Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Well what started out as a nice day trip for the wife and myself has turned into a nightmare. Since it was beautiful today we decided to take the Vette out for a ride in the sun. We drove out in the country and had a wonderful time. On the way home I noticed at a stoplight that the car was heating up and the fan didnt seem to be working to bring the temp down as it usually does. SO, it was at this time I also thought I could smell anti freeze. Well I immed decided to get the car off the road and as I pulled into a quick stop the engine had started to miss a little. The temp was almost in the danger zone but not quite when I shut off the engine. Thats when I could really smell the anti freeze. Well I open the hood and low and behold the upper radiator hose where it connects to the water pump is spewing water all over the engine compartment. Everything under the hood looks like rust. Lucky me my stepdad owns a towing service so I had him tow it home. Now I already have ordered the OEM waterpump at a cost of $229.00 and the hoses for the radiator at a cost of $75.00 and a new serpintine belt for $40.00.I am quite sure I will need to order a OPTISPARK ( DAMMIT ) for it too. So can anyone here please tell me the best one to get. I have seen many different opinions. I know I can get a remanfactured one for $175 with warrranty but I am a little wary. Also can I do all this myself. Replacing the waterpump and the Opti? If I can I could save myself about $350.00 as thats what my mechanic would charge me for all this. Also since I am having to do this to the car would you also change the oil pump to a high output one as my oil pressure runs around 18psi when idleing? PLEASE LET ME KNOW ASAP. The parts I ordered will be in on Tuesday.
Oh this car has 98K miles on it and uses no oil. However it does have a small oil leak in one of the VCG's. Should I also replace them along with new plugs and wires too? If so please chime in on the best SparkPlugs for the engine?
Thanks guys I hope to have her out and about again very very soon. I am SO SICK TONIGHT I HAD TO TAKE A VALIUM !

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Good evening 93, I can't help you any on the OPTI-SPARK but I would'nt hesitate to tear into it and do all the work yourself, as long as your carefull not to twist any bolts off it should be straight forward wrenching. If the oil pump is easy to access with the OPTI and water pump off then you might as well change it out, I'd stay with a stock pressure and volume pump, good luck-have fun.

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Thanks for the reply. Some are saying I need the FSM for the job. I am 47 years old and in my day I have changed out many distributors, plugs, alternators, water pumps, wires, hoses etc. However I have worked on a car in many years either and I dont want to screw this one up as my wife is tellin me. Will I need to put it up on blocks etc? Thanks for the reply as all are certainly welcome. I am so SICK I cant stand myself right now !

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Stand back, take a breather, tomorrow will be a better day, when the guys at work start drooling over my vette I ask 'em whats the big deal?, it's just an old Chevy, like one of the tin knockers at work likes to say, "they make new ones everyday". It's only money-relax and have fun with it.

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Check out this threadthere is about all the info you will need on the opti.https://www.corvetteforums.com/m_31144/tm.htm

I would go with NGK TR55 plugs.
You have a cheap mechanic if he would do the opti and water pump for $350.00 I think I know who you are on another forum. You are
93LT1Power right? You have a nice avatar over there.

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Yep thats me. Everyone seems to love the avatar over there LOL. I thought posting on both would give me better coverage. Thanks for your imput. I appreciate all the ideas I am getting from everyone. Sure makes one feel a little better if I can feel that way at this present time. Man this really sucks though !

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Knock on wood, and I am knocking now, I have yet to have a catastrophy like that in my car, but unfortunatly our cars are getting to that age that they are yet to be antiques but are far from new, so crap like that happens. The great thing about it is that it going to give you a chance to spend some time repairing and getting to know your new car. The more work I have been able to do on my car the more I have just loved it. I have yet to blast down the road in it and not feel like I am luckiest person in the world to own one of these cars. My dad had a 2006 Z51 that I drove last weekend, and as nice a car as it is I still love my C4 just as much!

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Remanufactured=crap....I have bad luck with that stuff....Got brake booster from autozone with lifetmie warranty been in 4 brake boosters in a year and a half! All remanufactured ones!

