To change the optispark wires: tie a strong string (I used sisal) on the bottom of the old wire BEFORE you pull it out. (It worked best for me pulling the wires out of the top of the engine.) Then tie the string on your new wire and carefully/gently pull it in back in from the bottom. I also labeled my wires and optispark before I removed them. You never want to mis-wire the spark plugs.
Old comment, so you may have heard the same thing by now, but I've heard that the ignition module supposedly gets even hotter than the cylinder head, and the cylinder head with coolant running through it was thus the best option at the time. Many failures likely occur from the module overheating from improper thermal pasting. Because thermal paste is a computer thing, not an automotive thing, and ACDelco provides an inadequate amount of thermal paste with replacement modules, besides.
@@GORILLA_PIMP The thermal paste ACDelco uses seems to be a ceramic paste. I usually trust Arctic when it comes to thermal paste, and the ceramique I used seems to be holding up. Had enough for both plate sides, too. A lot of guys trusted hi-temp grease or other lubes. These definitely cause failures. I would not recommend them.
@@frikyouall Oh you mean ARCTIC MX 4 THERMAL PASTE? Wow i actually have some of that I just looked an it says it's NON METALLIC But it's also not ceramic either You think it'll be ok to use?
My 92 Corvette LT1 engine has the opti. I have only 60K miles on it and I know it was replaced once. IMHO, the design isn't that bad, except where they located it. Changing one out is much too hard, and they have to be changed because the water pump drips on it and shorts it out. Good product, bad placement, and hard to replace.
Simple solution. Tap the water pump weep hole and install a barbed fitting. Fit a hose and route it away from the opti so if it die by chance start to leak it will leak away from the opti. Problem solved.
I work on a lot of Corvettes, and have seen loads of LT1s go 28-30 years on the OEM factory fitted distributor and they drive in just fine. It is more often the bearing that kills them, and that is very hard to find now. The original Mitsubishi sensor does not fail, at least i'm yet to see one fail in 25 years of doing this.
Went to the car wash and the chassis bath hosed my Optispark. Engine stalled with 3 other cars behind me and the guy immediately behind me just spent 9 dollars for his wash. We pushed the car into the car wash and after the wash the engine started up again. Optispark is a good system but the water factor makes it bad.
I currently have a93 Camaro that loses ignition timing once upon to operating temp, it loses power to the point that it won't even brake stand. Looked at live data and timing under load goes to 0 degrees
"We designed the system with vent holes in a stupid place. We then redesigned the system after it failed on everything. We call this further improvements, instead of calling it how it should have been to begin with."
The optispark system gets a lot of negative comments. I have had a different experience. I bought my 96 Impala SS new and it now has 253,000 miles. The optispark system is factory original - including the spark plug wires. I've never had to do anything to it. I've changed the spark plugs once. I've heard so many bad things about optispark, several years ago I bought a brand new GM optispark and wires. I'll install them when the original finally quits. 8-)
What always confused me was that when GM was designing the LT1 they were going to use coil packs but couldn't get it to work before the autoshows so the optispark took over, but the Buick 3.8 had coil packs as did the LT5 and they worked. Also early LS designs were going to incorporate the optispark and reverse flow coolant, but GM got sued over the r.f.c. and thus it was dropped from LS production.
@moldymac You know it was one of the 1st production cars and was probably donated to a GM school and is crushed by now... One of my old schools had a bunch of old cars from GM.. They had many caprices back in the day. They had lots of spare LT1s BRAND NEW
This system is guaranteed to leave you stranded on the side of the road. I’ve replaced everything except the PCM. Now on cold start it runs fine but as soon as it reaches operating temp it will shut off. Still has fuel pressure but no spark, I allow it sit a few mins. Then it starts right up and will not have anymore issues till the next cold start.
@dstarks80 I agree, this system had to be one of the worst things GM ever put into a car. Supposedly they switched to this system due to lack of room for a regular HEI system in the Corvette. I still wonder why GM didn't just go with the coil pack system that most of their other engines had been using for years such as on the 3.8 and northstar.
