[DiGGM95]

After going through hell and back trying to figure out my intermittent no start/no start/hesitating/ghost revving/random dieing/TCC lockup issues/neck breaking lunging while locked up doing under 55, I tore the front of the engine down again.




I had done ALL the troubleshooting procedures, fuel psi, fuel filter, checked the new fuel pump wiring, Tested coil/ICM/TPS/IAC, Inspected the front half of the opti, changed the IAT, CTS, MAF, trans TS, plugs and wires, to no avail.



Because i was lazycwm5, when i checked the opti a few nights ago, I did it with the back-half still bolted onto the engine, and just pulled the cap, looked around, and bolted it back up.



It did DIFFERENT than it did before i took it down, but still not right. I finally noticed that even though the car acted differently each time i troubleshooted it, it never really acted any better, and the symtoms seemed to repeat themselves eventualy.cwm3



I pulled the opti off the car last night, and after pulling the rotor so i could actually see what was going on under the rinite (sp?) divider, i saw that oil had once again invaded the opti, and tracked the OS wheel, and in turn slung oil up into the four OS holes (you could actually see the oil had filled up and was covering one of the OS sensor slots). A pic is attached of the OS ring, and the oil tracking.



I changed the WP DS and opti seal, took some QD electrical cleaner and sprayed the oil out of the 4 OS slots, and followed up with canned air, to help force dry anything left under the metal "shields" that cover the OS slots. I also sprayed the entire opti with the QD, to get any residue out, and gently scrubbed all the oil residue off the OS wheel.



Ive done this several times now, and after noticing the pattern of how the oil ALWAYS comes into the opti, I believe ive found out how to stop it. Im not saying that you should live with a bad opti seal/bearing, just saying how to give the opti a better chance of surviving a situation involving a seal leak if one ever arises.



Under the rotor, the round plate that all the spinning parts are bolted to in the opti, is what the opti shaft is pressed into from the back. Every oiled down opti ive saw has always had the underside of the rotor really wet with oil, and from looking at the tracking the oil leaves on the OS wheel/rotor underside, I determined that the oil was seeping into it around where the plate is pressed onto the outer shaft.



I took a dab of ultra copper and just smeared a lil around where the pressed together pieces meet under the rotor, just enough to fill in the lil valley they create (i took extra care to not use too much, and not get any on the OS wheel). Time will tell if this is really where the bad stuff works its way in, but im pretty sure due to the pattern it leaves on the OS wheel, that its coming from under the rotor, and not from behind the OS wheel.



Ill report if anything happens to the opti, but right now its doing great, it actually cranks on the second "whine" of the starter again like it should, and its super smooth under 2500rpm now. The TCC i suspect was unlocking due to the horrendous power loss that the miss was causing, and the TCC lockup was really exagerating it. I just thought my car was idling around sounding really "MEAN" since the 3000k stall, but now i know better!

 

[B-Body Builder]

I took a dab of ultra copper and just smeared a lil around where the pressed together pieces meet under the rotor, just enough to fill in the lil valley they create (i took extra care to not use too much, and not get any on the OS wheel). Time will tell if this is really where the bad stuff works its way in, but im pretty sure due to the pattern it leaves on the OS wheel, that its coming from under the rotor, and not from behind the OS wheel.



Ill report if anything happens to the opti, but right now its doing great, it actually cranks on the second "whine" of the starter again like it should, and its super smooth under 2500rpm now. The TCC i suspect was unlocking due to the horrendous power loss that the miss was causing, and the TCC lockup was really exagerating it. I just thought my car was idling around sounding really "MEAN" since the 3000k stall, but now i know better!

Thanks for posting back with the possible solution to this problem.......Often on this forum, members will post with a problem, recieve possible help for it, Then NEVER post back if the problem was solved or not?..... This makes some knowledgeable forum members take the opinion of "Why Bother wasting my time" , I wont know if the problem was solved or not?

 

[DiGGM95]

Thanks, ill deff. let everyone know how the copper holds up. This oil in the opti stuff gives people a "placebo" effect when troubleshooting, due to the random effects oil and the OS can be odd timed (you know, fix something and it works for a week and starts the same crap again). It looks like oil will seep down the OS wheel, until it either gets slung off or wiped up into the OS, causing random, intermittent problems. I suppose the no start/random dieing with hit or miss restart times is when the oil has bridged the gap between the OS and wheel, or filled up an OS lens guard. I checked the back of the OS wheel each time, and it always is a smaller, more fine pattern than the oil leaves on the front, like fine seepage getting slung instead of huge drops that come from under the rotor on the front side of the OS wheel. There was no oil on the aluminum back plate, so i ruled out a leak there. I last had to tear my opti down in 07 and had not figured it out, but this time i think i got it fixed. Edit: I also think the OS is alot tougher than most think, its survied the above scenario, cleaning and all, 4 times/5 times counting last night. The cap has a burned in date of sometime in march 05, so its not young either. Hopefuly now with the source sealed, i wont have this problem anymore. I could also believe that alot of the thought to be dead optis just have dirty OS rings and/or clogged-oil filled OS grilles.