![]() 08/19/2016 at 11:22 • Filed to: I hate cars. | ![]() | ![]() |
I was going to change pads on the Impala and examined all the pads and they were alright looking. So I decided to take a test drive. No go. Plenty of battery, no start. A mistimed burble as you let go of the key. Plus there’s weepage on the front of the water pump. Sigh.
![]() 08/19/2016 at 11:24 |
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Shoulda bought an A60.
![]() 08/19/2016 at 11:25 |
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Any codes? 16 and 36 sometimes show up.
![]() 08/19/2016 at 11:27 |
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Optispark? Do you have a LT1 engine??
![]() 08/19/2016 at 11:52 |
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I’m dreading the day I have to replace mine on the Corvette, especially since there are no more new acdelco units out there with the Mitsubishi optical sensor.
![]() 08/19/2016 at 12:03 |
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MSD? They used to offer a good warranty.
![]() 08/19/2016 at 12:50 |
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On the corvette forums, there seems to be some pretty mixed experiences with them. IIRC, when the MSD optisparks first came out, they had a very high failure rate. It seems like they have gotten better with time.
![]() 08/19/2016 at 12:54 |
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A good trick I learned years ago for LT1s: there’s a weephole on the bottom of the water pump that vents directly onto the Optispark (hair dryer in a bathtub, essentially). Use a vacuum line elbow and some hose to route the output away from the Opti.
![]() 08/19/2016 at 13:07 |
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I read about that. definitely doing it. A nice simple cheap solution. Thanks GM.
![]() 08/19/2016 at 13:13 |
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I should also add that I have no personal experience with the MSD. My corvette is still running the original optispark from 93 with 72K on it. Knocking on wood now...
![]() 08/19/2016 at 13:58 |
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That’s great! Yours is a nonvented too.
For a while the only ones worth using were Delco or MSD, not sure if that’s changed.
![]() 08/19/2016 at 15:16 |
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I don’t know if the delco are worth using anymore. That recommendation came from when there were still brand new delco optisparks in existence. Now, every delco is a re-manned unit that may or may the desirable mitsu optical sensor. If they do have it, then that means it is a 20+ used sensor, or it has a new Chinese made sensor in it, so you may or may not get something that is going to last for awhile. These days, I seem to hear the best about the Petris optisparks. They seem to be a modified delco reman with the quality MSD cap and rotor (with the screws locktighted for high RPM durability) with an OEM vent kit to add to the early cars. He claims to use a sensor of equal or better than OEM mitsu quality, but from some other source. The corvette forums seem to not be convinced that it actually true, but he’ll give you the best warranty of anyone out there right now, and you get a higher quality cap and rotor to go with it.
![]() 08/19/2016 at 15:20 |
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Yeah, without a new Mitsu sensor it’s totally a dice roll. Petris is after my LT1-time so I don’t know. There were (are?) a lot of very poor quality repros out there, and I’m positive that had a lot to do with people maligning the optispark.