They used it because it was perfectly fine and reliable. I know they are, i've worked on these a long time. It is the cheap chinese replacements that are unreliable, and any distributor is going to be rooted if you soak it in water. I'm yet to see an OEM factory unit i couldn't clean up and rebuild, and have it go another few years before replacing the cap and rotor.
Yea its like a SCHOOL car. We had brand new cars of all makes and models with about 10 miles on them. They sat in the sun mostly and were rarely used for work.
Come to find out it was a fuel problem the whole time test fuel injectors only 2 work if yours crank won't start try putting gas in throttle body of it fires it fuel issue if not could be optispark
That's why GM put out the carberator intake manifold for this motor. Its a Great sbc engine running with FAST EFI and large HEI distributor so long if you have a 700r4 4l60 no E or t56
💯👉Except you forgot to put a boot over the entire distributor, and still to this day, knowing that it's a problem with moisture a boot is not available....
I have yet to start it up,Hope mines a good one,did you have to do yours twice? What were your symptoms to lead you to it as bad?I do not ever want to do this job again but would like to hear what to look out 4
I spent 90 some odd dollars on my opti off ebay. I went ahead and put on a new water pump while I was in there, It had an oil leak coming from the water pump drive anyway. So far so good. The real bitch is when you try to replace the plug wires. A garage wanted to charge me 500 bucks for that alone. Now I know why.
I'ma going thru that now....im not showing any codes car starts fine stumbles when I accelerate but smooth out I changed plugs..I checked wire it has bulid up in the wires...a shop wants $270 to change wires...I might let them change them cause it's a real bitch... from what im hearing
My optispark on my 95 Lt1 impala has 2 vacuum lines at the bottom of the old optispark and the new optispark has only 1 place for a vacuum line at the top of the optispark?
A great summary of why you should convert to a vastly simpler coil-per-cylinder system. They should update the video to make that the first troubleshooting step.
Still need the optical sensor to work, and that is what most often fails on cheap chinese distributors. The factory OEM units did not simply fail, and could always be rebuilt.
@@CaseTheCorvetteMan it can be done with or without, only need the optical sensor if youre keeping the original pcm/management. Believe i made this comment out of frustration when i was having a hard time finding the OEM Mitsubishi sensor that doesn’t seem to be produced anymore, to rebuild mine. most optispark reproductions switched to a knock-off sensor that often dont last or even work right out of the box… ive bought a parts store opti that was dead out of the box. so servicing an opti the right way with an OEM optical sensor has gotten harder than it used to be.
Thank you for the useful information, what if there is no voltage to the distributor, or is there an ohm test that can be done for the pick up (ignition system)?
@@my95buick Some people like myself aren’t as lucky. If your water pump doesn’t fail and leak all over it then it’s very possible to get that type of mileage out of one like you did.
Have a 95 Camaro with highly modified 383 stroker LT1/ LT4. If you have an optispark system, get yourself an MSD opti. It has saved me tons of time and money. OEM opti distributer cant handle high spark loads from performance ignition coils, and burned up an oem unit in under 1000 miles. Thousands of miles on this unit with no issues.
Been there, done that. Brand new MSD opti installed, new water pump, then installed superchager, intercooler, and all related plumbing.. and guess what? MSD opti was bad out of the box... had to redo entire job. Is yours still OK?
BeulahLips Same thing with me, MSD opti was leaking right high voltage right out out of the box and sparking to ground right around the leads. I bought the whole MSD kit which included new wires too. In frustration I purchased the cheapest Opti I could find from a local big box auto parts store, they had it in stock and it has been working perfectly for a few years.
@ghtowagon Your probably right. Although in my last video on engine diagnostics that L05 Roadmaster they used there had a dirty looking engine, had to have been used for something, maybe even corporate vehicles.
Look at the disc wobble at 5:06. Junk. Had my 95 Firebird for 10 years now. Had a blown optical sensor in one opti, a crack in the epoxy once and an opti that warped and didn't seal anymore. My vent system works. Checked it every time. Now on my 4th opti, it must be grounding to the fastening screw on the rotor because it runs for 2 km's and quits. Wait for 5 mins and it goes another 2km. Got a new MSD pro billet and wires to go on this time.
