Opti Spark ???
Banned
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 3,505
From: looking for a flow bench so Brook and I can race
that was kind of vauge 
let me give it a shot
GM seems to have always had ignition issues.
the HEI system sucked. With the distributor in the rear and having it cam driven- there was a bit of inaccuracy. from what I understand, hard core racers would often grip about the cam torqueing under high load and adv/retarding timing a bit. I dont have very much expierence with high performance cars or GENI's so I honestly couldn't tell you how bad it really was.
Anyway, this was GM's attempt at a solution. It is an electronic distributor using an optical dirstributor off the FRONT of the cam (so no real torquing of the cam up there either)
Anyway, the optispark is great when it works. Intantanious knock retard, great spark through high RPMS (for a stock ignition system) and deadly accurate timing. So why does everyone hate it?
simple- its expensive, breaks, and is a MAJOR PITA to change.
This unit is VERY prone to failure when exposed to moisture. Being located underneath a water pump that is unreliable at best was a big "whooops" on the engineering end. When the waterpumps start nearing the end of their life, they leak out of a "weep" hole to let you know its ready to go and its a good idea to change it.
Well this weephole is located DIRECTLY above the optispark. To add insult to injury, you have to take the crank pully off to change the opti and changing the water pump while the opti is still good can be another amusing task.
The opti costs about $190 shipped from dal or jason
Dal Slabaugh: 1-800-362-9494 ext 501
email: lockitup@bright.net
VanDevere Buick/Pontiac/Olds Akron, OH
Jason Cromer: 1-877-726-8295
email: gmparts@samtaylor.com
Sam Taylor Buick/Cadillac Ft. Walton Beach, FL
In any event- everyone will gripe about it to no end when it is really an over rated problem. Every time someone has an ignition issue, the first thing anyone points to is the opti. it is like the red headed stepchild of the automotive world. There was one guy here who changed his opti before he even changed his coil wire. guess what his problem was! a $2 coil wire.
A little bit of thinking on GM's part would save us all a few busted knuckles and $200 but hey- with the LT1, you take the good with the bad.
The LS1 uses a seperate coil pack for each cylinder which you can see here the individual coils HERE .
A totally different and far more reliable system.
let me give it a shot
GM seems to have always had ignition issues.
the HEI system sucked. With the distributor in the rear and having it cam driven- there was a bit of inaccuracy. from what I understand, hard core racers would often grip about the cam torqueing under high load and adv/retarding timing a bit. I dont have very much expierence with high performance cars or GENI's so I honestly couldn't tell you how bad it really was.
Anyway, this was GM's attempt at a solution. It is an electronic distributor using an optical dirstributor off the FRONT of the cam (so no real torquing of the cam up there either)
Anyway, the optispark is great when it works. Intantanious knock retard, great spark through high RPMS (for a stock ignition system) and deadly accurate timing. So why does everyone hate it?
simple- its expensive, breaks, and is a MAJOR PITA to change.
This unit is VERY prone to failure when exposed to moisture. Being located underneath a water pump that is unreliable at best was a big "whooops" on the engineering end. When the waterpumps start nearing the end of their life, they leak out of a "weep" hole to let you know its ready to go and its a good idea to change it.
Well this weephole is located DIRECTLY above the optispark. To add insult to injury, you have to take the crank pully off to change the opti and changing the water pump while the opti is still good can be another amusing task.
The opti costs about $190 shipped from dal or jason
Dal Slabaugh: 1-800-362-9494 ext 501
email: lockitup@bright.net
VanDevere Buick/Pontiac/Olds Akron, OH
Jason Cromer: 1-877-726-8295
email: gmparts@samtaylor.com
Sam Taylor Buick/Cadillac Ft. Walton Beach, FL
In any event- everyone will gripe about it to no end when it is really an over rated problem. Every time someone has an ignition issue, the first thing anyone points to is the opti. it is like the red headed stepchild of the automotive world. There was one guy here who changed his opti before he even changed his coil wire. guess what his problem was! a $2 coil wire.
A little bit of thinking on GM's part would save us all a few busted knuckles and $200 but hey- with the LT1, you take the good with the bad.
The LS1 uses a seperate coil pack for each cylinder which you can see here the individual coils HERE .
A totally different and far more reliable system.
Last edited by treyZ28; Mar 23, 2003 at 02:45 AM.
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,356
From: Madison Heights, MI
The opti is an LT1 only distributor. Also referred to as the pancake and/or opti crap being what it is. Trey basically explained it all plus ues the search function. Theres so much info on the opti here. Its crazy. HTH.
~Sciottie 2 Hottie
~Sciottie 2 Hottie
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