tjnjr

active1951 - with the old opti the car idled rough and ran but no power under load and it had popping in exhaust. With the new opti it turns over and sputters but does not run. the old unit was badly rusted inside and all the cap plug wire pins inside the cap were badly corroded.
I took great care in reassembling the engine even put in a new water pump, gaskets, plugs and wires. Checked the plug wire placement 4 times thinking i might have crossed a few but everything is as it should be. the only thing i can think of is the cardone unit is bad. the car went from running lousy to not running at all. Any thoughts would be appreciated before i tear it all down again. the car has 26,000 miles and is never out in wet weather.

RUU

tjnjr, Don't forget you can start and run the engine briefly before putting the water pump back on to ensure the next opti you install isn't DOA.

tjnjr

ruu - Thanks for the info! I was going to ask about that - starting the engine for a minute to make sure the opti isn't dead would save lots of potential grief. I'll post the results hopefully next week after I get the new unit.

ninetyfivevette

It sounds like the opti is not installed correctly. If it was DOA, you'd get probably get some codes. Rent a noid light set from Autozone to make sure your injectors are firing. If they are firing, and you've got spark at the plugs, the opti is installed misaligned.

Did the opti seat completely flat, or was there an 1/8" or so between the base and the timing cover?

I've done the opti several times, and the last time I tried to get it done a little too quick and had the exact issues you're having because I installed it incorrectly- the cam dowel pin was in one of the cylindrical pockets.

active1951

You have a low miler, that can be good and bad, they can have different problems. Heck, I have a van with over 300k.
Please do not jump to conclusions, frustration can be overcome with a lil time and thought.
First, it might have been better to start your own thread for future problems.
As RUU said you can start car without water pump, just attach sensors and set pump on top of engine. Do not run the engine to long, but you can see if it starts.
You may not have had a opti problem to begin with. Were any codes stored or did the engine light come on? Did the car start acting up all of a sudden or did it gradually get worse. Was anything done to car before it started acting up?
When you put opti on did you align it and did it slide on easily without having to tighten the bolts to snug it down?

tjnjr

ninetyfivevette - Thanks for the advice. I can tell you i was extremely careful putting it back together - took pains to make sure the drive gear was in and the unit sat flat all the way in without any force. On the 92 the gear goes in only one way and if it is not aligned properly the unit will not fully seat without forcing it. I wish it was as simple as an alignment issue. FYI the injectors were tested prior to pulling the original opti - i tried everything i could think of before tearing down the front of that engine - its a bear to work on. I'd just like to know what the designers were drinking when they decided to put the opti between the block and the H2O pump - must have been good cause they obviously got stoned on it. It's a miracle they didn't put the plugs under the intake or the radio in the muffler. I love the car but......

tjnjr

active1951 - Thanks - sorry if I should have started a new thread - was looking for opti topic that had recent posts in the hopes of getting some current info given the situation with the cardone unit. Oh I should have mentioned in the first post - no codes - no engine light - just started running poor after sitting in the garage for about a month - gas wasn't the problem - high test that was only about a month old. Believe me I did about everything but change the air in the tires before pulling the opti. Thanks again the help is very much appreciated!

Drew1Down

just put this new petris unit in a few weeks ago and so far so good, after my dynaspark failed me.

active1951

was popping noise in exhaust more of a backfire or sputter or miss?
did you try any additive to the gas in case you have water in your gas?

tjnjr

With the old opti popping was like a small firecracker in the tailpipe. It only popped when the accelarator was released or the engine was under load. No popping while sitting on idle. I did add gas treatment just in case even though I couldn't believe the gas would have water with it sitting for only a month on a full tank. If the cardone unit was ok I would have expected it to be no worse than when i started but it do not run only sputters and spits. Damn you guys are awfully helpful - I should have joined this forum 2 weeks ago when this all started. Trying the replacement opti before putting the pump back would have saved me hours of knuckle busting. Gotta buy more bandaides tomorrow before starting over. Regards to all!