Thanks for the info, I needed it as I am only a rookie at repairs. I have most of it back together ,hope to try to start it soon, will let you know how it goes, Thanks again
I know this is an old video but, I find it funny how even back then they found the need to make an entire video to tell everyone how good the system was .. when they knew the first design had problems that's why they changed to a vented opti.. plus they knew that this was not a 100k non-servable item which we all know this is not .... crazy how you can look back now and know these guys were full of B.S. ...
Love ur videos man I always see ur videos when I’m looking for lt1 videos but yea the opti does suck I got a electric water pump hoping that would help from any leaking their and a msd opti and ignition set up it’s lasted a good 5-6 years but that should be normal for most car parts lol
My car doesn’t even have 100,000 miles and it’s about to get it’s 3rd one they didn’t take into account the location to the puddles or the water pump when they designed it
i dumped my 96 Z28 and went back to my 300,000 mile 88 monte carlo SS. you did notice he didnt remove it from the camaro. wanna know why? lol 4 times as hard to work on, no room, you have to remove battery alternater and starter just to replace the plugs, it the worst car i have ever owned, but the camaro looks great, lol sitting, new tires, paint, and alot more parts, 4grand and wont move.lol
You put the MSD in yours? When? How many miles ago and have you had any trouble? I put a brand new one in mine, and it was bad out of the box. Had to send it back, and I went with the one from Petris.
I sent my MSD back for a refund and went with the Petris. No problems so far. You could put yours on with just barely enough stuff needed to start the car (without water pump, etc), and run it for several seconds, if it idles, and also will rev and run smoothly without missing above 2000 RPM and not set the check engine light, then it should be OK. My MSD would start missing and backfiring badly over 1800 RPM and then set code 36, "no high resolution signal" = bad distributor.
You should be okay as long as its not interfering with anything. Unfortunatly you have to take the timing cover off to install it the right way. You should be okay though.
If you had a 93 or earlier I am sorry. Yes it probably died at 40K miles. 94...maybe 50K. The 1996 I have had a water pump leak on it for lord knows how long before I got it, engine overheating, oil leaks on it, and weak original spark plug wires that disintegrated when removing. The car had 138K miles at that point. I have since done an overhaul on it and replaced basically everything in the engine.
There is. I have a 96 and can't tell you step by step but I have seen people do this. I know I am late here but maybe can help someone. Theres conversion kits and even DIY where you can drill. Be honest with yourself after watching this...and get the good conversion kit. Gives yourself a better chance. It's a distributor so expensive part.
You guys should get a repair manual and learn to replace the opti yourselves :), it's time consuming but not as hard as you may think if done carefully
Ps.. Yes, had to do mine twice, the first time I had it entirely assembled, full of coolant, and superchager and intercooler all installed only to find a DOA MSD billet junk distributor. Stupid me for trusting supposed quality of a 550.00 MSD unit. The second time (with the Petris.com distributor) we tested it FIRST with just the distributor and mass air hooked up enough to run it to be sure it was OK and didn't do the same thing. The Petris ran fine. MSD was garbage. Sad.
Basicly a dual channel encoder that feeds info to a computer then the computer inteligetly feeds an ignition module that induces hi voltage to a cap n rotor for distribution ! Way over kill to do what a hall effect switch and a rotor can do. But way ahead of its time .
im on my original 197k miles, first cap and rotor at 196k. that's 24 years original opti. the disk was cleaner than a canned air. my mind was blown, it was owned by a 90 year old couple before me. 94 roadie wagon. It had Packard electronics wires on it!
Nice lab coats boys?! Opti Spark is complete junk! If you are considering building a LT1 get rid of the opti, you will be glad you did. Why someone put a ignition under the water pump makes no sense?! He stated 100,000 mile service intervals is complete Bull Shit! Count on 2-3 replacements in a 100,000 intervals. The LS is a much better choice to use, yes you will spend more money on the conversion but you will be glad you did in the long run and you will gain more HP!
HEI is far more reliable and cheaper to maintain than this ABITS garbage. Hell a typical shop charges around $1000 to tune-up these LT1 and L99 cars. Whereas a quality HEI dirstributor cap and rotor can be had for $30 and can be changed with 20 minutes and a screwdriver.
good motor..terrible ignition design... you drive thru one puddle and you are screwed. if your a decent mechanic you can do yourself otherwise your talking 500-800$ ripoff.
