96 lt1 engine opti

[j cAT]

After many years of reading the owner bitches of the distributor on this engine and its poorly placed location , I have now found with my own LT1 what they were going thru. I now have 74,ooo miles on my engine. I am the original owner. I do all the work on it.

this distributor will require replacing at about 75,ooo mi. also the water pump and all the seals require replacing at this time.

any water pump failure WILL require the opti be removed and cleaned / inspected for coolant ingestion. my water pump bearing blew out after I shutdown the engine for 2 minutes. 1 gallon of dexcool come flowing out the back of the pump not the weep hole. removed the opti sure enough it had some coolant in it. the opti was very clean inside however because I put a hose on the weep hole to make sure no distributor surprises. but that water pump after 50,ooo miles blew out .bearings were not even rusted or worn it just fell apart.

on closer inspection I found the opti bearing was worn . with this replacing just the cap is a waste of time, best replace everything or you.ll be sorry. and it will cost you more in the long run.

felpro gasket kit TSC 45956 is what you need to replace the seals /O rings. and if necessary the front cover if its leaking .

when installing the opti install the new distributor with the cap off. rotate the rotor until it falls into the key hole. this makes this an easy install. start engine with the opti in place before water pump . if it starts then proceed to the water pump/coolant assy.

use 220 grit sand paper to clean up the crankshaft pulley bore so install is correct. take apart the new opti make sure the rotor screws are tight. make sure the cap seal is seated properly . on the cap screws you will need an E4 reverse torx socket. I used a XBOX screw in a small tap drive T handle it worked great.

I got the gasket kit 11.oo , opti dist 175.oo lifetime warranty, water pump was a warranty replacement free and 3 gallons of dexcool 35.oo.

I removed and cleaned to old opti then reinstalled to see if it would start , it did. then I put in the new opti and it started . then went on to complete the install. now I have a back up for testing.

not a hard job but if done correctly a time killer.

then those plug wires !

[Blue Bowtie]

My first one went on my '94 SS at just over 110K. Yes, installing the wire properly back into their looms is time consuming, but worth the effort.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by Blue Bowtie

My first one went on my '94 SS at just over 110K. Yes, installing the wire properly back into their looms is time consuming, but worth the effort.

on the plug wires . I have found that many auto stores state that wires offered are the correct exact ones for these vehicles . well this is all wrong.

the only wire set I found so far that is correct is the ac delco 9748B . these wires have the correct resistance which should be 800-1200 ohms .

I have found some wires with 10,ooo ohms resistance stating they are the correct part.

I did find one OEM original wire with 1800 ohms. not bad for a vehicle this old.

So far no issues.

The passengerside is a tough plug wire route. the AC compressor is the problem area. I used new loom on all the wire length.

when I purchased this vehicle new back in 1995 I put dielectric grease in all the PLUG boot ends . I guess that may explain the OEM plug wires condition.

[Tech II]

Firebird/Camaro's are even worse to do.....just is no room on these.....

Whenever someone came in for a COMPLETE tuneup(plugs, distributor cap, wires, air & fuel filter, water pump(usually recommended replacement, because if that weep hole hadn't leaked by 100K, it was due)), they almost passed out from sticker shock at the price of parts and labor time....

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by Tech II

Firebird/Camaro's are even worse to do.....just is no room on these.....

Whenever someone came in for a COMPLETE tuneup(plugs, distributor cap, wires, air & fuel filter, water pump(usually recommended replacement, because if that weep hole hadn't leaked by 100K, it was due)), they almost passed out from sticker shock at the price of parts and labor time....

one guy told me he was quoted $1200.oo USD for labor only , to do this job I did.

camaro is tight.

[Blue Bowtie]

The other real advantage to the design is the aluminum hat shields at the plug ends. Those MUST be reinstalled for reliability.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by Blue Bowtie

The other real advantage to the design is the aluminum hat shields at the plug ends. Those MUST be reinstalled for reliability.

right , those heat shields on the plug wire boot end in the back , fire wall area need be put back on . also I had to use stainless wire .030 to wind around the exhaust manifold/heat shield on the passenger side , as the lower fastener of the shield became damaged , I did hear a slight rattle on occasion but no more.

still no leaks or problems I guess the repair is good.

[ASJT3]

Originally Posted by j cAT

I got the gasket kit 11.oo , opti dist 175.oo lifetime warranty, water pump was a warranty replacement free and 3 gallons of dexcool 35.oo.

I'm sure there must already exist a dexcool vs. e-glycol debate somewhere on these boards, but I was surprised to see you using dexcool. It really gummed up the cooling system on my LT1, now I run a 50/50 glycol mix. Why are you using dexcool?

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by ASJT3

I'm sure there must already exist a dexcool vs. e-glycol debate somewhere on these boards, but I was surprised to see you using dexcool. It really gummed up the cooling system on my LT1, now I run a 50/50 glycol mix. Why are you using dexcool?

the dexcool can be a problem if you do not put a lock on the fill cap !

many idiots out there will screw up your vehicle when even a small amount of non GM approved dexcool is used. also some think compatible coolant that states it will mix will all coolants with no issues is also a big problem. must use distilled water ....no tap /well water .

many new vehicles like toyota as one example only sell premixed coolant that is for specific years. this is how they try to prevent owners from causing damage to the coolant system.

dexcool for me has worked quite well over 18 years come this september. the water pump bearing blew out not the seal . very weird problem no corrosion bearings looked new. I think the steel bearing housing had reacted with the aluminum pump housing and then it just popped off. I have never seen a water pump fail like that before , but this is a one of a kind pump with no pulley to drive it.

you still have the impala ?

if you do ever replace your distributor make sure you use the original OEM wire harness. the GM harnesses being sold today are china clones. they are not waterproof. this will cause the distributor electrical power connection to fail.

the other problem is the connector to the engine wire harness is not keyed correctly. you have to cut off one of these keys.

AND THIS INCLUDES THE DEALERSHIP PARTS DEPARTMENT...