Had my car at the shop today over at the gm dealer. They hooked it up to a few different things and couldn't find the exact problem for my high idle. They sprayed around the intake, checked all hoses, valves and sensors. They even pulled the brake booster hose off and sprayed directly into the line for almost 30 seconds and it didn't kill the engine or cause it to bog down. So I am getting air from somewhere else and this has me worried.

They also said I still have a bad miss, so looks like I'll be having to get that opti looked at or replaced here soon along with new plugs.

Could a cracked block or warped/cracked heads be pulling the extra air in causing this vacuum problem?

A compression test and some other testing with a vacuum gauge would tell me this right? I still don't have any smoke from the exhaust and my coolant usually looks ok, it was only a brownish tent when I flushed it out earlier this summer, it's always came out clean since then with the exception of some brownish tent liquid right at the rad cap when i take it off...only a few drops ever noticed.

Another addition I was thinking about. I recall when flushing my coolant system earlier this summer that I was told to leave the rad cap off and make sure the coolant circulated and slowly add coolant if necessary, so I did. But, while the cap was off the coolant rose and began to overflow, it took a minute or two for this to happen. I turned it off and the coolant began to spew out and it almost got as high as the hood at one point before settling back down. This was my first "WTF did I do moment". Would that just be the pressure within the system causing it or was it the build up of exhaust gases, which would indicate the head gasket problem and leak? IDK why I haven't mentioned that before, was told it was the pressure in the system so I never thought anything of it until now.

 

Getting cap and rotor, plugs, and using bars leak permanent head gasket fix this weekend to see if it helps any...will do a compression test first.

 

Did the dealer see the erratic spikes in the RPM signal? That could be an Opti problem, but would be caused by the optical sensor in the back of the Opti, not replaced with only a cap and rotor.

 

Yea, they were pretty much at a loss on how to deal with my high idle and high rpm spikes. I mentioned the opti and they agreed, but couldn't say for sure since they believed I still had a vacuum leak of some sort. They thought the surging and random idle speeds were due to the supposed vacuum leak still, but when they checked everything they couldn't find one or figure it out.

So let's stick with the opti, if the sensor is in deed fouled or acting up it could cause the rpm spikes and also cause the rpm range to stay elevated like what I'm getting at idle?

I don't drive the car anymore as it is since it's a hassle and not worth adding damage. I'll be pulling the opti before i decide to buy just a cap/rotor or a whole unit. What should I be looking for besides carbon tracking on the cap or corrosion in the opti?

 

The surging as a result of excess air getting in theory is out the window. I pulled the intake off and started the engine, walked up front and blocked off the TB with some cardboard and it died almost instantly. So now I guess the surging is a result of the bad opti sensor causing rpm spikes and the elevated rpms ranges. I hope anyways, looks like I'm going to have to try a CMS opti.

 

Been doing a lot of checks and cleaning on the engine tonight. Pulled the WP off and no problems there weep hole dry, except for oil residue all over the backside from the intake leak. The opti however is trashed more or less. Soon as I got it off I can hear a rattling inside, assuming piece of the rotor or the screws. Also, when taking of 2 of the torx screws(why the hell are they inverted? DUMB) a whole side of the opti popped up exposing a large gap between the cap and the rest of the unit. It is also very dirty around the edges and looks like it got inside the opti as well. I can't get the two inside torx out since I don't have a tool for that yet. The shaft also has some play in it as well.

I'll be trying the CMS opti since money is a choke hold limitation atm, and be picking up the FelPro timing cover gasket set and oil pan gasket. This also gives me plenty of time while waiting to clean the engine up from the intake leaks, it needs it severely.

 

Good luck with the CMS opti. You'll probably be doing this all over again. Their product inspires little confidence, IMHO.

 

I'm trying to be OPTImistic

I finally found the right size torx to get the cap off. It appears that at some time there was actual fluid within the unit, there is a line across the bottom section and everything below the line is discolored brown tent. Reminds me of a flood line that would appear in houses. So assuming the sensor is fouled for that reason, also the bearings are loose and noisy. The opti I have on now appears to be an aftermarket model too.

 

So now you have a visual example of what to expect from another aftermarket OPTI.
Save yourself a headache and buy a GM opti....

 

Found OEM and a number stamped on the inside after looking further...

Guess I'll have to roll the dice with the CMS opti until I have the cash to drop on an over priced faulty system with the delphi or ac delco stamp/sticker then...even the delteq system still uses the opti cam sensor and parts of the opti, there is no getting away from this crap.

 

There are ways to completely get rid of the opti, but it is a little expensive. Delteq is out of business.

 

Maybe the 24x system can be another future project. Thanks for the info though.

 

Figured I would update this thread since it has a lot of helpful information for many.

Currently I have my car on ramps in the garage, I have the timing cover off and all the seals out as well as the pan dropped with the gasket off. All the surfaces have been cleaned and I have my CMS opti and FelPro gasket sets sitting here. So now starts the slow and tedious process of putting all the gaskets and seals back on for me. I'll have Permatex ultra black on the rear of the pan and by the dipstick tube area, also along the front of the pan where it meets the timing cover. I'll also put the permatex on the WP side of the wp gaskets when I install that. So far so good.

I was debating on a new timing chain set, but mine appears to be fine. It's set at 1TDC and one side is nice and tight and the other has some slight slack so it's normal. The wp driveshaft gear and stuff look alright as well.

I also got annoyed with the oil cooler lines so I ended up deleting them and the cooler. I'll try and find some bolts or I'll cut the original ones idk yet. I found the bypass hose at OReilly, it appears to be what I need. Read how when deleting the cooler I should run synthetic like mobil 1...but was also told these older engines with high mileage wouldn't take well to synthetic, suggestions?

Now here is where I'm unsure. After taking the WP off I wasn't sure if the fluid/moisture area on the back was from the weep hole or from where I had my intake leak and all that fluid was coming down. I assume most would think it best to go ahead and get another WP right? If so, I already took a look. OReilly has a reman WP for $70 that I would probably go with. The one I have on now is a reman wp too. If I took the one I have now in with me would they knock off that stupid core charge? The one at OReilly is a Cardone which am told is a good unit. Suggestions?

 

No issues swithching to synthetic with high milage. The excellent detergent qualities of syn oil can make certain existing oil leaks worse or make new ones appear that were being sealed by gunk around the gaskets. Basically, it cleans up the gunk and exposes the leaks. Since you are replacing most of the gaskets, i don't see an issue.

 

Yea, the only seals or gaskets I haven't done are the exhaust manifold, heads, and rear seal...at least I think that's all. So I guess there would be no problem with keeping conventional oil?