active1951

I know you checked the plug wires 4 times, but maybe one more time. I used small tie wraps on end of wires to mark wires so it would not smear off etc.

tjnjr

Will recheck wiring tomorrow before going for bandaides. I'd be so happy if it were crossed wires
Good tip for marking wires - going to do it to mine - Thanks.

active1951

take it slow, mark one wire at a time, finish marking all wires, then slowly plug into optifart.

you might like to read a previous post of mine below:
Here is a quote from PO:
Sorry to hear that. If it is the Optispark, I would be a shocked.
The Opti in the car now is an AC/Delco unit.
I originally tried one from Chandler Motorsports. When my no-start condition remained and I exhausted all my diagnostic skills, I took it to a local garage.
Based on their experience, they insisted that after market engine electronic parts are incompatible with these cars. Regardless of what the aftermarket manufactures say.
So they swapped out the Chandler unit with the AC/Delco unit and the problem was fixed.
The part that was most perplexing was all those endorsements from users on the corvette forum. If it worked for them, why not for me? I don't know. All I know is that it didn't work for me and after the garage installed the AC/Delco unit the car ran."

When I disassembled opti it looked fine, cleaned it up, installed it without water pump(for a test) and same 36 code popped up and it was hard to start.
I knew about opti problems before i bought the car, but I figured the new one would last a lil while. BTW while taking opti out, the work the PO mechanics did loooked top notch.
Sheet Fire, this is a bummer.....


I then installed new cardone from auto parts store down the street(at least i will not have to pay for shipment if I return it). If you think other optis are not returned, just read other posts. Anyway, engine fired right up with cardone, idles better and revs better, not that this 60yo needs more revs.
Mine was a different problem in the beginning that yours, but thought you might like to read this anyway......

BTW, medicated powder works great on scrapes and nu-skin works great on slice wounds. My fav bandaids are the round ones .....

tjnjr

Well Advanced Auto said they will order me a replacement cardone no charge - the reason i went with it was the "lifetime warranty" glad I didn't go cheaper - so we'll see what happens ....
This time I'll test it before putting the pump back on.

tjnjr

To all those that offered advice on my 92 C4 opti problem, active1951,RUU and ninetyfivevette - The new Cardone opti came in this morning (Advance Auto got it for me overnight - I guess they felt sorry for me). First one last check of my wire placement hoping it was my goof not a bad opti out of the box but no luck. This time a test before putting the pump back - as soon as i hit the key the thing fired right up - never heard it start so fast and run so smooth. Ran the engine no more than a minute but wow did it sound sweet! Now to put the rest back together and take it around the block a few times before hitting the highway. Guys - Thanks So Much!!!
TJ.

active1951

Ain't that a sweet sound when it fires up like that???
Be sure and get the coolant level good, check it after a few heat cycles.
That is a pain of a job, but now you more about your vette.

RUU

Congratulations.

tjnjr

It fired as soon as the key was turned and it sounded so good! And what a relief. I learned a ton about the car too bad it had to be so painful. I'll be sure to watch the coolent and get the air out. It took me 3 hours to tear it down the first time today it took 30 minutes. Maybe some day I'll be able to help someone else.
And again thanks for all the help!

quickcat

I would like to un-hijack this thread:

There is a lot of bad words for the MSD opti but no proof. Who out there has had one fail and how many miles did you have on it in what conditions?

A few folks mentioned specific problems with the Dynaspark that seem credible. I am going to avoid them.

As far as the "real" Delco piece goes where can I find one..... really?

I need to do my opti again (I bought the Jegs house brand a few months ago) and I do not want to do it again! I don't want to have to redesign one before I put it on either with seals and vacuum lines. My 92 coupe has 200k miles, I drive it in ALL WEATHER, and I do not want to do this ever again! One of these manufacturers must make one that lasts without making a project out of it.

Matt

Strick

Here you go:

http://www.jegs.com/p/GM-Performance...54883/10002/-1