Anybody else else have so many Opti sparks while owning a LT1? This will be my 5th one in 8 years as this one had the TB coolant hoses drip upon our friend and ruin it.

This is getting quite old and between Opti and the reverse flow cooling, I don't knwo which one I'd want to break the jaw of the enginners over.

 

What have you been replacing them with? While the guy that had over 300k miles on his original opti was not the norm, neither is your situation.

Something wrong with reverse flow cooling?

 

You need to quit buying OEM optis and spend a bit more cash for a good product.

As for the reverse flow, what do you think makes it possible for LT1's to run a high compression ratio on pump gas??????

 

And your recommendation would be? MSD? LTCC?

Isn't reverse flow a good thing?

 

http://www.dynaspark.net/products/

From what I understand, thats the best money can buy... and it better be for the $600 price. But if you are buying 5 in 8 years, you have just saved money.

And yes, reverse cooling is a very good thing.

 

Do you have an aftermarket cam in the car? Dowel pin length?

My OEM opti lasted me 90k miles in a high revving application.

 

How did the other 4 breakdown? In all fairness, this time around it wasn't completely the opti's fault, it had some help from the coolant pouring on it. If you are that tired of it, then maybe look into some of the other alternatives such as Delteq, LTCC, or the Dynaspark distributor.

 

Ive gone through 4-5 in the last couple of years, but they have all had different issues.

- Had the opti/timing seal leak and the sensor got gunked up
- Last one had bad burn marks on the cap, looked like they were crossfiring
- Water pump took one out

Yes the new solutions are good ones, but they still do not eliminate the opti and I have had more sensor failures than cap/rotor ones.

Check the usual stuff and if it all checks out put another one on there. I do not know ANYONE who has gone with a replacement of any sort and had it live as long as the factory one. Had @ 110k on mine before it went.

 

Tell us about all the Dynaspark failures you have experienced.

I haven't seen a single report of a Dynaspark failing due to anything other than installation error.

 

I havn't seen a conformation that say otherwise either. Who has one with 100k on it? Or even 50? If you figure the cost of a new opti and the dyna or ltcc you are pushing close to $1000 by the time you get everything. Thats @ 5 optis.

I don't doubt that the systems are good, but I haven't seen proof they last any longer. Most people running these setups are on race cars or weekend cars.

*Edit, most of my failures would cause the dyna to fail too, resulting in the need to purchase yet another opti.

 

Im on my 5th one as well since I bought my car. 1st time the opti gave up on the cam install. 2nd time was when I found out it had a crack in the cap, the last 3 times were just to eliminate possibilities of ingition failure. The last 3 times i had them warrantied out from Autozone, so I didnt have to pay anything. Im looking into buying a delteq, or the LTCC.

 

My body count of Opti's is as follows.

Number one went after having my Z for a year.What I was told by my GM dealer was that because of my Accell 300 plus ignition system I had on the car, it burnt out the Opti. This is soemthing that always puzzled me as to was it for real or did they pull excuses of of thin air.

The next 2 I did get kinda lucky with. They both went in under the warranty so they were free. Problem was I was both times when they quit over 50 miles from home and it was a long slow ride in the flatbed.

The fourth one was the classic problem I read of. The water pump leaked onto it meaning both had to be replaced.

I have a stock engine. Only mod is a Borla cat-back.

I do understand the need for RVC and the high compression.You might be able to feel my pain after I state that I have had a thermo stick and the coolant hoses leak and cause overheating and damage. I gues I love the torque and sound of the LT1, hate it's dirty loundry

 

I'm on my 3rd in 4 years. The stocker had 69k on it. The second was a little over 2 years old, worked just fine. The third was for safe measure. I was having plugs, wires, coil, 02's and a RaceTronix system installed. The 2nd Opti was just fine. I just didn't want to take the risk of it starting to let go. Call me paranoid. I wasn't about to take any chances. I won't put anything else on than a OEM unit. Unless these other aftermarket Opti horror stories come to a halt.

 

I still had the stocker on my car when I blamed it on something, but a new opti didn't fix it. I replaced that one too because I thought it was the opti again and it wasn't. The one on my car is going strong right now. The last one I took off I sold to my friend and it blew up a few months later though, so I got kind of lucky on that.

 

I havent heard anything bad about the dynaspark. Do you know something I dont?