Not hard to replace,.....compared to what? A regular distributor can be changed with one hand tied behind your back, the Opticrap,.... er I mean Optispark,.... will take you a day....if everything goes right.
They all got their issues. Worked on both, each have flaws. Like the TFI Module Ford buries at the bottom requiring a distributor pull to change it out on some cars. At least replacing OptiCrap, it has the pin so replacing it timing isn't affected at all.
Oh of course HEI was better, but point was all manufacturers have their flaws. On paper Opti was a great design. The Japanese used it no issue, them GM cheapened it out and it failed. There are conversion kits that remove the high voltage component from Opti thus improving reliability. But I've had many fun times working on Fords where the distributor is buried like a Ford Ranger or even the 4 cylinder Fox Mustangs. In the end, I prefer anything with distributorless ignition.
Electronic ignition is nice (when all is working properly**) After 14 years of being a technician in the field, I want simplicity, I think I'll build my next truck, Holley 4bbl, mechanical secondaries, maybe retrofit an MSD distributor with some form of electronic ignition to it for less maintenance, but I'm beyond tired of dealing with fuel injection and idiot lights LOL
To change the optispark wires: tie a strong string (I used sisal) on the bottom of the old wire BEFORE you pull it out. (It worked best for me pulling the wires out of the top of the engine.) Then tie the string on your new wire and carefully/gently pull it in back in from the bottom. I also labeled my wires and optispark before I removed them. You never want to mis-wire the spark plugs.
Putting the ignition coil and ignition module on the cylinder head (you know, the hottest part of the engine) was absolutely ingenious. Bravo. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
It has reverse flow tho so it cools the heads first
Old comment, so you may have heard the same thing by now, but I've heard that the ignition module supposedly gets even hotter than the cylinder head, and the cylinder head with coolant running through it was thus the best option at the time.
Many failures likely occur from the module overheating from improper thermal pasting. Because thermal paste is a computer thing, not an automotive thing, and ACDelco provides an inadequate amount of thermal paste with replacement modules, besides.
@@frikyouall
So what's the best stuff to use instead of thermal paste?
@@GORILLA_PIMP The thermal paste ACDelco uses seems to be a ceramic paste. I usually trust Arctic when it comes to thermal paste, and the ceramique I used seems to be holding up. Had enough for both plate sides, too.
A lot of guys trusted hi-temp grease or other lubes. These definitely cause failures. I would not recommend them.
@@frikyouall
Oh you mean ARCTIC MX 4 THERMAL PASTE?
Wow i actually have some of that
I just looked an it says it's NON METALLIC
But it's also not ceramic either
You think it'll be ok to use?
i want that clear opti so i can see when mine is filling up with oil
Damn they all should have been made like this
Ahh nothing like learning about an ignition system that I'll likely never service. I just love these old vids
My 92 Corvette LT1 engine has the opti. I have only 60K miles on it and I know it was replaced once. IMHO, the design isn't that bad, except where they located it. Changing one out is much too hard, and they have to be changed because the water pump drips on it and shorts it out. Good product, bad placement, and hard to replace.
Simple solution. Tap the water pump weep hole and install a barbed fitting. Fit a hose and route it away from the opti so if it die by chance start to leak it will leak away from the opti. Problem solved.
This is all you need to diagnose a no start situation, watch it thoroughly
Main I been pulling hair trying to figure. This is big help
I think you explained the fresh air and vacuum hookups on the opti reversed.
I have oil inside my optispark, do you know why?
I had my opti for 190k and it still runs fine
I work on a lot of Corvettes, and have seen loads of LT1s go 28-30 years on the OEM factory fitted distributor and they drive in just fine. It is more often the bearing that kills them, and that is very hard to find now. The original Mitsubishi sensor does not fail, at least i'm yet to see one fail in 25 years of doing this.
Went to the car wash and the chassis bath hosed my Optispark. Engine stalled with 3 other cars behind me and the guy immediately behind me just spent 9 dollars for his wash. We pushed the car into the car wash and after the wash the engine started up again. Optispark is a good system but the water factor makes it bad.
smart idea placing it behind the water pump XD
So it was "hogwash" at the car wash?
