Optispark or rotor and cap

I need some help guys. I've had a miss and a hesitation on my 94 TA since I bought it as a project car. I finally got around to bringing it to the dealer for diagnostics and it turns out that number 1 and 3 cylinder is not getting very much fire causing a misfire situation. The dealer says rotor and cap but I am wondering if I should just replace the rotor and cap ($179 at pep boys) or just buy a new distributor with the opti and the rotor/cap. The car has 130k on it and I dont know if the opti has ever been changed out. Logic says to buy the whole thing but for the money I would save buying just the rotor/cap I could take care of a few other probs with the car. Need advise. Also, anyone have the best price source for an OEM opti unit?

Wow! Possibly 130K on the original opti-spark. I have a '96 TA that recently had serious misfires. It took me a while to finally diagnose it. I replaced spark plugs, and even two injectors, before I pulled the boots off the cap. My #7 pin was completely GONE! At any rate... find your self an Auto Zone parts store. They're a national chain. At first I bought just the cap and rotor and it cost me $120.00. Then I got home and wanted to ask the parts guy another question. He told me the whole thing (opti, cap and rotor) is only $130.00 and it comes with a LIFETIME warranty. That in and of it's self is worth it's weight in gold as these things have a tendency to poop out. It has a core charge so bring your old one in. I did the replacement and installation myself. It took me the better part of a Saturday to complete. Would've done it faster but the tiny bolt that holds the cap to the opti is a #4 female torx bit. A very specialty socket bit... as you know the cap has recessed holes for the bolts. But buying the whole part will eliminate the need for this socket. If you do the install yourself... here's a few tips I learned along the way. First, drain the coolant with the car level. Pull the drain plug on the block... either that or the coolant sensor underneath the driver side exhaust manifold. I disconnected hose and after the water pump came off... GUSH!!! Luckily wasn't underneath at the time. The other thing... lube the distributor shart and o-rings with motor oil. It's a really tight fit, so you'll have to push hard to make it fit. If you have a 94' TA you won't have to worry about aligning the pin drive from the cam the opti. Not sure exactly how yours works off the cam, probably just splined driven. You'll need to remove the fans, water pump, balancer, air pump, and ignition coil... but since I have headers and the air pump has been deleted it was a great time to throw it away. Let me know if you get stuck along the way. I'd be happy to walk you thru it if you want.

Thanks for the info. I called several Autozones and asked about a complete unit but none sell it. They do sell a reman distrib without the carp and rotor though. Did replacing just the cap and rotor take care of your problems? If so I will try just those parts.

Wow- that's really screwy!!! I just called a different Auto Zone than where I bought my complete kit and the guy told me they don't sell them in a kit form. They all come seperately. Perhaps I just got lucky and bought the last one in kit form they made, but I have no idea why the hell that would be. At any rate... my problem has no shifted into a new direction. Once I replaced the whole opti, my PCM registered random, multi-misfires at every piston. It was really strange b/c one cylinder would foul and then clear up and then a completely different one would foul and then clear up. It jumped around like that in no particular order either. So I'm having my PCM tuned (again) and the misfire tables reset. If that turns out to be the case for you I recommend www.madz28.com. The guys name is Ion and is really good and cheap... $135 initially and $35 for each subsequent tune. Another one is PCMFORLESS.com. A bit more expensive, but good. I just sent my PCM to the guy on Saturday, so I'll keep ya posted. Have you checked for any vacuum leaks in your manifold? Is it isolated to just one cylinder or is it random like mine?

My problem is I'm barely getting fire to nbr 1 and 3 cylinder so I know its something wacked with the cap or rotor. I just hate going thru all the trouble and then have to redo it if the actual distributor (optical part) is starting to go. Besides having the misfire it will occassionaly miss on all cylinders while accellerating. I hope your problem isnt a result of buying a reman opti from Autozone. I have heard stories of people buying the cardone remans and having big trouble with them. I found a new non-vented opti for a 94 for 325.00 from a dealer in Nebraska and that includes shipping.
http://www.teamchev.com/monthlyspecial.htm .
It is their monthly special. I'll be replacing it this weekend so I'll be posting on this thread again if I have any problems. I know you originally bought the cap and rotor kit so did you buy the torx bit you needed for that job? I havent been out locally to see if the hardware stores have it. I found it at Snapon.com but I hate spending 9.50 on shipping for a 12.00 part.

Hope this helps but here is a brand new never installed optispark unit. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33690&item=2460257728

Yep, thats the one I'm watching. I already offered him 200. to end the auction and he didnt bite. Thanks.

