Just Got mine

My Prozac · 01-04-05, 11:32 AM

I just got my 93 ruby red convertible and need some advice, I got the car last weekend it has just under 29,000 miles on her and is in great shape. I drove home about 250 miles and it never missed a beat all the way.
I did a stupid thing and I got the motor wet on Saturday... It would not run on Saturday night. I did not drive it on Sunday or even start it. I have drove it once yesterday and after warming up it started to splutter and miss. My question is does this sound like a spark plug wire breaking down and holding water or the dreaded opti-spark. My chevy dealer is backed up and can not get to me until Wednesday or Thursday. Is there anything that I can try?

vette-dude · 01-04-05, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by My Prozac

I just got my 93 ruby red convertible and need some advice, I got the car last weekend it has just under 29,000 miles on her and is in great shape. I drove home about 250 miles and it never missed a beat all the way.
I did a stupid thing and I got the motor wet on Saturday... It would not run on Saturday night. I did not drive it on Sunday or even start it. I have drove it once yesterday and after warming up it started to splutter and miss. My question is does this sound like a spark plug wire breaking down and holding water or the dreaded opti-spark. My chevy dealer is backed up and can not get to me until Wednesday or Thursday. Is there anything that I can try?

I believe the 93's are equipped with an opti spark ignition and sounds like you have gotten it wet. This is under the waterpump on the front of the engine. Most likely it is now a dead soldier and they aren't cheap to replace. If you do replace it be sure and think about replacing the waterpump also as other than washing your engine down, water pumps are the leading cause of Opti failures. Sorry this happened.

Randy

1995 RedVette · 01-04-05, 11:45 AM

It sounds a lot like the opti got wet. I had a throttle body heater hose blow out on my 95 and wet the top of the opti pretty good, and fixed it by propping a hair dryer up in the engine compartment so it would blow between the watter pump and the opti. I went in from the passenger side and ziptied the hair dryer up to the air intake. I left the hair dryer on cold because I didn't know how hot it would get, and I didn't want it to melt any connectors on the opti spark. I let the thing run for the better part of a day, and have had no trouble since. If that doesn't fix the problem, then it looks like you're in for a new opti spark. When you have all of that taken down, it may not be a bad idea to have the plugs, wires, fan belt, radiator hoses, and water pump replaced too. At the very least I would change the radiator hoses and water pump, because if one or the other fails in the future, then there goes another optispark unit. Rembember, even though the car only has 29000 miles, it is still 12 years old.

One more thing....I have found that it is best to use a spray bottle of warm water and mile detergent to clean the engine. I also use a compressed air hose to dry the excess water form the engine.

Brett

94conv. · 01-04-05, 11:50 AM

Sounds like you have gotten the opti spark wet. Mine did the same thing last winter when it apparently was drawing moisture from sitting. It sputtered real bad then would let out a huge backfire and die. I had it carried over to the dealership and the sprayed some sort of drying agent in it through one of the vaccuum holes and it did the trick and hasnt acted up since. I got lucky but its definately worth a try and it may dry out on its own and be alright. The 92- early 94 optisparks have a poor vaccuum design to suck out the moisture. They make a upgrade kit that you can purchase at mid america, I havent done this so I dont know how involved it is.

94conv. · 01-04-05, 11:52 AM

By the way, you dont ever want to get the front of your LT1 engine wet

RoadReady · 01-04-05, 12:30 PM

If you do have to replace the Opti-Spark, C4 guru Gordon Killebrew says to run a thick bead of RV sealer around the Opti where it touches the block to keep moisture out, and install the upgrade kit. The 95-96 is much improved. I have driven many miles in monsoon-like rains and washed the engine with Greased Lightening and a garden hose several times....no failure in 80K.

My Prozac · 01-04-05, 12:46 PM

Thanks for the help.... Should the car be towed to the dealer or will it hurt to drive about 15 to 20 miles?

Tuna · 01-04-05, 04:11 PM

The first thing you can try is to heat the OptiSpark with a hair dryer for about 45 minutes. There is room in the right front of the engine bay to prop up a hair dryer and point it at the OptiSpark. Just lock the switch and walk away for awhile. If the OptiSpark isn't permanently damaged already, drying it out may salvage it for a long time to come. Otherwise, it's a trip to the dealer or you favorite garage.

jmccloud · 01-04-05, 05:23 PM

By all means, try the hair dryer. I can't count the times it's saved my vehicles or tractors from difficult, tedious and expensive repair.

Daryllawman · 01-04-05, 05:26 PM

Just wanted to welcome you to the Corvette Action Center..Sorry to hear about the OPTIC spark.....I wish we could of told you about the Optic before you sprayed it with water.....we live and learn here , so just jump right in anytime.....good luck

My Prozac · 01-04-05, 07:10 PM

Will it hurt the motor in any way to drive it with the opti sprak fried?

jmccloud · 01-04-05, 07:30 PM

If an ignition system is 'wet', driving it will 'track' inside the distributor cap. Carbon-like tracks will form that will make future arcing more likely. Dry it out first if at all possible.

redc4corvette · 01-05-05, 02:41 AM

Also don't drive it in the rain unless you have to.
I drove mine last year and it rained 4 inches in an hour and the cars stalled on the road, I was one of them and the water rose about 18 inches to much for the Opti.

Paul G · 01-05-05, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by My Prozac

Will it hurt the motor in any way to drive it with the opti sprak fried?

It depends on how far you have to go? I would not drive it to the next state but across town should not hurt anything. Keep the speed down and baby it there, it should be okay. As far as additional tracking and ruining the opti goes. it's dead already isnt it? If you have to go for the opti replace the water pump as well. It will already be off the car so might as well put a new one. Labor is already paid for. Plug wires are kind of the same way but they will last 100,000 miles, so they have a long life ahead of them yet.

Edmond · 01-05-05, 08:05 PM

I hope the hairdryer works. Those Opti units are not cheap! They can last for a long time, my mom's 94' Buick Roadmaster had an LT1 in it, when she donated the car earlier this year, it had 115,000 miles on it.