NOTE: i don't currently *need* an Opti, but I'd like to have a spare to bring to the Challenge. So the question is, which of the many aftermarket Opti's are good? Must be the early style for my '94 LT1.
NOTE: i don't currently *need* an Opti, but I'd like to have a spare to bring to the Challenge. So the question is, which of the many aftermarket Opti's are good? Must be the early style for my '94 LT1.
The OEs had a Mitsu Optical sensor. They are NLA. The current thinking is to go find OE optis in the junkyard rob the mitsu sensor and install it in a cheap opti.
I revved my to 7K rpm every day and once i replaced my OE, I always got cheap remans from the parts store. There were multiples because Im dumb and broke a few. I never had a cheap one failed that wasnt quite obviously my fault.
If the good sensors are all 20 years old at this point, Id buy a lifetime warranty from AZ/ADV/OR/NAPA or a cheapy from ebay, IIRC Chandler motorsports was the hot cheap ticket last time I looked (89.99, been a few years though)
In reply to Opti :
to paraphrase, you've had several cheapies and the only time they broke was when you broke them.
that's good info. thanks!
I used one of the China made Optis for the 94 LT1 I had in my El Camino. Worked great. It was off Ebay and was $73 at the time.
I went through this last year with my 94 LT1. Parts store Opti's are a gamble and with the work required to r and r an Opti it's not worth the risk.
MSD and Accel offer new units, but they have problems and are generally not recommended.
After a lot of research I narrowed the choices down to two;
Petris https://petrisenterprises.com/collections/frontpage
Opti Doctor on eBay https://www.ebay.com/str/optidoctor
I went with the second option. 94 Opti's are not vented so I went with the Opti Doctor unit in conjunction with a MSD cap and rotor as this allowed me to add venting to my non-vented Opti. The one I purchased from the Opti Doctor included a NOS Mitsubishi sensor - that was an option for a while, but I'm not sure if he still has those on hand.
I know you are just looking for a spare so those may not be economical options.
Why does it have to be an early 94? The only difference I remember is the post 94 Optis got a vent, which helped clear out condensation, which kills them. I'd look for a vented one based on that alone.
Appleseed said:Why does it have to be an early 94? The only difference I remember is the post 94 Optis got a vent, which helped clear out condensation, which kills them. I'd look for a vented one based on that alone.
As far as Camaro's go, the 93 and 94 were not vented and used a spline drive. 95 through 97 got the vented version and were pin drive. It is no simple matter to switch to a spline drive LT1 to a pin drive.
No, but an early opti can be drilled for the vent.
I have never had the "opti" part fail. They're darn near bulletproof. Short of crusties on the rotor/towers or the rotor breaking, they are really long-lived pieces.
I've had a couple with over 250k miles on them with no problem. Even had a water pump leak on one which is supposed to kill them.
I pressure wash my engine bays vented optis or not. Never had water kill one except when I left the fresh air line in the frame rail and drove in a down pour which filled the opti with water. Even then I drain it and blew some air through it and drove it for a few days, had a high rpm miss which I assumed was because of some corrosion from the water intrusion.
Never had a problem with a cheapy.
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