hi guys..

l have a multiple missfire on my 97 formula and l have been driving like that 2 months.

l would like to replace the opti, wires and aprak plugs but l have no idea how to!!!

do u guys think that l can do this job by myself?

l need some instructions especially with pics.. that would help a lot..

also l would like to know your experiences on this..

l tried to remove the water pump, l unbolt 5 bolts but one right next to alternator.. l couldnt reach it.. my tool didnt fit there so l couldnt remove the water pumpp.. how am l gonna remove that bolt?

also that pulley... how the hell am l gonna remove it? l just took a look and it looks like bolts and pulley together.. all rust.

someone please help me, give me some instructions (with pics, would be excellent)

Thanks

Erdal

 

My Car Is Having The Same Porblem. You Should Be Able To Do That Yourself Just Buy a Chiltons or Haynes Repair Manuel.

 

The best way to do it is to take off the right fan. There are three bolts on each side, to get to the upper most bolt you wanna use an 1.5" extension and a short 13mm is what I the size od the bolts are. The pulley is still going to be a little in the way but you should have enough room to get the socket over the bolt. Now the middle one is the tricky one but i guess you have that one figured out.

 

I replaced my opti this weekend and it is definitly not as hard as some people make it out to be. My headers were 20x harder than what this was.

• First you do need to take off the water pump. The middle bolt on the left side is slightly behind the PS pump, but you can get to it by putting on a short 9/16 socket, then put on a 3 inch extension, then just use a ratchet. Once you get it loose enough, take off the socket and loosen it with your fingers because if you loosen it too much with it on, you will not be able to get the socket off.
• You will need to go to Autozone and get a "Harmonic Balancer Puller." They will rent this to you for free, but may charge a deposit fee, but you will get it back. There are 3 threaded bolt holes other than the 3 bolt holes that hold it on that you will use to pull it off. Once it starts comming off, you can pretty much take it off by hand.
• When you take off the opti, make sure that one of the crank hubs is pointing straight down, so that it almost looks like a "Y" or you will not be able to get the opti off. You can turn the motor by hand if you have to, I did. When you put the new opti back on, look for the notched hole. There are 3 of them on the back of the opti, but there is one that is different from the other two. Make sure your dowel pin lines up in that hole.

I would definitly recommend that once you get the new opti on and get all your plug wires on that you start the car up and make sure it is running good before bolting up your waterpump. Just make sure your harmonic balancer is on and just start it and let it run for a few seconds (it won't hurt the car to run shortly without the water pump). Trust me, you want to make sure that it is all good otherwise if it isn't you will have to do everything all over again.

Another thing, MAKE sure that the shaft for the waterpump is on so that it connects to the gear. I had my waterpump all bolted up and I had a heart dropping thought that I forgot to put that on, but I did. Also, when you put the harmonic balancer back on, make sure you put it on the right way. There is a sort of triangular section on the hub that you will see that needs to line up with a line on the crank hub. If you see it, you will know what I am talking about. Try using some sand paper to get off some of the rust on the balancer so it will slide right back on.