forgive me f-body for i have sinned

[bigtow]

i have comitied the cardinall sinn. i thought that the engine bay of my car was looking dirty so in a fit of madness desided to give it a clean. after giving every thing a soak in degreaser i left it for a couple of hours then stupidley thought i could rinse it off without geting the opti wet WRONG as i was cairfuly rinsing down the tops of the fenders the hose broke soaking every thing not to worry i left it to dry before starting it to go to work. it started fine and run ok untill i got on the motorway and gave it some gas then it started to miss and stutter then it cleared. pulled off the motorway and it missed and cut out it restarted just and i got it to a safe place poping and missing all the way. now it wont restart it pops and back fires but wont fire it also spins over then kicks back. does this sound like opti and could i havd caused any damage by trying to start it? help i am now very depresed as the car has just been towed home on a recovery truck
edit no ses lights it just stutterd and cut out

[DJ Taso]

Happened to me once when I went to get my oil change. The idiot who was doing my coolant flush got coolant all over the opti. The car wouldn't start for an hour until it finally dried off. I got a free oil change that day

[bigtow]

its been almost 3 hours since it died and it still wont start the breakdown guy had a look underneath and the out side of the opti is bonedry is ther a way that water can get into the unit? if so do you think it will dry out over night? or is my opti shot i think it is the original unit and the car has 89 k on the clock so maby the unit was past its best anyway

[DJ Taso]

is my opti shot i think it is the original unit and the car has 89 k on the clock so maby the unit was past its best anyway

Ouch.. Hmm that could be a possibility. I know I replaced mine for the first time at round 70K

[bigtow]

i feel like a expetent farther i just want to go and keep trying it to see if my baby is ok but it is 2 am and i dont think my wife would be very happy if it back fired thro a open borla

[RangerBob]

Hair Dryer?

[bigtow]

Hair Dryer?

i will see if it starts in the morning if not then i will try a hair drier. should i aim at the bottom of the unit?

[TraceZ]

What happens is that any liquid on the outside of the opti can can create a humidity and dew point situation inside the opti and cause condensation on the inside. Once it is filled with condensation it is likely not going to start working again, but is possible. The outside will appear completely dry, but it will still be damp inside. Kind of like the turn signal lenses in my old Iroc that used to always be wet inside for whatever reason. I could never get those things to stay clear.

[bigtow]

any susgestions on a cheep fix are very welcome but i think i know where this is gona lead new opti gulp . why is it allways the way the opti to fit my car in summit is more than one to fit a later car just my luck

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

More of a suggestion than a solution, but we F-body owners really ought to form a pact to exact retribution on the inventor of the optispark distributor, the engineer in charge of the design, the project manager and everybody who signed off on it, and the program manager that turned his head the other way. My payback would include the famous redhot metal boot with wooden wedges driven in as used by the Spanish inquisitors, the death by 1000 cuts, a double dose of scourging as portrayed in The Passion, being forced to watch back-to-back episodes of Oprah & Rosie O'donnel for one week while enduring a spanking of the feet with a cane, then any survivors of the previous being made to change optisparks, plugs & wires for free at various dealerships around the country for the rest of their lives. Anyway, it's just a suggestion.

[Dave M]

It's not the design of the opti's fault, it's the fault of the engineer who decided to place it right under a water pump prone to leakage.

[bigtow]

just tryed it again and it still wont start. got my pall to order one tomorow should be here in a week or so then just got to get him to fit it

[94 formula]

More of a suggestion than a solution, but we F-body owners really ought to form a pact to exact retribution on the inventor of the optispark distributor, the engineer in charge of the design, the project manager and everybody who signed off on it, and the program manager that turned his head the other way. My payback would include the famous redhot metal boot with wooden wedges driven in as used by the Spanish inquisitors, the death by 1000 cuts, a double dose of scourging as portrayed in The Passion, being forced to watch back-to-back episodes of Oprah & Rosie O'donnel for one week while enduring a spanking of the feet with a cane, then any survivors of the previous being made to change optisparks, plugs & wires for free at various dealerships around the country for the rest of their lives. Anyway, it's just a suggestion.

Kevin-As I was reading through this post I was thinking something just like this only you put it into words better than I ever could have. I owned a 91 Jeep wrangler and hosed out the engine bay once and it wouldn't start after that so I pulled the cap which took me all of 30 seconds dried it off and had it running a minute later. Had I destroyed it I would have had to pay $20 at advance auto for a new one not over $350. I'm in the middle of tearing my engine out right now and my biggest fear of all through all this is that I actidentally drip coolant on it or even have a little drool come out of my mouth and hit it while i'm leaning over the car .

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

Kevin-As I was reading through this post I was thinking something just like this only you put it into words better than I ever could have. I owned a 91 Jeep wrangler and hosed out the engine bay once and it wouldn't start after that so I pulled the cap which took me all of 30 seconds dried it off and had it running a minute later. Had I destroyed it I would have had to pay $20 at advance auto for a new one not over $350. I'm in the middle of tearing my engine out right now and my biggest fear of all through all this is that I actidentally drip coolant on it or even have a little drool come out of my mouth and hit it while i'm leaning over the car .

Exactly. With a car with a normal distributor - say you wan to run it thru a mud bog that is 18" deep, you prep it by pulling the cap and spray WD-40 in there and you're golden. Say you got a modern car with no distributor - you're in good shape also. But NO, you got an optispark which is a major pain to get to, a pain to change the wires, has poorly fitting plastic bushings inside instead of real bearings, is not weatherproof, costs between $200-$300 and if you want to take it apart, you need a special miniature reverse torx bit that no one seems to sell. I say the perps go down!

[bigtow]

i tried the hair drier and it fired up but run very rough so i tryed to let it warm up but it made no differance when it hit 220 the miss got worse then it cut out again so i have desided to leave it till i can get a new opti fitted in case i do any more damage as it made some very nasty noises . ps does any one know the part # for taylor plug wires?