Camaro reliablity

[Brendon444]

I was wondering what problems you have encounterd with a fourth gen 94-97 z28 camaro what smalls things have gone wrong or big things
What things you hate about these cars and like about them.

My 94 z28 doesnt seem to reliable its gone through 3 coils due to over heating them or something and a rod bearing went just a little while ago
heat stopped working power locks dont work and it cuts out now and again while driving slow.

[Z-Almighty]

On the subject of the reliability of 93-97 camaros, all I can say is that for as much as I love my car, it shure does piss me off. My 94 Z has less than 83,000 miles on it and so far I've had to replace the Transmission, water pump, Opti-spark, and many other things. It's been broken down more than 50% of the time I've owned the car. And no I havn't been hard on the card. Shrue I've hit it off the line a time or too, but not enought to warant the problems I've had with it. Maybe I just got a bad one, but I probably wont by a Lt-1 camaro again. Now my 94 V6 model has been AWSOME. At 140000+ miles the only thing to break so far has been the water pump, which was broken when I bought the car. Anyway, take all this with a grain of salt because there are planty of people who've had a great experience with their Camaro's.

[twdz28]

my first 95 LT1 was great no problems but i only had it for 12,000 miles

my 2nd 95 LT1 replaced the motor twice, my fault for racing it all the time. Coil, wires, four opti's, two water pumps, four window motors, and the list goes on... mileage on car 24,000 when i got it and now has 78,5xx

my 3rd LS1 no problem other than replacing both window motors and one O2 sensor... 0 miles brand new, now has 61,000

all in all the LT1 car does have some problems with it but I have learned what to do and what not to use over some time now... I still love my LT1 car...

give us a little more info on the car...

[Brendon444]

well my 94 z28 now has 100 000 miles on it which may seem like a thought i guess but i tihnk they should last longer
What causes thoughs opti's to go so much i am starting to worry mines going to fail sometimes soon.

[twdz28]

Originally Posted by Brendon444

well my 94 z28 now has 100 000 miles on it which may seem like a thought i guess but i tihnk they should last longer
What causes thoughs opti's to go so much i am starting to worry mines going to fail sometimes soon.

The term "Opti-Spark" comes from the fact that there are two functions of this distributor: optical ("Opti") engine speed and position sensing, and high voltage ignition distribution to the eight spark plugs ("Spark"). To perform these tasks, the Opti-Spark distributor contains a high-resolution engine speed encoder, a low-resolution engine position encoder, and a standard distributor cap and rotor assembly.

The high-resolution encoding is done with a 360-tooth trigger wheel spinning at camshaft speed. An optical sensor reads these spinning teeth, and creates a simple 0 or 5 volt signal, depending on whether an opening in the teeth is or is not present. As the trigger wheel spins with the engine, this 0 or 5 volt signal becomes a square-shaped voltage signal, or "square wave" in technical terms. This signal is then sent to the engine management computer to determine engine speed.

Once the computer knows the speed of the engine, it needs to calculate the engine position in order to establish spark timing. To accomplish this task, the low-resolution engine position encoder disk is utilized. The low-resolution sensor itself is essentially identical to the high-resolution sensor. However, the low-resolution encoder disk only contains 8 teeth. Four of the teeth are of the same size, and occur at 90-degree reference intervals (these four teeth help to give quick synchronization during start-up cranking). The other four teeth have varying tooth widths. From these variable-sized teeth, the computer uses a fairly simple algorithm to determine engine position.

The data created by the high- and low-resolution sensing system is ultimately used by the engine computer to generate one thing: ignition timing. The timing signal is sent from the computer to the ignition module, which is located next to the coil on LT1 and L99 engines. The ignition module then sends a high current “charge” signal directly to the ignition coil. Once the ignition coil is charged, it fires a high voltage electrical charge to the Opti-Spark distributor cap. The rotor inside the Opti-Spark distributor then distributes the spark to the appropriate cylinder via the distributor cap.

There are two slightly different versions of the Opti-Spark distributor manufactured by GM. The first design version was made between 1992 and mid-1994. Other than some small vent holes, the first design Opti-Spark had no provision for evacuating built-up moisture. Also, the caustic ozone gases created by the ignition process were also left inside the distributor with no vacuum removal. This design was replaced in midyear 1994 with a vacuum-vented Opti-Spark. Along with the new venting provision, the second design featured a redesigned cam drive and a different electrical connector.

What is Wrong with the Opti-Spark Design?


