with all the problems i hear about with the cooling and ignition systems it scares the hell out of me. like 3-4 optis going out in a row, ignition conversion to coils not fixing misfires, high/low RPM misfire that never gets solved, etc

as current/past owners, what is the general consensus?

 

I live by 1 rule when it comes to my motor.

Take care of it and it will take care of you

As you can probably tell I havent had to many problems with mine.. 1 failed waterpump and 1 failed opti in 4 years.

 

My original opti lasted over 130k miles. It didn't fail until the seal on the timing cover went out and blasted it with oil (my fault). I had one headgasket blow due to a bad connection on the electric waterpump. It seems to me like if you are diligent about taking care of these things they are pretty reliable. Anytime you don't take precautions or are careless then it will bite you in the ***.

 

I've had the infamous opti problems but ya gotta look at it like this. These cars are 8-10 years old, things are bound to break. If you take care of them and maintain them well you shouldn't have too many problems. However, sometimes **** happens and ya just gotta deal with it. But if you are looking for a nice car with some pretty good power even in stock form with unlimited potential at a reasonable cost......then the Lt1 might be right up your alley.

 

For quite a while I owned 2 LT1's at the same time and the Z28 which I recently sold suffered from all the common problems....... opti, wires, oil leaks, blown head gasket, check engine light, VATS, window motor, worn front suspension components, etc.... the list goes on. When something broke I fixed it, didnt cost much, and felt good about repairing my car.

On the other hand, the T/A that I still own has been totally trouble free since I bought it... knock on wood... except for a headliner that had to be recovered, and realize that it is 10 year old and if something breaks I can fix it also.

The upside is knowing you own one of these cars that are fairly simple and cheap to repair, they run good, look good, and handle well.

 

The further away you stay the better!

 

optis are a given...when my next one goes out, I'm going for coil packs. the cooling is a bitch to bleed, but reverse cooling is a very good way to go on a performance car. if you don't stress out, you'll figure it out. no car goes together like it should

 

stay away from them if you are not worthy of owning probably the most awesome vehicle ever.

i love mine. most of the stuff that broke on mine, i broke. my 130k opti was good until it had a bath in coolant when i did my cam swap. the thing ran through a broken valve spring for a while, ran with a tooth off the timing chain, ran with broken tranny mount, ran with a bad alternator, ran when it was on fire, ran with bad battery, these things just run no matter what. just make sure to change the oil.

 

if your that worried about then you should nt buy 1 go buy a VEGA those old iron dukes last 4ever

 

basically, if you're not too great with mechanics, leave your lt1 stock or bolt on stock.

 

Go buy an Ls1 and be fast like everyone else

 

Why be like everyone else?

 

I love my car after all the **** its caused me. I also like not having an LS1.

 

I liked mine so much that I'm putting an LT1 and 4L60E into my 81 Z28. Any car will break often if you beat on it. It doesn't matter if its a 250,000.00 Lambo or a Camaro. If you drive it hard it will break. Most people with high dollar cars dont abuse them as much as we do ours but they still hold up pretty well.

 

Eh i just thinking about the thousands and thousands sunk into mine, then I go drive a heads/cam ls1 and its so much more streetable, less money in it, and just as fast.