How did i not see this video until now
Dad has 92 LT-1 Corvette.
I currently have a93 Camaro that loses ignition timing once upon to operating temp, it loses power to the point that it won't even brake stand. Looked at live data and timing under load goes to 0 degrees
"We designed the system with vent holes in a stupid place. We then redesigned the system after it failed on everything. We call this further improvements, instead of calling it how it should have been to begin with."
251,000 miles on 94 Caprice w/abits,still strong but changed it my self msd, it took some time but it is doable
Still driving it or...?
The optispark system gets a lot of negative comments. I have had a different experience. I bought my 96 Impala SS new and it now has 253,000 miles. The optispark system is factory original - including the spark plug wires. I've never had to do anything to it. I've changed the spark plugs once.
I've heard so many bad things about optispark, several years ago I bought a brand new GM optispark and wires. I'll install them when the original finally quits. 8-)
Yep, it is a load of shit really, even the earlier non vented units on Corvettes will last 30 years without being touched.
What always confused me was that when GM was designing the LT1 they were going to use coil packs but couldn't get it to work before the autoshows so the optispark took over, but the Buick 3.8 had coil packs as did the LT5 and they worked. Also early LS designs were going to incorporate the optispark and reverse flow coolant, but GM got sued over the r.f.c. and thus it was dropped from LS production.
Got sued by who? I'm guessing in Detroit?
@moldymac You know it was one of the 1st production cars and was probably donated to a GM school and is crushed by now... One of my old schools had a bunch of old cars from GM.. They had many caprices back in the day. They had lots of spare LT1s BRAND NEW
This system is guaranteed to leave you stranded on the side of the road. I’ve replaced everything except the PCM. Now on cold start it runs fine but as soon as it reaches operating temp it will shut off. Still has fuel pressure but no spark, I allow it sit a few mins. Then it starts right up and will not have anymore issues till the next cold start.
Check your fuel injectors or ignition coil driver module
@dstarks80 I agree, this system had to be one of the worst things GM ever put into a car. Supposedly they switched to this system due to lack of room for a regular HEI system in the Corvette. I still wonder why GM didn't just go with the coil pack system that most of their other engines had been using for years such as on the 3.8 and northstar.
They used it because it was perfectly fine and reliable. I know they are, i've worked on these a long time. It is the cheap chinese replacements that are unreliable, and any distributor is going to be rooted if you soak it in water. I'm yet to see an OEM factory unit i couldn't clean up and rebuild, and have it go another few years before replacing the cap and rotor.
Yea its like a SCHOOL car. We had brand new cars of all makes and models with about 10 miles on them. They sat in the sun mostly and were rarely used for work.
Great video got a 94 Fleetwood I bought for cheap trying to get it started and I think it the ignition control module
Just cranks and won't start or what? Thats what mine is doing
Come to find out it was a fuel problem the whole time test fuel injectors only 2 work if yours crank won't start try putting gas in throttle body of it fires it fuel issue if not could be optispark
@@jacobking4106 check the ground wire on firewall
@ghtowagon I think it enjoyed being the guinea pig, notice how it popped its hood on its own? It can't wait!
A little frustrating that no code sets if both optical diodes fail
Downright sinister.
That's why GM put out the carberator intake manifold for this motor. Its a Great sbc engine running with FAST EFI and large HEI distributor so long if you have a 700r4 4l60 no E or t56
Are those gears v
💯👉Except you forgot to put a boot over the entire distributor, and still to this day, knowing that it's a problem with moisture a boot is not available....
I have yet to start it up,Hope mines a good one,did you have to do yours twice? What were your symptoms to lead you to it as bad?I do not ever want to do this job again but would like to hear what to look out 4
Ahhhh 17:17 the good old days when you could just jam the dvom probe into the terminals!!!!
Behind waterpump. Ok on vette till 100,000 miles. Then ka blooey.
I spent 90 some odd dollars on my opti off ebay. I went ahead and put on a new water pump while I was in there, It had an oil leak coming from the water pump drive anyway. So far so good. The real bitch is when you try to replace the plug wires. A garage wanted to charge me 500 bucks for that alone. Now I know why.
