WELCOME!
   

Go Back   PY Online Forums - Bringing the Pontiac Hobby Together > PY Welcomes 1993-02 Firebird/Trans Am Owners > 93-02 Engine Tech

93-02 Engine Tech LT1 and LS1 motor heads unite!

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 08-02-2008, 12:27 PM
mike nixon mike nixon is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: PORTLAND,IN,47371
Posts: 12,322
Angry Optispark ?

95 Camaro [I know, I know]

What I'm wanting to know is have any of you LTI guys had problems with the reman DIstributors on the market for these cars?

I've got one I'm involved in that's going on #5 in 10k miles. This isn't moisture related is poor quality remanning. You can turn the rotor on this one 1/4 turn while holding the shaft that locates on the Camshaft.

All of these units have been CARDONE remans which are normally a decent unitin my experience.

Any imput is appreciated.

Mike
__________________
so many pontiacs, so little time..................


moderator is a glorified word for an unappreciated prick..................


"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the
former." --Albert Einstein



"There is no such thing as a good tax."

"We contend that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."

- Winston Churchill
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 08-02-2008, 02:02 PM
quicksilver97ta's Avatar
quicksilver97ta quicksilver97ta is offline
Ultimate Warrior
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Oak Leaf, Texas
Posts: 1,923
Default

It's been awhile since I visited this issue but I know there are many complaints about aftermarket opti's. Best bet is a genuine GM unit. There's some contact info at Camaroz28.com on a Jason Cromer at a dealership in FL I believe, anyway he beats everyones price on GM units. It's routine. There is another contact, 'Dal' I believe but I got mine from Jason. Just go there and do a search.
Stock opti's are the best or at least get the least amount of complaints. The only catch is the rotors do not hold together well above the stock rpm limit of about 5500. I wasted 2 this way. They have tiny screws that hold the rotor which back out, also the plastic welds that hold the metal tab on the rotor give up as well. You can disassemble it and locktite the screws and add a pop rivets to the rotor for a more reliable set up.
The last thing I did, knock on wood, was buy a new opti and then buy the MSD cap and rotor kit. It's the best set up all around, still did the locktite though. It also adds an extra screw to hold the cap tight as they die with moisture. If you have a non-vented opti this would be a good time to convert, the vented opti really improve the moisture problem. And a big 'good luck' as working on the opti just bites. And remember, you can just pull the balancer and not the hub, you just have to clock it right to clear. And there is no getting out of pulling the water pump. Good distributor, bad location.
__________________

68 Firebird, trying a q-jet now. 434/10.5:1/997's/240-242 HFT/4L80E/2800 Yank/3.42's/ Vintage Air/ 13.0 @105 mph
70 Lemans, 350/350, A/C, mostly stock
14 Ram CC, 5.7 Hemi, 8-speed, 3.92 lsd
97 Trans Am, HPP Aug 2012 http://www.highperformancepontiac.co...tiac_trans_am/ ***Sold***
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 08-02-2008, 05:14 PM
mike nixon mike nixon is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: PORTLAND,IN,47371
Posts: 12,322
Default

Thanks for the info. I get trade price @ GM as a business but will check into it anyway.

I did find there are 2 different vented housings floating around. The one I removed from my Roadmaster was a plain ,no marking unit. The one I put back on it was a reman
ed GM housing with what looked like a GM optical sensor. This tells me the one on my car was Chinese, it wouldn't turn over 3k rpm without losing it's signal per the scanner.

The strange part of this whole deal is neither of these cars have been beat on, no high rpm's other than a passing gear for short stints in the road. It's not like they're race cars. The only reason mine was turning 3k was my trying to set a code.

If the reman fails on mine A GM will go back on it. I'm not screwing around but need the car now.

Thanks for the info.

Mike
__________________
so many pontiacs, so little time..................


moderator is a glorified word for an unappreciated prick..................


"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the
former." --Albert Einstein



"There is no such thing as a good tax."

"We contend that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."

- Winston Churchill
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 08-02-2008, 05:19 PM
mike nixon mike nixon is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: PORTLAND,IN,47371
Posts: 12,322
Default

FWIW,the Unit on the Camaro had the shafts separate on it this time. You can literally hold the Base that indexes into the cam gear and turn the rotor wiht your fingers.

MIke
__________________
so many pontiacs, so little time..................


moderator is a glorified word for an unappreciated prick..................


"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the
former." --Albert Einstein



"There is no such thing as a good tax."

"We contend that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."

- Winston Churchill
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 05-20-2010, 11:39 PM
rnrgoat rnrgoat is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Beech Grove, IN
Posts: 65
Default

hey mike i found this post did you have any luck with what was discussed?
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 05-21-2010, 05:05 PM
mike nixon mike nixon is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: PORTLAND,IN,47371
Posts: 12,322
Default

I recommend a GM unit after multiple failures with the aftermarket units.

On the above Camaro I built one.
__________________
so many pontiacs, so little time..................


moderator is a glorified word for an unappreciated prick..................


"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the
former." --Albert Einstein



"There is no such thing as a good tax."

"We contend that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."

- Winston Churchill
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 05-22-2010, 07:36 PM
RS72LEMANS's Avatar
RS72LEMANS RS72LEMANS is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Marion
Posts: 129
Default

My 94 z28 Ate the opti on 3 different occasions. Was a reman from zone. Finally I sprung for the MSD and Its still on the road 3yrs later turning 7800 rpms without issue. Also ate the opti driveshaft seal on it once and filled the cap with oil. All I did after realizing what happened was Replace the seal and clean the cap and distributor with electric parts cleaner. Still performs like new.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 05-23-2010, 08:19 AM
Cammer-6 Cammer-6 is offline
Ultimate Warrior
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: central Fla
Posts: 8,432
Default

May want to consider converting to LS-1 spark system.
__________________
Everything comes and goes
Pleasure moves on too early
And trouble leaves too slow
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:43 AM.

Featured Vendors


Advertising Info