I've got a 94z. Anybody that can tell me a good way to find out if your opti is bad???Any certain symptons? The car was running fine then as soon as I went to give it some gas it died..dead.Tried to restart and it just turned over repeatedly trying to start but never doing it. It almost seem like the timing chain had broke. Kept turning the key and it started back firing and choking but again never started. Let it sit until I could tow it home. Tried to turn the key one more time, fired right up, but only ran for 2 min or so then did the same thing died. Fuel pump is working. The water pump has had a small leak for about the last month and it seems to have gotten worse. I think the water may have run onto the opti and destroyed it. The opti has been wet b4 so it may even be damaged from then. At any rate, I'm about to replace the water pump so figured I should do the opti too. Any help on this would be appreciated. Thanks all!

Ken

 

I have the same problem you have. My water pump just poured on my opti adn it has the same signs that you have. I thought i might have broken my crank. I am changing the opti on tuesday of next week. I think when the get soaked they just self destruct.

 

I had heard that if they ever get really wet thats the end of it. The car seemed to be running fine for awhile until it just quit all together. I can't think of anything else that would cause this other than the opti being bad. I figure I'll just start with the opti and work my way up the motor but I'm sure it's out of commission.

 

Well the only symptoms that i have faced is being way down on power and a couple of times it just broke......the rotor just blew into pieces....of course you would know if that happened because it wouldn't start at all......

 

Yep, you killed the Opti for sure. Another one bites the dust. Wouldn't you love to find the engineer who put an electrical component beneath the water pump? I know I would.

 

He's probably reading everyone's post about our problems with the opti, and changed his name, and all identification about him.

 

Nah, he's probably sitting back laughing somewhere.

I can't believe that none of the aftermarket companies like MSD or Crane have made an opti replacement. The only real choices are the Dynaspark or the LTCC.

 

I think he deserves to be treated and killed EXACTLY as how the Opti fails.. First, we can douse him with water, (101 octane to make it interesting,) Then Rivet Three large Camshaft bolts to the back of his body and keep the bolts pressured to his back by a Large Drill(camshaft) begging for the trigger to be pressed. Then strike him in 8 different places with large steel rods protruding out. Then place four batteries on the floor around him, each with jumper cables already connected and then attach them to the rods TWO at a time. *electricity of course has never been an exact science but we know what works* And then light our x-mas tree with a match to set that *spark*. While of course pressing the trigger on the Drill.


Graphic I know, however in the matter of two days I've received both "DTC 16-OptiSpark low resolution pulse not found", *which I cleared yesterday by resetting the pcm hoping it was just a "stored code" due to me STILL being able to start&drive the Z.* And today after letting the Z cool down from a nice drive back from Ortega Hwy (74) I got the dreadfull "DTC 36-OptiSpark high resolution signal faulty" on startup. It was very noticable as it stumbled for 2 seconds to start and then the rpms fluctuated as high as 2k for about 25 seconds. The gas pedal was extremley soft and felt useless for the 1st minute of warmup when lightly testing it. I think it was the touch of the car gods to let my car start and creep slowly and safely home. I pray it's the Fuel Filter. However, as most of us has had these symptons before, I feel I will have to change out my Vented POS Opti for the 4th time. My Z has 108k on the chassis, and only 8k on the engine(top and bottom). The Opti was replaced "new" at the same time of the engine being installed to eliminate future guessing.

As 97WS6SCharged said "another one bites the dust."

How much is enough?

Ruben F.

P.s. I'm not in my normal state of mind at the moment. I was planning on moving forward with my ride. Not taking two steps back. In this case 4 steps.

 

Yep, nothing like spending mod money for a freakin expensive distributor. GM sells the whole unit for like $500-$600 brand new. Ouch. My buddy got me mine from GM for $300. Whole deal, opti, cap and rotor. I've noticed that if you seal the cover with some RTV, the Opti isn't as prone to water leaks.

 

Appreciate the feedback guys. BTW love the idea about the engineer, sounds fair to me.LOL. Anyways, I figured as much on the opti. I found them new on ebay for $185.00 shipped. $60.00 for a high performance water pump shipped. Just so you guys know. Thanks again


Ken

 

You can buy a new vented GM opti from Jason or Dal all day long for ~$200. Non-vented (93-94) will be ~$300.

Dal Slabaugh: 877-448-5451
email: lockitup@bright.net
VanDevere Buick/Pontiac/Olds Akron, OH

or

Jason Cromer: 877-726-8295 or 850-243-8826 (direct parts dept ph #)
email: gmparts@samtaylor.com
Sam Taylor Buick/Cadillac Ft. Walton Beach, FL

 

Thanks for the info, I'm gonna call now.