I'ma going thru that now....im not showing any codes car starts fine stumbles when I accelerate but smooth out I changed plugs..I checked wire it has bulid up in the wires...a shop wants $270 to change wires...I might let them change them cause it's a real bitch... from what im hearing
These guys makes it look easy...
ICU bolted to head! Absorbs engine heat INTO heat sink. Cmon GM.
thank you
My optispark on my 95 Lt1 impala has 2 vacuum lines at the bottom of the old optispark and the new optispark has only 1 place for a vacuum line at the top of the optispark?
A great summary of why you should convert to a vastly simpler coil-per-cylinder system. They should update the video to make that the first troubleshooting step.
Still need the optical sensor to work, and that is what most often fails on cheap chinese distributors. The factory OEM units did not simply fail, and could always be rebuilt.
@@CaseTheCorvetteMan it can be done with or without, only need the optical sensor if youre keeping the original pcm/management. Believe i made this comment out of frustration when i was having a hard time finding the OEM Mitsubishi sensor that doesn’t seem to be produced anymore, to rebuild mine. most optispark reproductions switched to a knock-off sensor that often dont last or even work right out of the box… ive bought a parts store opti that was dead out of the box. so servicing an opti the right way with an OEM optical sensor has gotten harder than it used to be.
@@JoeliusZ28 i know, i rebuild them.
11:45 "There's enough vacuum to actually bend the distributor cap, amazing". Right.
Thank you for the useful information, what if there is no voltage to the distributor, or is there an ohm test that can be done for the pick up (ignition system)?
“ABITS is a durable 100,000 mile system” hahahahahahahaha
was until the engineers got a hold of it......
Ken Landry xd
I got 156,000 on a stock opti before
@@my95buick Some people like myself aren’t as lucky. If your water pump doesn’t fail and leak all over it then it’s very possible to get that type of mileage out of one like you did.
@@nicotoscani8270 even still it's not a hard job on a b body. F body not so much lol
Have a 95 Camaro with highly modified 383 stroker LT1/ LT4. If you have an optispark system, get yourself an MSD opti. It has saved me tons of time and money. OEM opti distributer cant handle high spark loads from performance ignition coils, and burned up an oem unit in under 1000 miles. Thousands of miles on this unit with no issues.
Been there, done that. Brand new MSD opti installed, new water pump, then installed superchager, intercooler, and all related plumbing.. and guess what? MSD opti was bad out of the box... had to redo entire job. Is yours still OK?
BeulahLips Same thing with me, MSD opti was leaking right high voltage right out out of the box and sparking to ground right around the leads. I bought the whole MSD kit which included new wires too. In frustration I purchased the cheapest Opti I could find from a local big box auto parts store, they had it in stock and it has been working perfectly for a few years.
+john depietro wow I thought msd was really good they say so most people
@ghtowagon Your probably right. Although in my last video on engine diagnostics that L05 Roadmaster they used there had a dirty looking engine, had to have been used for something, maybe even corporate vehicles.
This was designed by the guy who previously worked on air conditioners and Blackbird spy plane engines.
Look at the disc wobble at 5:06. Junk. Had my 95 Firebird for 10 years now. Had a blown optical sensor in one opti, a crack in the epoxy once and an opti that warped and didn't seal anymore. My vent system works. Checked it every time. Now on my 4th opti, it must be grounding to the fastening screw on the rotor because it runs for 2 km's and quits. Wait for 5 mins and it goes another 2km. Got a new MSD pro billet and wires to go on this time.
Thanks for the info, I needed it as I am only a rookie at repairs. I have most of it back together ,hope to try to start it soon, will let you know how it goes, Thanks again
Thanks for posting this..great info
I bet that roadmaster lived a hard life as a Guinea pig
@nitrofed3000gt Glad you found it useful.
I'm glad my 5.7 L05 doesn't have this complicated distributor, the LT1 is obviously still a great engine though.
I know this is an old video but, I find it funny how even back then they found the need to make an entire video to tell everyone how good the system was .. when they knew the first design had problems that's why they changed to a vented opti.. plus they knew that this was not a 100k non-servable item which we all know this is not .... crazy how you can look back now and know these guys were full of B.S. ...
