I did a cam install this past spring and a fresh vented opti spark along with it. I ordered it from dallas slaughboug. The opti failed after 3 months or so. I ordered a new 1 and had a mechanic install it a month ago and now this 1 crapped out on me. The mechanic thinks the optis i bought must have ben rebuilt due to the price. He says the price I paid are cheaper than the dealers pay before they even make a profit. So why am i having so much trouble with these things? What could be causing them to fail so quickly. How come some guys are able to get these things so cheap?

Thanks,
94 TA

 

Just a thought. I noticed that you've installed a cam. Did you check the length of your cam dowel pin. I recently installed a Comp Cam and the pin from the factory was way too long. I would imagine that if it was too long that it could cause a premature failure of the optispark.

 

Also a good possibility of moisture getting into the opti. Be sure to use dielectric grease on electrical connections (plug wires too). Also, be sure you're not taking any carwash water/spray into the air intake as it will make it's way to the opti through the vent hose.

 

Dal doesn't sell rebuilt opti. They are that cheap cause Dal is the man

My guess is your cam pin is to long and is chewing up the opti.

 

Dal sells at dealer wholesale. He works for a dealer and the parts are just as you would get from one.

I would check the cam dowel as others have said. Another destroyer of optis is not routing the vent/vacuum hoses properly or without the flow reducer in the vacuum hose.

 

Another possibility is that you/your mechanic aren't pushing the opti on all the way. This happened on my buddy's car. He went through 2 or 3 optis and coudln't figure out why. He was telling me the opti wouldn't go on all the way. Come to find out, the opti was extremely hard to push into the cam so he thought it was on all the way...even though the opti was sitting ~ 1/8" off the front of the front cover. I was looking at it w/him and I pushed the opti real hard and it slid in the last 1/8" and he hasn't had any problems since.

Is the connector (from/to the pcm) melted inside the opti? Can you see blue/green melted plastic on the connector? I don't think this is a very common cause of opti failure, but it happens.

 

good sugestions i will look into those
thanks