My friend found a 1994 Z with 112k on it. He wants to buy it for 4k which is a nice deal, even has TT2's on it.

I told him about the optispark thing and now he's kinda scared. So, my question for you is, how common is the opti failure and how much does it cost to fix it?

 

Its just like any other distributor. they can last a long time, mine lasted for 145xxx miles, some people a lot longer. the cap and rotor would be around 150 bucks if not less the whole unit will be about 100 more. And its really not that hard to change.

 

Mine has been on for over 40k miles with no problems until it got soaked from a flood we had here last weekend. It acted up for a couple of days, the aired itself out, and is working fine now.

 

A new opti for a 94 (non-vented) is about $350. If he installs it himself. Some last a while, in 9 yrs I have replaced mine 5 times, sometimes just because it was a new motor.

 

i wouldnt pass on a car over a bad opti as long as you know thats what the problem is. if its driving fine be sure to find out when it was replaced if ever

 

My opti has almost a 100K on it and it is still kicking. Considering I can get a new one for around 300 bucks, I wouldn't let that sway me away from buying an LT1 at a good price.

 

lol just make sure his water pump isn't leaking cause its right above it. mine leaked w/o me knowing about it and about 4 days after i had the car it suddenly died b/c some coolant got into the opti. other than that, make sure there's no leaks and the transmission fluid has been maintained, if its an automatic

 

My 2 cents...

$4k for a 94 with that kind if milage is a bit high, but if it's in really good shape, it may be worth it...

Mine has 150K on it and the motor is still strong... The Opti for the 94 is more expensive as others have mentioned...

If it was my money TODAY, I'd find a nice LS1 and call it a day...

 

What's a TT2?

 

torque thrust 2 wheels

 

Wheels. American Racing Torque Thrust 2s

 

My opti went at about 90.000 miles, but that was attributed to a leaking water pump as stated earlier. I have about 40k on my new opti and it still runs great. It seems to be hit or miss with each car, but it still wouldnt detour me from buying another LT1.

 

Hey if it comes with wheels, go for it.

 

from an ls1 guy, like your lowering your standards to talk to us lt1 guys, sheesh, haha j/k. Optis can last 10-200k miles you never know really. My factory one was still going stong at 180k when i did my cam swap, it then died because i droped it tring to put it back on, lol. And 112k miles is nothing on an lt1 if its been maintained well, check my sig

 

Why would someone buy an Lt1 instead of an LS1, unless it was the body style. Anyway you cut it, unless you intend to put a bunch of money into mods, the LS1 comes out of the box with a 60-70 hp advantage. Just curious.