95Blackhawk

Hey all,

Putting in my opti and it won't go in with the orings on.

The cam just is a blind hole so what is the need for the o-rings? I decided not to put them on.

YodiBrodi

i had the same problem. in fact, i forced my water pump on and within a year had to replace it due to failure. weirdest failure i ever saw too. it was almost like it would draw air in as it cooled, no leaks but every couple days i would have to fill the system back up. i would watch the temp gauge for the first 10 minutes any time i drove to make sure it wasn't climbing too fast and always had about 5 gallons of water and antifreeze in the hatch. replaced the pump and never had the issue again.
i had a buddy say he left the o-rings out and had oil leaks. my first pump didn't have any, and the third pump i didn't install them but my engine had so many oil leaks it was damn near impossible to tell whether they were from my opti or not. strange that as bad as my car leaked oil i never saw a drop on the concrete, was never low on oil yet anytime i got under there was fresh wet oil all over the bottom of the motor.

SS RRR

I would not run the opti w/out them. Are these new o-rings? New cam? Same cam and new o-rings? New cam and same o-rings?
The rings are there mainly to keep the rotor from experiencing any torsional vibration which could tear the opti apart. I'd find some way to run the rings.

shoebox

Lubricate the rings. They should go on without much trouble. Better to have them than not, IMHO.

95Blackhawk

Yeah light bulb just went off on why I need the o-rings. It help center the opti!

I have shaved down the o-rings before. I think I will again.

shoebox

Nobody else seems to have this problem. I don't know why you would need to do this.

Don 97 SS

I agree. If they are lubed there should not be any problem.

caldercay

First off, if an o-ring is not required, then GM would not specify it and
the engines would come from the factory without it/them. New Optis
and/or cap/rotor combos would not include them in the box.

Secondly, I'd say that if you have to "shave" the o-ring, you've got
some other issue (personally, I've never heard of shaving an o-ring).
You need to investigate why you're having a fitment problem with the
o-ring in place. Modifying a part to less than its intended tolerance will
only cause problems 'down the road' [sic].

SS RRR

If this is an aftermarket cam the tolerance just might be a bit off causing this issue.