That's exactly what I'm worried about.. But I'm gonna try not to worry until I know for sure, it could be something really simple..

Thanks for the help though and I'll definately keep you posted..

 

I just talked to the mechanic.. He said he got it started but it was popping.. He hasn't had a chance to really look at it yet though there are a couple other cars ahead of it.. He said something about it could be the camshaft.. Doesn't sound likely to me, but I could think of worst things to go wrong.. I did want a heads/cam package this summer too...

 

What with the cam would cause a popping though. Make sure you're not going to get taken for a ride. If it's popping, I'd be inclined to check the ignition system first, then move on to O2's, and such.

 

I have no idea, but I definately trust my mechanic.. He wouldn't lie about anything to make more money.. He hasn't got any real news for me though that was before he got a good chance to look at it, so I'm just awaiting the hopefully not too bad news...

 

It turned out to be the optispark.. He said it spun just a little bit (it looked like 1/8" or something when he showed me), and it threw off the timing and caused all the problems.. The total bill was $1600 though.. There go my hopes of getting a Pro 5.0 right away, I'm flat out broke now..

- 470 for the optispark
- 300 or so to install it
- 150 for the master/slave cylinder
- 300 to install it
- 300 to check compression (while looking for the cause)
- 80 bucks for spark plugs which he went ahead and replaced after checking the compression
- 70 bucks for coolant and a hose since he draine the water pump to get to the opti

Some of the labor was like 275 but that's a rough breakdown of how it cost me 1600 for a damn optispark.. I'm definately thinking about trying a new mechanic, not only the price, but it took him all week to find out it was the optispark when that was one of the initial things I mentioned to him that I thought it could be..

At least my car is back, now I have to start saving up again so I can get some of the stuff I was about to buy (shifter, wheels, etc)..

Thanks to everyone for all the help initially trying to figure out what it could be.

 

How can an opti "spin" and throw the timing off?? The Vented opti setup uses the dowel pin in the back of the opti to drive it, and there's only one slot for it to go.

 

Something to do with the rotor in it spun on the bearing a little, so it was thrown off..

He showed me with the distributor cap and the parts from the old one, the little rotor spun on the dowel instead of spinning with the dowel, it spun just enough to throw off the timing..

 

Wow, that's something new that I haven't heard of happening. Interesting.

FYI, if you find yourself needing to replace the opti again, buy one from Jason Cromer for $209 and do it yourself. It's an easy job, and saved a ton of cash.

 

Wow I could have saved about 800 bucks.. 250 on the part, 300 on the labor, couple hundred on the compression check.. This did make me decide for sure that I'm taking some courses this summer at a local college to learn to do a lot of my work myself.. I trust my mechanic for the most part, but this incident had me wondering how good he was since it took him a week to find it...

 

Mechanic courses aren't that necessary. Just grab a chiltons, or preferably a service manual, and dig it. Most of the stuff on these cars is pretty easy, just time consuming.

I did my opti flawlessley the first time out, and had never even taken the water pump off of ANYTHING before that day.