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Sorry about your '93 problems, but "it ain't nothing but a thing".
I just completed the job on my '93 and looking back I'm glad I did it myself. Although, if someone had told me they would do it for $350 I may have taken them up on it. My quotes were all upwards of $1200.
Should you do it yourself my "few" suggestions would be:
Get the car high enough to get underneath it, but not so high as to make it uncomfortable working from the top.
PurchaseONLY a distributor (opti-type) that is vented for intake and exhaust air. You can modify a stock opti like this and there are a few websites that explain the process. I opted for a design which included these features. (more pricey, but worth it)
You'll have to drain the radiator, (you can save the coolant and reuse)
but it probably needs changing anyway. I took the opportunity to flush
the cooling system (heater core included) and installed new coolant.
After getting the new distrib. installed, before hooking anything else up,
start the engine and make sure it will run for a minute. It may idle real rough, but you just want to confirm you have the installation right. Better to know now than find out after all is back togeather you need to tear it downagain.
I would suggest replacing plugs and wires now also. It will be easier with so much out of the way. (still not easy)
If you do the job yourself, remember this forum is here for support should you get into trouble. While I can't speak for them, I'm sure there are several here willing help as they can.

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

I am in the same boat at this time not that the cooling system is at falt. Mine started missing back fireing some times in the intake and sometimes in the exhaust. Replaced the plugs first helped a little but got worst. Got a cap and rotor from MSD bought a new water pump airtech and started to take apart have pump off and three of the bolts from the distr. it looks like the dampner is going too have to come off. too get the last srew out of the cap which means a new seal. and maybe a speedi sleeve for you at 28k I would think mine is o.k. but we will see As far as your 18 psi at idal with 5w30 oil is not that bad as long as you have 40 max you may have a low reading gage. Alot of racers are not using hipo oil pump any more they take a lot of hp too run by the way your pump is in the oil pan not sure how hard that is too get off one of this babys One more thing to mind. Make sure you put some water pump lube /antirust teatment back in and put a new one each year it will help the pump and hoses too live a long life.

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

If this had happened to my car, a 92 with optispark, and the distributor had been working OK before the coolant leak, what I would do, would be to remove the water pump, then remove the distributor cap, (mark the position of all the plug wires first) then spray the cap & rotor down with WD40 to remove all the water (WD= water displacement) then wipe it all down with a clean cloth, and put it back together. I would also replace thecoil wire, because it is the weak link in this chain.If the only problem with the optispark is that it got wet, it should not have to be replaced.

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

If it got coolant in the opti even wiping down after a dose of WD40 is probably not going to help. The coolant will corrode and breakdown the grease in the sealed bearings which in turn will cause the common shaft to wobble leading to carbon tracing promoting the death of the opti.

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

[sm=jawdrop.gif]

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Back in the day I serviced a lot of LT1 engines in county police cars, and I really did not see much relationship between a leaking water pump and a wiped out distributor, and the county definately did not put in a $400 distributor if they didn't reallly need it.

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

[sm=dontgetit.gif]

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Then you were extremely and lotteryesque lucky. 99% of the time if the water pump takes a dump on an LT1, you WILL lose the opti in the near future.

http://www.vetteweb.com/features/vem...d_distributor/
The environment in which the OptiSpark is asked to perform sets it up for failure. Mounting it low on the front of the engine practically guarantees that it will be constantly assaulted by heat, water, and debris. While heat and debris should not be dismissed completely, it is moisture that has proved to be the number-one killer of OptiSpark distributors. Further exacerbating matters is the fact that the '92-'94 model year OptiSpark distributors are not even sealed from outside elements. Later versions were given a seal and a vacuum-drawn venting arrangement, but this was a stopgap measure that proved only marginally effective.

Moisture from an outside source or even condensation inside the OptiSpark corrodes the optical components or causes shorts within the cap-and-rotor assembly. Moisture inside the OptiSpark can originate from several sources. One common cause of OptiSpark irrigation is water-pump failure. Even if the pump does not fail completely, higher-mileage units often exhibit leaky seals, which allow coolant to escape from the pump-body weep hole and directly onto (and into) the distributor underneath. Care must be taken when driving through high water, as the unit can easily be submerged. Automatic car washes with undercarriage wash can also soak the unit. The simple act of rinsing the engine with a garden hose has killed many OptiSpark distributors as well. Never, ever spray your EFI engine with water.