Love ur videos man I always see ur videos when I’m looking for lt1 videos but yea the opti does suck I got a electric water pump hoping that would help from any leaking their and a msd opti and ignition set up it’s lasted a good 5-6 years but that should be normal for most car parts lol
@@ThatNoFbody-ch9ky thank you for watching
Fr these guys in the lab coats are creepy asf
“There aren’t any scheduled service intervals for this system.” Lol no shit
Doesn't last long enough to need service?
i think Charlie is a robot.
My car doesn’t even have 100,000 miles and it’s about to get it’s 3rd one they didn’t take into account the location to the puddles or the water pump when they designed it
My opti had 111k on it when I replaced it, it still worked too. So yeah, it exceeded 100k, lol.
mine went bad at around 40k in my 94 z28.
working shlub Mine at 50k on a 97SS.
i dumped my 96 Z28 and went back to my 300,000 mile 88 monte carlo SS. you did notice he didnt remove it from the camaro. wanna know why? lol 4 times as hard to work on, no room, you have to remove battery alternater and starter just to replace the plugs, it the worst car i have ever owned, but the camaro looks great, lol sitting, new tires, paint, and alot more parts, 4grand and wont move.lol
do not buy an lt1 unless you are a halfway decent mechanic and have a garage. its great power for cheap money but you will be under the hood.
You sghould try to replace it on a 93 -96 C4 Vette..... Its a nightmare, Im in the soup sandwich right now.
You put the MSD in yours? When? How many miles ago and have you had any trouble? I put a brand new one in mine, and it was bad out of the box. Had to send it back, and I went with the one from Petris.
I would love to here this guy say " And if that happens your Fucked"
89camarocragerSS chuck would say that haha!
😄😃😂😜 Very True!
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I guess I need a lab coat to work my car now.
Very informative video thank you
Is the the system where if the water pump leaks, it leaks onto the ABITS?
I sent my MSD back for a refund and went with the Petris. No problems so far. You could put yours on with just barely enough stuff needed to start the car (without water pump, etc), and run it for several seconds, if it idles, and also will rev and run smoothly without missing above 2000 RPM and not set the check engine light, then it should be OK.
My MSD would start missing and backfiring badly over 1800 RPM and then set code 36, "no high resolution signal" = bad distributor.
How’s that Petris holding up?
You should be okay as long as its not interfering with anything. Unfortunatly you have to take the timing cover off to install it the right way. You should be okay though.
100k mile system. Problems with abits should be rare
Charlie Gipe shot the place up later that day
Just shove that DMM lead in that connector. Min 17:30
If you had a 93 or earlier I am sorry. Yes it probably died at 40K miles. 94...maybe 50K. The 1996 I have had a water pump leak on it for lord knows how long before I got it, engine overheating, oil leaks on it, and weak original spark plug wires that disintegrated when removing. The car had 138K miles at that point.
I have since done an overhaul on it and replaced basically everything in the engine.
Gold.
Sooo if I have a 93 LT1, is there some sort of conversion kit to get the better ventilated opti? Mine just took a shit btw...
There is. I have a 96 and can't tell you step by step but I have seen people do this. I know I am late here but maybe can help someone. Theres conversion kits and even DIY where you can drill. Be honest with yourself after watching this...and get the good conversion kit. Gives yourself a better chance. It's a distributor so expensive part.
You guys should get a repair manual and learn to replace the opti yourselves :), it's time consuming but not as hard as you may think if done carefully
Nice thank u for the info
where can i get one of those check-charts? I have a 97 Z28.
ABITS? My C4 opti is more of ABITCH :D
Thanks for the upload man. My Camaro still almost looks as new as the one in the vid! hahaha.
Ps.. Yes, had to do mine twice, the first time I had it entirely assembled, full of coolant, and superchager and intercooler all installed only to find a DOA MSD billet junk distributor.
Stupid me for trusting supposed quality of a 550.00 MSD unit.
The second time (with the Petris.com distributor) we tested it FIRST with just the distributor and mass air hooked up enough to run it to be sure it was OK and didn't do the same thing. The Petris ran fine. MSD was garbage.
Sad.
