About a year ago I bought a mild bolt on DD/beater Z28 to save on fuel. Well after having my last Opti problem over 7 years ago, last week my beaterZ developed a dead cylinder. #7 was not firing at all, thought it was the wire, nope, wire was good. Went a little further and started testing the spark directly from the opti, zero spark from the #7 port. The rest tested fine. So now comes the time that every LT1 owner eventually experiences and also dreads. "Should I roll the dice and try doing a cap and rotor or go all the way and get a GM dealer unit." Cap and rotors are lifetime warranty, but lets face it, who wants to get in there once every couple months and change it?

I'm trying to negotiate with a GM dealer to get one as cheap as possible. I'll also be trying to speak with this dealer about giving a CamaroZ28.com discount since the family who owns the dealership is VERY pro LT1. Basically working on a replacement for our former Dal of VanDevere in Akron, OH. I'll update accordingly.

Also would anyone be interested in a photo guide to changing the opti? Just curious if the effort would benefit anyone.

-Dustin-

PS Real tempting not to see this as an omen to throw a cam in there...[Tim Allen growl]

 

No cam sweety!

 

Shot down in only 25 minutes......

 

Kock on wood, replaced cap and rotor 3 years ago and still running good

 

I would be tempted to replace the entire thing. Getting that water pump off is a mess and who wants to do ever, let alone every so often. A cam would be temping too......

 

Ya the cam idea didn't fly with her

Which brand cap and rotor did you use?

Autozone has a cap and rotor for $120, kinda pricey compared to the $80 optis I see on ebay, although I'm sure those aren't exactly the cream of the crop.

Talked with the dealership, their cost has gone up on them, as reflected in my old vs newer Summit catalogs selling the GMPP ones.

Might have to pull the thing apart and see what's inside...

-Dustin-

 

Chandler Motorsports? Anyone deal with them before. They seem to lay claim to finding sources for the best opti parts and the prices are pretty dang good. Whole lifetime warranty opti for about the same as an Autozone cap and rotor, then the lifetime cap and rotor is $42 shipped. Hmm, much easier to swallow

-Dustin-

 

I've seen posts on multiple forums about problems with the Chandler unit.

There is no cheap way out.............

 

Haha, I know Fred...just trying to figure out where to roll the dice. The feedback on anything opti related is always a mixed bag, I think it's mostly because most people don't know how to properly diagnose their problem and just throw an opti on without checking anything else, then blame the source of the opti for the problem. We'll see how this one goes, bought a whole chandler unit with lifetime warranty, let's see what happens.

PS Tossed the cam idea out for now, the new LTX Shootout is supposed to have a bolt on class next year. I may talk NHGIRL into racing the daily driver car in that class.

-Dustin-