In theory, the Opti-Spark design is good. In fact, high-resolution engine speed sensing leads to extremely accurate ignition timing, and was a rare occurrence even on high-dollar sports cars back in 1992. In practice however, quite a few things are problematic with GM's execution of the Opti-Spark distributor.

First and foremost, there are the typical wear, heat, and moisture problems associated with a distributor cap and rotor. Since most Chevrolet V8 engines feature an easily accessible rear-mounted distributor, it is not a big deal to change the cap and rotor every 50,000 miles (or sooner in high performance applications). Plus, the availability of standard-style cap and rotor assemblies makes them extremely cheap. These facts do NOT hold true for engines with the Opti-Spark distributor.

From an accessibility standpoint, both the water pump and the crank pulley need to be removed in order to gain access to a failed Opti-Spark distributor. On Camaros and Firebirds in particular, this is not a quick (or fun) job.

From a reliability standpoint, the environment at the front of the engine is notoriously harsh for things like heat, water, and debris (not to mention other variables like leaky front crank seals and worn, leaking water pumps!), but the Opti-Spark distributor is not even sealed on 1992-1994 models! Later versions of the Opti-Spark incorporate a seal and venting provision, but are by no means free of problems.

From a cost standpoint, the Opti-Spark units can retail for well over $400, depending on model year. Dealers have been heard to quote up to $1000 (parts and labor) to replace this item!

To add insult to injury, the Opti-Spark distributor uses a "Correct-a-Cap" design that places the spark plug wire terminals on the proper side of the engine for easy spark plug wire routing. To do this, the terminal traces molded into the distributor cap must come extremely close to one another, which leads to premature arc-over in high-load applications and applications using constant high-voltage (Capacitive Discharge) ignitions. Not good.

But not all is completely defective on the Opti-Spark distributor. Inherently, the optical sensors are fairly robust. One thing that can lead to their failure is excessive moisture buildup. The sensors are sealed fairly well from moisture, but they are not a true hermetic seal. For most applications, the sensors are not the cause of most problems. To prove this fact, Mitsubishi manufactures the Opti-Spark sensors, and variations on these same sensors can be found on most late model Mitsubishi and Nissan applications. Reliability problems on the Nissan and Mitsubishi vehicles that use the optical sensors are not present in anywhere near the same quantity as the LT1 and L99 engines. This is not to suggest that the Opti-Spark sensors are completely bulletproof; any electrical system can fail over time.

[kman10587]

So are LS1s generally more reliable than LT1s?

[dwrock1]

i have 95000 miles ive replaced distrbutor, exahst manafold gasket, and water pump but no other problems really never had trans troubles (T-56 )

[twdz28]

Originally Posted by kman10587

So are LS1s generally more reliable than LT1s?

mine is but then again I never beat up on it either

[89IROC&RS]

dude, im copying that deal on opticrap ignition to put in a FAQ thread as soon as i can get around to it lol

[twdz28]

Originally Posted by 89IROC&RS

dude, im copying that deal on opticrap ignition to put in a FAQ thread as soon as i can get around to it lol

lol, i got more info on that if you want? lol

['97SLVRBullet]

To simply ask if an LS1 car is more reliable than an LT1 is redundant. LS1's are newer so they are not going to be as problematic as an LT1. All the problems that come with both cars are due to two things, #1 age; all cars need various replacement parts over time, ie. opti-spark, waterpump, timingchain, coil, etc. #2 abuse; these cars are made to be dogged on but it does take its toll on everything, and depreciates the reliability factor compared to other vehicles. So yes they are both reliable, maybe not as reliable as a Toyota, or some other well built cars.

[Genopsyde]

my RS is damn reliable, i've had it for over 7 years now with only normal maintenance issues.

[nlghtcrawler]

same here my 91 rs has only a few problems, struts, and raidatior

[89IROC&RS]

i havent been able to kill my RS, and believe me, its not due to going easy on her. lol. oh and lets not forget about the LS1 piston ring issue, to be honest, if i had to choose between a bad opti and blown piston rings out of warrante, id go with the bad opti any day. even though you should only have to do the rings once, its a kick in the crotch to the wallet.

[Chevyracincamaro]

i think that this question is fairly hard to answer. one person cannot tell you if a car is reliable, purely because one car might not be as reliable as another due to driving styles, up-keep, and usage. i believe the best way to view this question is to look at everyone's post and determine the big picture. on the whole, the camaro is a pretty reliable car. they all might not last 200K miles but it will last a while, and ofcourse things fail, but you generally dont get massive system failures like on some other cars...