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Maybe I don't yet understand the idiosyncrasies of 'vettes but why on earth would you replace the water pump simply because a radiator hose let go?

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

You wouldn't but you would probably be replacing the optispark soon if a radiator hose blew. If you have to do an opti you must remove the water pump so you should replace it while your in there.

Something else I notice in the original post is that the OP said "everything looked like rustunder the hood". That leads me to belive he is using Dexcool in his car and he shouldn't be. His car is a 93 and came with conventional coolant (green), changing to Dexcool is bad news. That stuff turns into a gelatinous mess inside the engine especially when it comes in contactwith ethylene glycol. Never use water from the tap or hose to fill your rad with, only distilled water.

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Someone is getting mad.:D

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Check out this article on putting Dexcool in an older engine:

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/D...7/dexcool.html

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

and Lee wins yet ANOTHER argument. Yay.[8D]

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

why would anyone put dex cool in anything that didn't require it? the green never turns to mud and it doesn't eat intake gaskets. I have it on pretty goo authority that most gm service mgrs take it out of their personal vehicles that call for it, but cannot recommend it to customers. comments?

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Well I got the radiator hoses in today and replaced them. Once the engine started ( it didnt want to as it seemed like the timing was off while it was turning over the first time I tried it since last Friday ) it ran GREAT. I took it to my friend who owns a shop and when we got there we turned off the car and let it sit for a few minutes and then tried cranking it again. It cranked on the first try soon as I hit the switch so I think its ok!
I am having the coolant system flushed tomorrow and all new heater hoses installed also plus a new belt and new thermostat.
The car when I left his house was running PERFECT so I am holding out hope that the opti is gonna be fine. My friend also told me the skipping/misfiring that happened when the hose let go could have come from the coil getting wet as there was alot of water on top of it when I opened the hood right after it happened. Its very possible that the Opti wasnt touched with water. At least I hope so. I hope to have my baby back on Monday all cleaned out and ready to ride !
To answer a couple responses, if the opti were to have been fried then it would be STUPID to replace it and not replace an original waterpump with over 97K miles on it dont you think?

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

You definetly would want to replace the water pump.

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Yes if everything holds up this year I plan on replacing the WP and the Opti next Spring/Summer along with the weatherstripping. I am in the market for a used acrylic top in the meantime. So come Monday hopefully I will be out and about with the top off and enjoying the sun.
One more thing.
Can anyone tell me the best thing to use to get all that rust off the engine parts and hoses etc? That crap is all over the place under the hood. Any input would be appreciated

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

Maybe dexcool maybe not my guess is that the coolant system has not had any service my bet is all the hoses are original

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

All hoses were original. Since the engine isnt missing and is running smooth I elected to Only replace ALL the heater and radiatior hoses. So tell me guys did I get a good deal. I paid about $200.00 for all the hoses and new thermostat, and another $51.00 for the belt and the guy charged me $125.00 to put them on and to replace all the fluid. So I spent a total of about $375.00. I am going to buy a Opti and a new WP this week sometimes to have just in case or when the WP starts to fail.

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

You got a pretty good deal but what I want to know is if you got rid of all that Dexcool or did you use it again?

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

In response to Scooterman, as a former GM tech & service manager, my personal 99 Grand Am still has Dexcool in it and I have flushed & replaced the coolant once at this time.
however, my 92 Vette does not have Dex. As indicated in the article that Lees mentioned, the silicates are already in the cooling system if it ever had the green antifreeze and you will not gain the long life capabilitys of Dex if you put it in a system that has already had the older coolant. An important fact that has not been mentioned, is that Dex does not tolerate ANY air in the cooling system. A Dex system that is always kept full of coolant lasts along time, but a Dex system that has a slight leak and gets air in the system turns to nasty mud in a very short time. The vast majority of problems related to Dex systems that I have seen have been caused by air in the system. I do not have any experience using Dex is older, occaisional use vehicles that sit around a lot, so I will not comment on that.

RE: Terrible Day for My 93 Vette. Opinions Please !
 

There was only about 2 quarts of dex added and NO that wasnt put back in. It has the old standard green coolant now. What was supposed to be in there in the first place .