Can an Ebay Opti be trusted?

[Zapper2003]

Just wondering because there are a lot of them on there for cheap (well, relatively).


Here's a no-name piece for 125 bucks. LINK

And here's another, Delphi piece this time for 255 shipped. LINK


I'm just kind of wondering if these pieces could be trusted.

[rbaksi]

this has been asked many times, even by me, not sure if it was on this forum though

I tried to get a unbiased answer from the crowd, but everyone still just says its ebay crap since the allignition optis claimed to be genuine AC delco but actually werent or whatever happened. I never got an unbiased answer from ANYBODY who actually bought the one in your first link (or similar) saying either way that they are crap or not. Most just say buy ACDelco (or Delphi) because its ACDelco. I'm not one to jump on that bandwagon

I bought one of those no names for about 95 bucks last summer since I thought my opti was going out. I figured I'd change it since it was over 110K old anyway. Never got around to it and its still in the back of my car.

I guess when my opti finally goes out I'll have an answer for you since I'd like to know the answer as well.

[Zapper2003]

Well, thats an answer


I'm pretty sure mine is toast. The car starts fine, once its running it idles like crap and smooths out great past 2500RPM's. Plugs/wires didn't fix it. The car was sitting in the lawn out front (read: Grass) for about 3 months untouched, I had to move it to mow, and it started and ran great, took it for about a half-mile burn up the road and back, parked it, then about 20 minutes later got in, wouldn't start, once it did start it idled like crap, changed plugs/wires and has been doing this ever since. I found a helpful link to another forum ( LINK ) and there are all kinds of answers on there, and nothing definitive. I have not tried anything since the plug/wire change because of sheer frustration.

[rbaksi]

Yeah I my car is similar it just idles bad

Wish I wasnt so busy I would change it out and find out. When its not freezing out I'll do it

[hot93rod]

I know we're getting kind of off subject, but yeah, the opti always seems to be what goes wrong w/these unless if it is an o2 sensor or something, a scan will sometimes help to decide that. Back to the original question, you don't have to buy a factory one (way too much). But MSD makes one that is a fair amount less, I would just spend the money and get the new one. If you buy it used, and it doesn't work, who's fault is it? You could've gotten it wet during install, (or shop installing it for that matter) or it really was a bad unit... or shipping issues... etc. You never know, so sometimes it's worth the extra money from the start

[Zapper2003]

The ebay units claim to be brand new, just not name-brand. MSD i always see selling in the 550-575 range, and thats a lot of dough to pony up for a car that i plan to sell. I'll be doing the install, the thing runs like shit but throws NO codes, zip, zero. So aggravating.

[bigrondownhiller]

If you dont want to replace the entire thing you can get the cap and rotor kit. That is usually what wears out anyway. The kit is around 100 bucks. Some even have the tool to replace also.

[Zapper2003]

Yeah, cap and rotor locally is about 150 from waht I've seen, but really, if i gotta tear this bitch down THAT far to change pieces, I'm gonna swap out the entire thing. Whats this tool you refer to?

[bigrondownhiller]

The screws that hold the cap is an inverted torx screw. If you are changing the entire thing you won't need it.

[Zapper2003]

ah, I gotcha. Buddy of mine jus' told me he got a set of those the other day.

[ls1bandit]

I have one running strong in my t/a for over a year.

[Zapper2003]

do you recall who sold you it, or if it had any kind of names on it? There's a seller on there Ignition_DK or something like that who usually has an auction going.

[hot93rod]

Don't know how to help you w/that, I tried it a while back w/the rebuild kit from an advance auto, and it was a nightmare, I had the thing off, tried to take it apart (w/o the tool, lol). Needless to say I ended up towing my car to a garage just for them to swap it out w/an entire $1000+ unit from gm... The things we go through to learn a lesson!

[t-rock]

Just wondering because there are a lot of them on there for cheap (well, relatively).


Here's a no-name piece for 125 bucks. LINK

And here's another, Delphi piece this time for 255 shipped. LINK


I'm just kind of wondering if these pieces could be trusted.

i bought ours from summit for $250.00 and held the stock one next to it and they were exactly the same. come to find out it was just a burnt plug wire. good luck with your seach.

[Zapper2003]

250 bucks is 'reasonable' as far as reasonable gets. I'll swing that if its a quality piece and I know that ahead of time. I have already done plugs and wires so I checked that off the list of possibilities (granted could be bad out of the box). I have also questioned the Ignition Control Module, which to my knowledge is the plug-in piece mounted near the coil. 70 Dollars I think was the cost on a new one of those. However, as I've posted the link before, it sure is a lot of reading but it sounds like what is happening to me, and theres a lot of good information and it explains some variables and outcomes.


http://www.camaroz28.com/forums/arch...p/t-61111.html

[t-rock]

have you narrowed it down to spark related and not fuel or sensors.

[Zapper2003]

I haven't been able to narrow it down to anything, actually. All i know is that it smells rich as hell, idles like poop, runs great above 2500 RPM's. Thats pretty much it. All happened after sitting about 2 or 3 months, battery was not dead, car fired right up and ran great for a short 1/2 mile 'warm up' up the road, parked it in front of the garage, got in again about 1/2 hour later, wouldn't start without holding the pedal to the floor, once it rolled over it took some coaxing to keep running but to no avail, its still being a piece of shit.

[t-rock]

i would check the fuel pressure and rule that out first, then i would check it with an obd1 to rule out sensors aqnd go from there.

[Zapper2003]

The car is a 97, its OBD2. The thing never throws a code, ever, which is confusing enough. Whats 'in spec' for fuel pressure?

[t-rock]

the 94's are 40-50 pnds. also tape the gauge to the windshield and drive it to make sure that it doesnt fall below under driving conditions.