I have a 94 Impala SS LT1 in my 68 Camaro and I just had to remove the water pump because it was leaking and I'm not sure if any moisture got into the Opti. It's a vented Opti and I'm wondering if I should replace it or not to be safe. I have lots of room in my setup and it looks like I would have about 1/2"-3/4" of room to pull the Opti forward until it hits the balancer. Can I get it off without removing the balancer? Also, do the Opti rebuild kits work as well as a new Opti? I was going to head to Autozone tonight to grab some parts, but I can wait and order GM stuff if it's recommended. Any thoughts?

 

No .....it has to come off....you need about 1 1/2" to get the opti shaft out of the cam.

 

I changed my opti less than 700 miles ago and I tried to do it with out removing the pully and it was impossible, but getting the pully of was quite easy. I just removed the 3 bolts and used a 2 jaw pully. It came off in no time. This might be a good time to do an underdrive pully while you have the balancer off.... just a thought.

 

you will have to pull the balancer off, and get a new gm opti. I've heard nothing but bad things about the rebuild kits then you end up buying a new gm opti afterwords.

 

just spend the $ for the new opti. i wouldnt trust a rebuilt one, hell the NEW ones are finiky enough.

 

i tried it and it doesnt work, just pull it off, its not all that dificult

 

Yeah, I have enough stuff taken apart right now so I guess it's not worth the hassle of having to do any of it again later on. I didn't think the water pump was going to be as big a pain as it was. At least I don't have the smog pump so I'm not going to bother putting the bracket back on. Those 2 bolts were a bear to get loose. I also noticed that it sure looks like plenty of room to fit a Powerdyne supercharger in there too!

 

IMO, I would not mess with the opti if you were not having any problems. The amount of life in them varies widely. However if you really want to replace it, now is the time.

 

Yeah, that's the tough decision. The opti isn't causing any problems so I don't know if I should mess with it. But who knows how long the water pump was leaking. It's a vented Opti so it might be ok.

 

Autozone sells one for cheap, and it is rebuilt. It also has a lifetime warranty. That's something the GM ones don't.

I have one myself and I haven't had any problems with it.

 

I replaced my opti last summer when my water pump went out. It was a fairly easy job. But at the time, the opti was working fine, but I figured I would replace it anyways while everything was already apart. And I also did the March underdrive pulley upgrade. One thing I suggest is you get a new one and not a rebuild kit. Too much of a PITA to take everything apart again if the rebuild kit fails.

Mike