optispark ignition coil question

[hondahappy86]

i wondered over here from the caprice forum due to the fact that i have a 9c1 with the LT1 and you guys know that motor better than anyone.....well anyhow it was sputtering and finally died tonight.....and i was told that the optispark ignition coil went bad.....and i was wondering if thats a common problem with them and what is their major weak point....and how hard they are to change.......im a mopar guy by the way.....but dodge hasent made a cop car since the 80s and i couldent pass up a vette powered cop car....but i know very little about anything more then basic chevy issues.....if ya all could help that would be great

[Morley]

If you mean the opti spark itself went bad....it can be a pain to change. It resides BELOW your water pump (brilliant huh?) and if it gets wet...bye, bye.
It can be changed in an afternoon but if you are going to change it, get a new water pump too, not reman, NEW. I'm thinking that in a Caprice you will have an easier time doing the change out because you have lots more room in your engine compartment than in an F body. Take your time and don't get rushed doing it and make sure you get everything sealed up for the water system. you don't want drips taking out the new opti.

[wrightz28]

A good 80% of the time the opti dies is right after you've noticed a water pump leak (or notice it as changing the opti)

The two go hand in hand as you probably don't want to do nearly the same job twice.

If you have a bit of mileage, it might not be a bad idea to think about the timgin set either.

[hondahappy86]

its got about 195000 on it now...and just by lookin at it it looks like the original stuff.....

[hondahappy86]

well i went outside today(most likely duet to the heat wave here...its in the 40s )....well anyhow i went and looked at the opti to see if the waterpump leaked on it and shure enough between the oil resadue road dirt i can see fresh moisture on it and it appears that when the previous owner put a new waterpump on it not long before i got it....the waterpump gaskets seem as though they dident seal properly

[SG007]

Congratulations, you have an LT1!

[ikeyballz]

sucks for us all