrong the car wont run at all or very poorly. I'm going to hook up the snap on scan tool at work tomorrow and see if its throwing any codes.

Is it possible that I indexed it wrong, but it is just enough to retard the timing and give it a loss of power?

 

Hows your coil or coil wire?Just a thought.My02

 

I'm pretty sure the coil wire is ok, it runs fine, just has no power. And also before I replaced the opti the car had plenty of power just had an intermittent stall and DTC 16, for the opti. Will be running a few checks today when I get to the shop.

 

What condition was the opti pigtail in? Any corrosion or frayed wires? Did you loctite the rotor screws?

 

The splined shaft has 16 teeth, so one tooth off from the correct position would either advance or retard the timing 45 crank degrees. It would probably start, but run very poorly.

Are you sure you don't have a couple plug wires crossed?

Did you loc-tite the rotor screws before installing the new Opti?

 

Yes I am sure I don't have any plug wires crossed, marked them before they came off and put them back how they were. They are also MSD wires and are numbered as is the place they go into on the opti. If I had crossed wires this thing would not idle smoothly.

It is also the newer vented style opti, and I pulled it apart today and it was indeed indexed correctly.

Did not loctite the cap n rotor, ended up returning it and ordering a MSD unit.

The harness is completly normal, not frayed wires or corrosion.

Before the Opti job the car ran fine, would just intermittently stall and throw code 16. After the "NEW" opti it starts and runs fine, does not stall, but has absolutly no power.

I'll update as soon as I install the MSD

Thanks for the replies everyone

 

So you are indicating you 94 has a vented Opti with the cam dowel pin driving it, and not the splined shaft? That would mean it's either a 95 or newer engine or someone has gone through a lot of work and expense to swap in the vented unit.

 

Yes it has the newer style opti, Not sure if it was swapped or was changed to have this style. Ive heard of a few later 94's having the vented style opti.

 

Nope. No 94s had a vented opti. It's been converted or is not the original engine.

 

I have one of the last 94's built.... it had a non-vented Opti from the factory. In the 15 years I've been on this site (and several others specializing in the LT1 cars) I have never heard of anyone finding a vented Opti in a 94.

 

Maybe it is a newer engine that would be great. I was told it was the original but who knows. I did notice that the intake manifold has new gaskets as well as the exhuast manifolds with all new bolts.

Anyways, I put on the MSD and it solved my problem.

The opti that originally came off was a kragen brand one. It was full of oil from a leaky Crank seal I had recently replaced.

 

Go to Shoebox's website. He has a photo showing where to look for the partial VIN on the engine. It has the number, including the year code, of the car that the engine was originally installed in.