Hey guys so I got the bad news that my opti needs to be changed and I was lookin for some advice. Firstly I have a 1994 z28 m6...have hooker lts on there that burnt up one of my plug wires...so I need all new plugs and wires and a cap and rotor for my opti. Would you guys suggest just replacing the whole opti? I was quoted 960 bucks for the job...116 for the plug wires...359 for the opti cap n rotor kit....64 for plugs...and 420 for labor...

Can you guys let me know which brands or etc to buy? Any of those parts upgradeable? Meaning getting something to help me performance wise?
I have 142k on the car and assuming the car is on the original opti...shud I replace all or just the cap n rotor?

Any other things I should change while I'm in there? Thanks a lot guys I appreciate it...any spots to buy cheaper products better brands etc...all advice is wanted and appreciated thanks again

 

There's lots and lots of info on this forum on this subject. I've replaced 4 Optis before, so I'll tell you what I would do.

I would buy the complete Optispark, and only AC Delco or Delphi which are the originals. I guess you could consider the MSD unit since it adds a ventilation system to the 94, but some on here have complained about MSD. I like the Moroso blue wires because they're not too big to create fit problems and seem to be really good quality. Most people seem to like NGK plugs, including me. I've used Iridiums, Platinums, and regular copper. I would probably suggest Platinums for best value.

Unless your waterpump was just replaced, replace it now while you've got it off.

For pricing, I would say $400 for the Opti, $80 for the wires, $25 for the plugs. Labor sounds about right. Do it yourself for free!

 

I replaced my cap and rotor with an Autozone special back in 02 (70k ago) and it still runs fine. The tip of the previous rotor popped off.

 

And if u do decide to change out the water pump you might as well change the opti out yourself since it is off. It's worth saving the 420 in my opinion, but you also have to take off the harmonic balancer and hub as well

 

The crank hub doesn't need to come off, just the pulley.

 

You only have to pull the damper/pulley off the hub to change out the Opti. No need to pull the hub off the crankshaft.

 

That's right. I had to take off the timing cover because it was cracked and that's why I took out the hub, my bad for the false info

 

Just got done changing my opti Saturday , I found that it sounded more intimitating that it was, I was able to do it in about 4 hours , +1 on getting a ac delco +1 on doing the water pump as well

 

I did the water pump as well. Mine had the tell tell sign of dripping out of the weep hole on the bottom. When the time comes to do the opti or cap and rotor again, I'm going to install an electric waterpump in the housing I have now though.

 

thanks for all the advice guys...being in college and all i am under a pretty tight budget...and so i ended up deciding to do just the cap and rotor, plugs, and plug wires...
i also found a guy who had a camaro before and he came by and started on the car today and would be finishing up tomorrow. He's only charging me 200, and knows quite a bit abt these cars. I thought i'd order the water pump depending on what mine looked like once he pulled it off, and he said it looked pretty good and i probably don't need to spend the 100 to take it off. Best part of it all is that im trying to get an idea for how hard it is, so god forbid i have a situation like this in the future i can do it myself.
i hope i get the z up and running well, i'll update you guys tomorrow evening on how she's running! thanks for your help!

 

i guess we all always get surprises and pleasantly enough when we got the distributor off today and took a look at it...we thought it best to change out the whole opti instead of just the cap and rotor....so off i go trying to find an opti thats not gonna cost me an arm and a leg. Anybody have any info on these? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/92-94...ht_3614wt_1167

they come with a lifetime warranty and are fairly cheap...which keeps making me lean towards buying it

 

also heard a couple users saying they used these
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/92-93...ht_5655wt_1167
leaning a tad bit more towards these since i actually heard from a couple guys using it..same thing with the lifetime warranty

 

What Opti you buy is purely a matter of statistics. OEM and MSD appear so fail significantly less than all other brands. The Richporter has a poor track record. I've never heard of "Top Shelf". Some of these cheapies fail within days. Others may get lucky and the they might last for years.

Lifetime warranty means every time it fails, you will have to go back to the source you bought it from (will they even exist in 6 months?), get return authorization, return the unit, hope they agree it needs to be replaced, wait for the replacement, then install it. If that's your idea of fun, go for it.

 

more then likely gonna go with the delphi. thanks for putting that lifetime warranty into proper prospective

 

you guys think i need to replace the water pump? i took pictures of what i thought the weep hole was...correct me if i am wrong..