My Corvette Club is sponsored by the local dealership and we get a break at the Parts Counter. Price for a new cap & rotor is $166. Vette has 115k and not giving me any trouble (yet).

I prefer to stay with the original Opti instead of the aftermarket units unless there are strong arguments to change over.

Should I replace the optical sensor while I'm in there, or buy an entire new unit from the dealer? Will the new cap seal by itself or should I help it with RTV? All advice is welcome!

 

If it aint broken don't fix it.

 

the only way ild change it up with it workin fine is if i was going to a delteq or that other replacement, dont remember what its called... but anyway with it workin fine i wouldnt worry, my Z has just under 150k and the opti has just started showing signs of age high rpm stumble after some time and a bad misfire under really strange conditions cause it hasnt done it again. but im curious about the other question.. is it a good idea to go ahead and change the optical sensor or just the cap and rotor.. cause when i get mine done i have a spare optical part on another motor...

 

i believe MSD has a new unit out that's supposed to be good.

 

Foxbat the msd is just the cap and rotor.

 

Jegs or summit has the MSD cap and rotorfor 150.00. They have brass contacts. I'm thinking of buying one.

 

You are getting a little bit of a break from list price, but wholesale for a cap and rotor is ~$116. A whole new distributor can be had for ~$220 or maybe less from parts contacts regularly used by people around here.

 

Thanks for the heads-up on the Parts Contact...I'll be checking them out.

Still have a question or two on the table....For the guys that have the vented opti...would you just change cap & rotor, or also the opti sensor, or the entire unit if the price was right?

 

I would replace the whole thing. It's to much work to just replace the cap and rotor and then have the optical sensor go out on you 10,000 miles later and then spend another $220 for an opti.

Since yours is still good I would leave it alone until it shows signs of it needing to be replaced.

 

I replaced just the cap and rotor............




Then a couple months later the optical part went out. So it cost me alot more in the long run. I will NEVER replace just the cap and rotor by itself again.

 

In addition to the optical sensor being a potential problem in the unreplaced portion - as noted by several people above - the bearing is in the back 1/2 and it is a very poor quality unit. If the bearing starts to go, its going to be a gradual loss of performance until the bearing gets so bad that something lets go completely, like the brand new rotor smashing into the brand new cap.

 

New unit it will be. Never thought to consider the bearing. Since this, for me, will be a "once every 10 year" replacement, a complete unit is not unreasonable.

Thanks again for all the help!

PS - Fred, stay dry (went to High School in Mercerville, NJ a looong time ago)