1996blklt4

I only hear bad stories about them. How soon should it be replaced to avoid getting stranded. Mycar has 36K miles. Did they get any better with newer years? How long did yours last ? Any input is greately appreciated :cheers:

joeveto

I have an L-98, so the Optispark is not an issue. Still, from what I've read, your mileage of 36K is young. But you need to keep it dry. That's the key. Otherwise, happy motoring. I believe you have quite a bit of life left in yours.

grapeknutz

Mine is original and its at 115000 and still holding on.

biggrizzly

Mine has 115,000 approximate miles. I changed the factory plugs and wires at 110,000. Opti is still running fine. I don't want to fix it until its broke. I plan on doing some major performance mods to the engine in a year or so, I will replace it then if it is still working at that time. I like some of the aftermarket units, but they seem pretty expensive.

Good Luck

Corvette Kid

I changed mine at 93,000 while doing major engine work. It was still working fine with no problems whatsoever. You should have little to worry about at your mileage. Do sometime however check your vacuum connections at the opti. I found one of mine off from deterioration while all appeared fine up above. These are important as they are the venting system to keep moisture out of the internal workings.

FD2BLK

Yes they got better in 95 with the addition of the vacume vent. From what I have noticed on from watching the forum the OEM original seems to last about twice as long as even the Delco replacement. So if its not bad don't fix it would be my advice. After my second one started acting a little funny I scraped it and went with the DELTEQ system. It still uses the opti sensor but the comon problem with Opti failure is the cap which is not used with the DELTEQ.

frankrizzo1

my 94 has 82000 and the opti has been headed south for about 4 weeks now.....surging idle, and missing at around 3000 rpm....
will be changing it this weekend....
wish me luck :chevy

JasonL

The thing you gotta watch for is a leaking water pump. It's probably the number one killer of optis.

Corvette Kid

:iagree: Which is just ONE of the reasons I did A Meziere conversion! :yesnod:

1996man

i have a 96 with over 150k and im still on the origanal

Mr Mojo

That and the lack of driving will kill it. Before I bought my '93 it sat more than it got driven, moisture built up in there due to condensation and kaput.

On my '95 I went 70,000 before I changed it and I only changed it because I blew the water pump, the opti was still good.

wake

As long as the cap seal holds up it should last over 100K miles... As mentioned above, the 95+ cars got a vented system to help keep moisture to a minimum...

My car has 67K miles and it appears to be the original opti in it still...

I do wash the engine, but I check the seal before washing the engine... You can do this by attaching a vacuum pump from the manifold side vent line (driver's side) and plugging the intake duct line (one that sticks out of rubber acordian thinggy)... As long as it holds a slight vacuum then I feel safe washing it...

Strick

I have a 92 and I replaced it at 40K. It was running great, but it was going to leave me stranded. I had an oil leak from the water pump drive and decided to fix it and found my water pump was leaking through the weep hole on my non vented opti. I took the opti apart and found rust, dirt and moisture inside. My fix was converting to an electric water pump (eliminates possible water and oil leaks) and going with a new vented opti. Happy so far.

Cal Vette

18.4k and still going strong! :D
:chevy :chevy :chevy :chevy :chevy :chevy

96KICKS

47,000 and no problem with opti. I did have my waterpump go at about 42,000. Luckily I caught that problem before it did any damage to the opti. Although on 96's, we have a better chance for longer term survival as ours are vented.

Rex Ruby

I did mine at 80K with the water pump. Something no ever addresses, is the OPTI has a cap and rotor, that in my opinion should be replaced about every 50K. Only problem is it's the same amount of tear down to just replace the cap and rotor as the whole opti. I retrofitted vacuum lines to mine when I replaced it and in another 30K I'll just do the cap and rotor.