Its time for me to replace my Opti. How lucky am I. One question pops out at me. Should I replace it with MSD's new Cap and rotor, Or stick with the stock Optispark??
The MSD version runs for 151.99 through JEGS while the GM Opti runs for 239.00 or so.
Which would be best?

 

How old is the rest of the Opti distributor? If it's pretty darn old, I would just replace the WHOLE unit. Summit sells genuine new GM distributors for $289.95 but i think if you search real hard, you can find them cheaper.

Most will say get GM parts, but I've also read quite a few posts where the GM parts do fail pretty quickly. Don't know who to believe now!

 

Msd's cap and rotor aren't out yet

 

...plus, it is just a cap and rotor. You can't compare the price of a cap and rotor to a complete GM unit.

 

The whole opti is stock. The car has 112,000 miles on it.
And the MSD cap and rotor is out. JEGS sells it for 159.00.

 

Just because they advertise it, doesn't mean they have it. Summit advertises it too, but they don't have any.

 

Try to get one. You can't.

 

IMO, with 112k on opti I would replace the whole thing.

 

Its actually more work just to replace the cap and rotor, plus you need special reverse (female) torx sockets to remove the cap. I've done both and its a little easier and way more effective to change out the whole unit...especially with 112,000 miles...

--Alan

 

Summit started taking orders for the MSD units last fall and has yet to ship a one because MSD hasn't delivered. People still like to talk it up as some huge improvement though even when not a one has made it to the public.
If the stocker made it to 112K why not just get another one they are available for more like $220. Besides the issues ABA383 mentioned those pesky torx screws are going into aluminum and snapping them is fairly common.

 

What's wrong with the opti? Does it throw any codes?

 

The maintence has been kept up to date, but at high RPMS under load, around 4600, there is hesitation from the engine. Ive talked to several other people, and they had the same problem, but when they replaced the opti, the problem went away.
The plugs and wires were replaced a year ago, and recently about a month ago, a new coil was installed.

 

I have been experiencing some bad hesitation above 4500 RPM also... so bad that it feels like the car is in neutral with no power going to the wheels until it shifts. Is that pretty much what your car is doing? My water pump crapped on me a week ago and I have my T/A jacked up in my garage... almost got the water pump off. I wonder if I should change my opti while I'm down there...

 

I would. Thats the kind of person I am. Id rather spend the extra money and replace something while im there, than wait untill it goes out and have to tear the water pump back off. Esp if your already taking the Water Pump off. The opti is right there, and being a '95, im sure your car has some miles on it.

 

Nah, just take one of the throttle body plate torx bolts out then use some vice grips on it to take apart the opti. Done this a couple times. What REALLY pissed me off was that i figured that out after spending like 5 hours trying to find the female torx socket at stores.