I replaced my opti about 3 years ago with a new AC Delco unit. The car had about 56K miles on it ('94, original miles ). The new opti got about 8K miles on it, then the car sat for about a year and a half in the garage...

So - 3 years and 8K miles later, the opti needs to be replaced again. I'm going to order a new Delphi unit and have it installed this week. I'm having the same mechanic install the new unit that installed the last one.

My question - is there anything the mechanic may have done wrong last time that may have shortened the lifespan of the opti? If I'd had him put in a cheaper offbrand I might attribute the failure to the quality of the unit - but it was a GM part.

If I could make any suggestions to the mechanic this time around that might lengthen the lifespan of the new opti, it would be great. Paying $800 to install a new opti every 10K miles doesn't sound like fun...

 

The only thing I can think of at the moment is to have the mechanic ENSURE the opti and the area around it stay bone dry. I dont know of anything else that would prolong the life of a new opti. If the is something I hope someone speeks up because Im about to replace mine too.

 

Seems like NOT driving them is worse than DRIVING them!

 

I don't know if it will help or not but I have gotten into the habit of running a bead of silicone sealer around the mating surfaces before I put an opti together to help keep moisture out. I have never had one fail from moisture. I have had 3 spin apart from over-revving but never from moisture.

 

First question...but probably too late..is are you sure the opti is what's bad. 8k seems odd. My first opti last 95k miles and 2nd one's got another 35k so far...both AC Delco. Yeah, just go stock with the opti.

When I did replace the opti the first time, my mechanic added some sealant on the water pump when putting that back in place....to prevent any possible leaks. You can try that.