Well hopefully it will end for something around there

The Auto Zone I bought the opti from said it was brand new. I actually don't care if it is used or not, becuz it has a life time warranty. I swear that little piece of paper is getting laminated and hung on the wall. These things tend to crap out, so as far as I'm concerned I'll never have to "buy" another opti for this car. I'm still confused why one Auto Zone would sell a complete kit and life time warranty and another wouldn't. That's really strange. As for the female torx bit you'll need, don't waste your money on mail order. Just search your local car parts stores and hardware stores. I found the bit and only cost me $4, but I had to take a grinding wheel to the sucker and shave it down to fit down inside the recessed hole to get at the screws holding the cap to the distributor. I'll tell you what... when I get home tonight I'll pull my receipt with the P/N for the opti and I'll post it along with the telephone and address of the Auto Zone where I bought it.

Ok folks- here it is. The Auto Zone I bought my brand NEW (they told me they don't sell reman ignition components) is located at 2702 Metropolitan Parkway, Sterling Heights, Michigan. Their telephone number is (586)768-0701. The guy I last spoke with, his name is Adam. The P/N listed on my receipt is 176432 30-1833. It's listed as a domestic distributor. Like I said before, this has a LIFETIME warranty. The guy told me that EVERY Auto Zone should sell these complete kits and don't know why the idiots at the other stores are saying otherwise. My recommendation is try giving Adam a call and give him the number of the Auto Zone near you and perhaps Adam can tell the other store what to look for in their system or perhaps they can do an interstore transfer. Hope this helps! Just got work my PCM has been tuned and is being returned as I type. Will post one last reply if the problem goes away. Otherwise, you can all listen to me bitch incessantly until it is.

More crap about this stupid-ass subject. Can you tell it's pissin' me off!? Dropped in the new opti and she cranked right over. Had the PCM tuned and she purred like a kitten. Took her around the block and it felt like she was gonna stumble and rattle to pieces!!!! The engine misfired and stumbled the entire time. Took the @#$%#@!! apart AGAIN and thought the new opti might be faulty. Took it back to Auto Zone and the guy said "did you time it right?" I thought that it only went on one way... the keyway on the opti fits over the cam dowel pin.... WRONG! My first mistake was not marking the pointer position of the rotor before I removed the opti. (LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE!) that is unless you know how to time her. Point the #1 piston at TDC on the compression stroke and install the opti. Dowel pin should be in the 3'Oclock position. steps I used... remove spark plug from #1 cylinder and put thumb over hole. Have assistance turn the ignition key several times until thumb pops off from the compression forced air. This is the compression stroke. Now insert coat hanger down into pistion bore and crank the engine over until the coat hanger reaches the appex and starts to decsend. Back it up and play with it until you're confident it's at it's highest point. You'll be able to feel it. Or just buy your self a piston stop (TDC locator) and insert that into the spark plug hole. The once it's at TDC, simply insert the opti and rebuild as usual. It took my 4 friggin' times of tearing down and rebuilding it to get it right. PAIN IN THE ASS EVERYTIME!

Update... Not too bad. It took me around 6 hours total but I was held up by a bad reman water pump I bought on eBay. The rotor had broken loose in the Distrib cap and was able to move up and down about a 1/4 inch which caused it to really screw up the cap. I just got back from a test drive and she runs great! Thanks for all your advise on this. It's really not that bad of a job.

Glad to hear it went smoothly for you. The tear down actually isn't all the painful, that is providing you don't have to tear it down and rebuild repeatedly. Even after I had it timed correctly on the last rebuild, it was still misfiring. THAT DID IT... I took it to my mechanic and said "FIX DA BITCH!" He took a look at it and noticed the timing chain was worn and had to much slack in it, which was causing the timing issues. Makes sence, since it would idle just fine in my garage, but once I took her around the block and put the timing chain to work the slack (probably about a gear tooth or more off) made the timing off. The mechanic said, I did everything correct, only the timing chain was worn out. PLUS, since he was watching the valves open and close with the valve cover off to get the #1 piston at TDC, he noticed a small trace of thick coolant-oil sludge on the roof of the valve cover, which indicates a blown head gasket. That sorta pushed my head/ cam swap up a few months. I was going to do it myself, but need it done in a hurry and I was only going to take my time and learn as I go. So, I brought him all the parts for the job I had stored in my garage and just have him do it. She should be a REAL monster when I get her back. LT4 ported/ polished heads, LT4 ported intake manifold, 30lbs/hr injectors, LT4 extreme duty timing chain, & 58mm throttle body with comp cams 305 camshaft. I'll make a dyno run and post the results soon. It sorta took my bank account balance south, but I'm finally done with my car. <<for now>>

Sounds sweet LT4ever. Now that she runs I am looking forward to bringing out the beast. I do see a head and cam possibly this summer. Good luck.