Basicly a dual channel encoder that feeds info to a computer then the computer inteligetly feeds an ignition module that induces hi voltage to a cap n rotor for distribution ! Way over kill to do what a hall effect switch and a rotor can do. But way ahead of its time .
He looks like an engineer that has never worked on a car any day of his life...
I've got 187,000 miles original opti no problems 200 for cap 100 for wires u got hosed.
Boy this didn't age well
Looool right!!
@McVaio Me too, I would love to buy one of these cars new!
Or... a failed PCM.
"Problems with the Abits system should be RARE" lol all of them guys got fired!!!!
+Mr Woody , Yes, my original Opti-Spark only went 88k. Replacement left me stranded in a parking lot after 12k miles.
im on my original 197k miles, first cap and rotor at 196k. that's 24 years original opti. the disk was cleaner than a canned air. my mind was blown, it was owned by a 90 year old couple before me. 94 roadie wagon. It had Packard electronics wires on it!
Nice lab coats boys?! Opti Spark is complete junk! If you are considering building a LT1 get rid of the opti, you will be glad you did. Why someone put a ignition under the water pump makes no sense?! He stated 100,000 mile service intervals is complete Bull Shit! Count on 2-3 replacements in a 100,000 intervals. The LS is a much better choice to use, yes you will spend more money on the conversion but you will be glad you did in the long run and you will gain more HP!
100,000 miles ? BWHHhhhhhaaaaaaU funny guy !
+moldymac ......thanks for posting.... we all got a good laugh
Copied Nissan. Nipondenso? 360 holes. Yup.
@brock1384 ^ ^^ oops. I posted in the wrong vid.
@RockiNaDodge 200 dollars? I payed a shop 1,200 for the whole install haha
100,000 miles my ass
This video is abits old. Ha. I WANT THAT Z28.
HEI is far more reliable and cheaper to maintain than this ABITS garbage. Hell a typical shop charges around $1000 to tune-up these LT1 and L99 cars. Whereas a quality HEI dirstributor cap and rotor can be had for $30 and can be changed with 20 minutes and a screwdriver.
Wow.. and Chevy guys try to bash Fords.... ?
good motor..terrible ignition design... you drive thru one puddle and you are screwed. if your a decent mechanic you can do yourself otherwise your talking 500-800$ ripoff.
yup, thats all i need to know.............i'll never touch a LT1
+asssface2000 ha ha
they are not that hard to change just time consuming...the aftermarket stepped up with better sealed ones.
Not hard to replace,.....compared to what? A regular distributor can be changed with one hand tied behind your back, the Opticrap,.... er I mean Optispark,.... will take you a day....if everything goes right.
ABITS a misguided attempt at modernization, just try to change one...
Why I like Ford
They all got their issues. Worked on both, each have flaws. Like the TFI Module Ford buries at the bottom requiring a distributor pull to change it out on some cars. At least replacing OptiCrap, it has the pin so replacing it timing isn't affected at all.
I've never had to pull a dizzy to replace it honestly.
I'd prefer HEI over optispark any day, or better still, points and condenser
Oh of course HEI was better, but point was all manufacturers have their flaws. On paper Opti was a great design. The Japanese used it no issue, them GM cheapened it out and it failed. There are conversion kits that remove the high voltage component from Opti thus improving reliability. But I've had many fun times working on Fords where the distributor is buried like a Ford Ranger or even the 4 cylinder Fox Mustangs. In the end, I prefer anything with distributorless ignition.
Electronic ignition is nice (when all is working properly**)
After 14 years of being a technician in the field, I want simplicity, I think I'll build my next truck, Holley 4bbl, mechanical secondaries, maybe retrofit an MSD distributor with some form of electronic ignition to it for less maintenance, but I'm beyond tired of dealing with fuel injection and idiot lights LOL
that thing was probaly never driven and was taken apart and put back together for videos like this so many times it ain't funny.
At 20:10 is that Tony Romo LOL
moldymac helpppp!!!
These guys are creepy
Yeah, what we need this days is more guys with tatoos, beenies, and cigarettes lecturing us.
BeulahLips
Yes definitely
That's why I only see mustangs on the road and never any camaros or fireturds,glad I went with a mustang btw hemis are shit too
100,000 miles my ass LOL fuckin optis