So, i have had my new 1994 camaro Z28 for a few months now and love it. The waterpump leaked a bit when i got it so i replaced that right off the bat. I was concerned that my optispark may start to fail because of that. But it was fine for a while.

Recently, i think my car has begun to be plaigued with the dreaded optispark troubles. The car didn't want to start up and when it did. It would shudder as soon as i pressed on the accelerator.

I read through a lot of the old optispark posts and there doesnt seem to be a general concensus on what to do about it other than replace it.

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...p;autoview=sku

is this a good replacement? My car only has 40,000 miles and has plenty of life in it. I plan to mod it eventually.

Thank you and merry christmas

 

what si your car doing. sounds like the samething mines is doing. i have a 1993 z28 camaro. my car is hard to start. i havr to turn it over at least 3 times before it would start up. but once it is running. it runs good. it dont cut off or nothing. i am stump. sorry i wasnt trying to hi jack your post but just trying to figure out what is up with our car. do car have the same syptoms as mines.

 

Sturpon: Don't jump to the opti right off the bat, you want to check simple things first. Your problem sounds more like a vacuum issue or an issue with a leaking EGR to me rather than an Opti. Check any piping after your MAF and make sure all the hoses are connected and you don't have any cracks in any of the rubber couplers. Remove your EGR valve and use some carb cleaner to clean off any carbon buildup that could be causing it to leak.

sl1foru: You shouldn't jump to your opti right off the bat either, especially if the car runs ok after you get it started. Check things like plugs, wires and your fuel filter.

 

i agree with slvr i would also change the fuel filter if you havent already

sl1foru: i already replied to your thread awhile back and told you to get the battery tested, a bad/low charged battery will make it hard to start a car

 

The fact that it is an intermittent problem makes it seem like it is more of an electrical problem. I dont drive the car much, but the problems have been occuring more regularly (like about 5 times now).

The bad waterpump when i got the car also makes me think optispark

 

thats the same opti im gettin on my car right now so ill let ya know how it goes. from what summit says it should be very comparable to msd's opti, but only time will tell.

 

is there a particular reason that the MSD one is so much more $$$. Aren't they all just plug in and they work, no tuning or adjustment required?

 

far as i know, the msd opti is supposed to have a hotter spark, is vented, the housing is billet aluminum, and is supposed to perform better than the stock opti. however the gm performance opti like you saw on summit is also supposed to be better than the origonal stock opti, sounds like to me it does a lot of the same as the msd but the casing is cast aluminum instead of billet aluminium, bot sure the diff there. id say go with the gm performance opti unless you have a nice budget.

 

Is there a good online guide for how to replace the optispark? are there any specific tools needed and should any of the other hoses and wires be replaced?

 

get a haynes or chiltons. You should have one anyway and they are inexpensive.

You'll be removing the fan and radiator so a complete coolant flush is in order.

if you haven't replaced them, you may as well replace the 2 large radiator hoses. And, since you'll be removing the water pump, get new gaskets for it and you see those other hoses connected to the waterpump, you may as well replace them too because if they are old, just monkeying around with them could make a questionable hose get a pinhole leak.

And, since you'll be there, if they haven't been swapped in a while, a new set of wires and (strike me down oh lord) new plugs (get drunk for the passenger side...kidding)