Hello everyone,

So out of the blue my car stalls the other day after about a 1/2 hour of driving. Starts back up, runs fine for about 10 minutes, stalls again. Starts, runs fine, stalls a couple more times before I get it home.

SES light had come on once or twice, luckily a buddy of mine has a scanner.
It gives me codes 16 & 36 (lo-res, hi-res distributor pulse).

I had just replaced the Opti and threw in a new w/p to be safe about 3-4 months ago.

So I start to test and inspect all the wiring for the optispark like it says to do when I notice a considerable amount of oil around the connector and all over the top of the opti.
I tore down the front of the motor to find the w/p driveshaft seal leaking oil.

I didn't have the tool to get the opti apart so I can look inside and see if oil actually did get in there but it was pretty wet, I will know tomorrow for sure. Either way I have a leak to fix first.

I have the new driveshaft seal but I would like to replace the coupling because its a bit corroded and I had a hard time removing it last time. Hopefully I didn't damage the w/p driveshaft.

So just a few questions:
Has anyone had this problem (oil getting into optispark)
How can I tell if the w/p driveshaft is damaged?
Does anyone know where I can get that coupling or a kit with the o-rings ?
And any other advice or comments are welcomed.
Thanks

 

While your at it replace the o-rings on the optispark too. They get dried up and become very brittle after years. You can get the driveshaft as well as the associated o-rings from the dealer still.

 

if you have the opti apart put rtv around the baase of the rotor. One of the tech at Delteq said oil can wick it's way up through there.

 

yep, that's what happened. The oil seeped through the base of the rotor and caused some corrosion.

Do you think it's safe to just clean it up and toss it back in?

I'm definitely going put rtv around the base of the rotor this time(thanks for the advice,Robs97Z28)

I really don't want to have to pull the timing cover and replace the w/p driveshaft if I don't have to. I’m hoping I can just replace the seal and the coupling.

Is it normal for the driveshaft to have a little play in it?
I can wiggle it slightly but I’m not sure if that's because the seal around it is blown or it's just loose or that it's just normal play.