My car is missing pretty badly when it gets up to operating temp. I think it is the opti. Well I haven't got the cash right now to buy a new one. would I be able to pull it out and clean it, and maybe get a few more miles out of it until I can get a new one.

 

When I say clean I mean take it apart and wipe it out with rubbing alcohol. I just wonder if that would be a waste of time.

 

More than likely when you take it apart you will find your cap and rotor look pretty bad and cleaning most likely will not help at all. I would take it apart to see whats wrong you may just need a cap and rotor which is still kinda expensive but if it is the problem thats the only way you can fix it.

 

go to radio shack and pick up some Precision Electronic Cleaner and from you favorite place pick up some high grit sand paper and rvt sealant... Take your opti apart clean all contact points with the sandpaper and spray it down with the cleaner... Be sure to take a hair dryer to the opti after you have spayed it down and let it dry for awhile before using the rvt sealant and putting it back together... check your water pump for any leaks above where the opti eye sensor plugs in...

 

thanks for the ideas, I am going to pull it out this weekend. If it looks too bad then it's grounded I guess, if it can be cleaned now I know how. Anyone know if driving it (not hard) with that stumble will hurt it until I get to fixing it?

 

If you hear any ticking or pinging noises it's not too great for the engine, although I had to drive around like that for awhile and nothing broke on my engine.

Try to avoid lugging it, especially at low rpms, although I'm sure you already know to not do that if your cap & rotor are bad.

BTW, cleaning the cap probably won't do much. The damage is underneath, for the most part. Since GM designed the cap so that all the plug wires would be easy to route, the firing order and the rotor's path are different, resulting in a mess from the terminals inside the cap to the terminals on the outside that the wires plug onto. If it is your cap & rotor that's bad, cleaning will probably just make that stumble more evident. It's too much trouble to have to take apart just to buy a new one later.