any 93 owners out there?

[Patrick N.]

My younger, "do first, think later" brother purchased a 93 yesterday for an amazingly low price, and would like me to check it out. Beyond the general stuff, are there any particular maintenance or technical service issues to inspect that are specific to 93? The car is a 6 speed convert. which is all i know at this point. I will be checking it out Sunday. Any pointers are appreciated.
Thanks,
Pat

[Patrick N.]

Re: any 93 owners out there?

The new addition BTW 14CF3FC8-F305-4AE4-B81E-3FA4A868D39F.jpg

[Keith B.]

Re: any 93 owners out there?

It's just a twenty year old Chevy so check and replace all the fluids look over all the rubber parts Depending on miles and how it's running the opti, wires, plugs, and a water pump can be in order

[Edward J.]

Re: any 93 owners out there?

Pat, I like Keith's ideas as the opti spark Dist. was a real problem if the got wet. or the water pump leaks. The earlier cars really seem to have a issue with water as the were not vented properly and if any moisture got under the Distributer cap the generally did not run well and had no way to dry out. It was changed at some point not sure of the date. the distributors are on Ebay all the time and can be brought a little cheaper than going to the dealer or a Delco distributor. nothing is cheap for these parts.

[Keith B.]

Re: any 93 owners out there?

95-96 got the vented opti. my advise is to put all new coolant hoses on the car. last month a 10 dollar hose failed on my 94 causing me to have to replace a opti with less then 40K on it. its not a fun job to R/R.

[Patrick N.]

Re: any 93 owners out there?

Great feedback. Is there anyway to tell if the opti spark is prone to problems upon inspection or is it considered cheap insurance to swap it to the vented style? I'll advise to change hoses etc as well. This car will be a driver for him so reliability will be key.
Thanks guys!

[Keith B.]

Re: any 93 owners out there?

if you keep the opti dry it will be trouble free. it takes a bit to modify the wiring harness to make the 95-96 vented opti work on a 93. I am not sure what you call cheap insurance to replace the opti but they cost around 300-500 bucks plus six to eight hours of your time to replace. and if you replace it you should replace the water pump as well.

[Tom H.]

Re: any 93 owners out there?

I always check the operation of the electronic AC head unit and the CD player. Two items that are prone to failure.

[Edward J.]

Re: any 93 owners out there?

if you keep the opti dry it will be trouble free. it takes a bit to modify the wiring harness to make the 95-96 vented opti work on a 93. I am not sure what you call cheap insurance to replace the opti but they cost around 300-500 bucks plus six to eight hours of your time to replace. and if you replace it you should replace the water pump as well.

Keith, I don't remember the newer opti's have to be modified, I thought that it was just a vent hose being build into the housing. Maybe Tom can find out. the last few I Installed were quite a few years ago. I also have seen a few of the older opti Dist. have other problems such as the Dist. its self causing a internal vacuum and causing the cap to be drawn up against the rotor and creating running problems.

[Jim T.]

Re: any 93 owners out there?

I have read in Corvette Fever or another magazine several years ago about modifying the earlier Opti's using engine vacuum. I believe/think/half-way remember the author of the article was a monthly contributor for the magazine.

Update, search Corvette Fever OPTI-SPARK OPTIONS and you will find FEB 2009 article about the modification to a OPTI-SPARK. Written by Andy Bolig and Chris Petris shows how a OPTI-SPARK can be modified.

[Patrick N.]

Re: any 93 owners out there?

Thanks again for the info and links to learning more on the opti spark and yes, 300 bucks is not cheap insurance. I didn't realize we were talking about the module, I was thinking it was literally a cap.
Thanks Tom, we will check out the electronic ac head and cd.

I will post some pics if anything looks odd or out of place that is not familiar to me. I just put new tires on my 88 so I also think a performance comparison is in order tomorrow as well.

thanks again for the comments.

[Patrick N.]

Re: any 93 owners out there?

Is first and second gear typically hard to engage on these cars? Seems like these two gears really want to engage at higher rpms, 3rd and up are smooth as silk.

[Bill H.]

Re: any 93 owners out there?

Patrick, I have a 92 as a daily driver. First, ABSOUTELY do not consider an ebay Opti, most of them fail in 6 months. The only ones to consider are new GM or MSD. I prefer MSD if the car will not be judged, the MSD has billet housing AND the cap is o-ring sealed where the GM uses a paper gasket (this is where the water comes in). You can convert a 92-93 to a vented system, this requires a check valve, there are kits in the Corvette catalogs but you have to pull the Opti to do it, not worth the time IMO. You can also epoxy a plastic fitting in the weep hole of the waterpump and add a hose so that if the pump fails there it will drain away from the Opti. Probably have these Opti's fail from washing the engine.The MSD Opti is a vented one and only requires a tee fitting on a vacuum hose and a fitting installed in the throttlebody bellows. That being said, there are high numbers of 92-93 Optis out there with 100k on them. Also note that the 92-93 Opti is unique in that it has a different drive (spline) than the 94-96. The first thing you should do is check the codes, this is really easy on a 93, just a paperclip jumping the ADL will pull a lot of info up on the dash. I can get you that info if you want. The 1-2 shift should be every bit as smooth as the others.

[Patrick N.]

Re: any 93 owners out there?

thanks Bill- I'd be interested in the codes when you have a chance to send those over.

[Bill H.]

Re: any 93 owners out there?

Patrick, go here and scroll to post #11. http://www.corvetteguruforum.com/mod...orumpost224788 I carry a copy and a paperclip in my car just in case. We have a good knowledge base on this little forum.