97 Firebird Camaro with LT1 5.7 Not Running no/weak spark Wont Start Opti Spark Distributor

If you are looking for the step by step tutorial on how to change the distributor on the lt1 in the camaro and firebird You can view the whole thing Here.

If you would like to know how the Opti spark system works and the few good things about it I have a whole explanation of how it works here.

First of all I will tell you how I came to work on this car and what I did to fix it.

Well As of last week I started working on a car. The original customer complaint was that the starter wasn’t working.

After Quick inspection I found this was true and the starter was burned up.  Logically I asked if there was a problem with the car that lead to someone trying to start it to the point of burning up a starter. The reply was no, there are no problems with the car other than the starter.

So I replaced the starter and after completing this repair I found that the vehicle was now cranking but would not start.Imagine that. After questioning the customer again I learned that the vehicle would not start before and that is why the starter got burned up. I proceeded to trouble shoot this problem and found that the spark coming from the coil was good but the spark coming from distributor cap was very poor and orange in color indicating that there was a problem with either the distributor or the cap/rotor.

After informing the customer that the spark was weak and that I would need to pull the cap and rotor button to check further he gave me the ok “mind you that this is no cheap or easy task” Why you ask? Because GM located the optispark distributor under the water pump and behind the harmonic balancer! So I now am proceed with this 3.8 hour indevor to find out that the cap and rotor button is severely corroded and there is a tremendous amount of rust inside the distributor. That being said because of the time of getting to the distributor I recommended that he go ahead and replace all of it the distributor,cap and rotor so he would only have to pay the labor once. I made no gain from this by the way because I don’t mark up parts. It was simply the best choice for him because otherwise in the state that the distributor was in it would only be a short matter of time before he was back and I would have to replace it.

Note: normally when you see this kind of corrosion on a ignition system from GM it is because the water pump is leaking right above it and seaping coolant into the distributor cap and that is normally what is causing the problem.

In this case it was not due to a leaking waterpump it was due to the last mechanic that worked on it spilling a ton of antifreeze when removing the water pump to replace it.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep the area below the water pump dry whenever you are working on these vehicles. Due to its location, the optispark is subject to moisture from several sources. First, driving through high water can submerge the opti completely. Automatic car washes with undercarriage wash can also soak the opti. Secondly, if the water pump suffers bearing failure and coolant comes out the weep hole, the opti can be soaked with coolant. Lastly, NEVER WASH AN LT SERIES MOTOR WITH A HOSE OR HIGH PRESSURE SPRAYER. To wash your motor, use a damp soapy rag and take your time.

Moisture buildup inside the opti can cause the precise parts of the optical side to rust up. The bearings are also weak and prone to faliure, particularly from misalignment or a too-long cam dowel pin distorting the drive mechanism. Last, high voltage causes ozone buildup inside the cap…which is to be considered a wear item just like any traditional cap/rotor distributor. Aftermarket ignition amplifiers make the ozone buildup worse and can significantly shorten the life of your opti.

In conclusion  I repaired this for the customer and verified the repair solved the problem with a 5 mile test drive making sure that I ran the vehicle through a drive cycle and then checked with a scan tool to make sure all sensors where reading properly and fuel trim was correct.