I'm new to the Camaro world and have learned a lot by reading the posts here. But now, I have a stupid question that I know you guys can answer. Does a replacement Optispark come with the cap and rotor? Seems to me that they would all come as a single kit, but I see a lot of "cap and rotor" kits that don't mention the opti, and they are really cheap.

Now that the dumb question is out of the way, I have a '94 Z28 with just over 83K on the clock. I am the 3rd owner, and don't have a complete maintenance history. But I know the 2nd owner didn't replace the opti, but they only had it for less than 10K miles.

So I am looking at replacing the opti has the car is starting to display some symptoms of a bad or weak opti (hesitation, running rich, missing, down on power).

I am planning on replacing the following:
1) Optispark
2) Plugs
3) Wires
4) Coil
5) Ignition module
6) Waterpump

Am I missing anything, or is anything on the above list not necessary?

Thanks for any help / advice you can give.

 

welcome to the camaro world!!most cheap cap/rotor kits do not include the optical reader.Buy the complete unit and please dont skimp.imo the gm/ac delco is the best.after all it came with the car.by all means if you can, change the plug wires,water pump and plugs at the same time.at least water pump and wires as everything(almost)will be out of the way or at least make them more accessible.plugs are a pita but can be done anytime.icm and coil can be changed any time but if you already have the money and time...but save those in case you ever suspect them being an issue later if they are rearing their ugly heads with problems.when i changed my opti i had already changed my coil,plugs and icm with no change in conditions so i saved those parts.never know when a friend or you might want to rule those out for future problems.have fun and good luck

 

yes u are supposed to get the whole unit, cap, rotor and base when u get the distributor, gm competition and msd are the most reliable. i think the 94 is vented so that should not be an issue. a couple of the parts probly dont need to be changed like dc says, plugs, wires, opti and water pump are good things to do together. do a search on replacing the waterpump seal and change that.

 

You need to check your opti before buying a new one. Early 1994 still had the old style opti. After realizing the old style was problematic, GM came out with the new and improved vented opti in late 1994 models.

 

with that knowledge u need to check to see if u have a vented system or not. if u dont then it would b a good idea/time to switch to a vented system and get the vented opti.

 

Is there an easy check to see if I have a vented or non-vented opti? Can I tell by the VIN? Or do I need to man-up and start tearing the front of the engine apart tonight?

 

if its vented there should be a vacumm hose going from the top of opti to the intake elbow and a hose from the bottome of the opti to the intake by the pvc valve.
http://shbox.com/1/opti_vacuum_harness.jpg