Any help is greatly appreciated. I have been to every auto parts store in 5 miles and nobody can scan the codes for me. I can start the car and it runs fine for a while. I drive it and it runs smooth. If I park it for a bit and come back out, once in a while, it will spit and sputter and want to die on me. Sometimes it will die but I can start it right back up. While it is doing this, the tach is bouncing all over between 500 & 3000 rpm even though the engine is not reving, just sputtering. This happens when it is completely dry outside and has been for a while so I doubt there is moisture getting anywhere. The front and rear mains on the engine, rear seal on the trans and the water pump have all been replaced in the last 6 months. The service engine light comes on do I know there is a code stored, I just can't get at it without spending the stupid amount of money for a dealer to plug in his scanner. I know this kinda sounds like an opti spark problem but I the smooth running makes me question that. Do I just need to bite the bullet and get the codes scanned by the dealer?

 

if you have access to a obd1 scanner (not code reader) then you can do this

 

otherwise i would say its most likely the opti or ignition control/coil module although im sure theres a few other things that could cause it like failing ecm/pcm. heres some info to test some of the ignition

 

I've had a bad opti before, and the rpm's didn't bounce around at all. A bad ignition module however can make the tach jumpy. That's what I'd suspect, with it running crappy and the jumping rpm. That's best guess though, without checking the error codes.

 

I replaced the ICM with a spare my cousin had from a rebuild and I found a vacum line from the opti disconnected. Runs like a top now. Thanks for all the help!

 

i would say the icm was failing. vacuum line is just for vent.