Engine cleaning - opti-spark distributor

[e3imcba]

I've read that the C4's opti-spark distributor can be destroyed by over-zealous cleaning of the engine bay, leading to outrageously costly repairs. One suggestion is to cover the weep holes on the bottom of the distributor with a rag before spraying water. I want to have my 92's engine bay professionally cleaned by WaxWerks. Anybody have any suggestions or recommendations? Thank you for the help! -- John

 

[Mr Cowl Hood]

92 Vs 96 and later

I've read that the C4's opti-spark distributor can be destroyed by over-zealous cleaning of the engine bay, leading to outrageously costly repairs. One suggestion is to cover the weep holes on the bottom of the distributor with a rag before spraying water. I want to have my 92's engine bay professionally cleaned by WaxWerks. Anybody have any suggestions or recommendations? Thank you for the help! -- John

I know that LT1's, prior to 1996, were not equipped with vacuum lines to pull excess moisture from the opti to the intake. Those were the ones that had issues when owners washed to underhood areas by simply soaping it up and hosing it down. I have a 96, do that all the time. I wouldn't with one before that year. Just be careful and you'll clean the engine to your liking.

 

[compyelc4]

DO NOT APPLY MOISTURE TO OPTI. Covering "weep" holes? That WILL NOT do it. Recommend rag, cleaner and elbow grease only. DO NOT SPRAY! If you decide to go ahead with the pro engine cleaning just promise us you'll let us know as soon as you experience those weird ignition problems. We'll walk you through the water pump and opicrap replacement procedure at that time. ;-)

 

[Rain]

ditto the above.
I have a 96 and I still clean the engine by hand.

First hit it with the air hose.
then wipe all surfaces with rags.
Then air again.
and rags again.

Finally i detail the rubber and plastic with a spray coat of Trim and Shine(made by a local company here in MS)

Underside of the hood:
I use more rags and STP's foaming tire cleaner. Spray it on about a square foot at a time. Let it work a while. as it starts to liquify and run. get it with the rags.
Eventually gets it as clean and flat black as it was from the factory!

 

[pci_raid]

I agree ! take from me , I pressure washed my 92 when i first go it, bad idea . Mine never started after the cleaning. $1200.00 optispark replacement later (Corvette city) it ran fine. Clean by hand .

Bob

 

[pci_raid]

I just noticed , you even have the same car!! LOL ,,,,,dont do it!!


Black leather sport interior?

Bob

 

[Tuna]

Ditto! Don't even think of hosing the LT1 down.

I do like "Rain" - air hose and blow everything, then I hand wash everything with either a rag or a bottle brush, then blow it off with air again. I keep doing that until I'm happy. I do get a little risky with the water hose by spraying the suspension down some time. But I'm blowing the water off quickly with the air hose.

Just in case, know where your high wattage hair dryer is. If moisture gets into the OptiSpark, you can heat it up and dry it out with a hair dryer. Gordon Killebrew recommends this technique. I've had to do it once and it works. Gordon says 45 minutes to an hour of heat on the Opti and then start it.

That's my 2 cents.

 

[Idaho Slim]

HOLY MOLY'S! :duh Glad I read this thread!! I was going to spray mine down at the carwash to remove the leaky engine oil on my bell housing prior to takin it in for fixing this leak...........................Thank goodness for this forum!!

Sooooooo, can i spray engine degreaser on this area behind my passenger valve cover to remove ugly oil buildup? and then how to clean that off ?? kinda hard to doo by hand

 

[Tuna]

If you are careful, very careful, about where you use water and other liquid cleaning stuff on the motor, you can get away with cleaning areas away from the OptiSpark.

I've used a little degreaser in several places. Then I go back over the area with a "Simple Green" mixture and a bottle brush - a plastic handled brush with a 2 inch spread works pretty good. Then I air dry the area.

Just remember that the Opti doesn't like getting a bath and will bite you if it does.

 

[Radar]

Does anyone know if you can pressure wash or hose down an L98?


Radar :confused

 

[Skant]

Sooooooo, can i spray engine degreaser on this area behind my passenger valve cover to remove ugly oil buildup? and then how to clean that off ?? kinda hard to doo by hand

No. At least, I wouldn't. There is a second vulnerability.

Your front monoleaf spring runs under the bottom of the engine from one front wheel to the other. Engine degreaser will eat the laminate coating off of this spring and cause it to start splintering into individual strands. The front of your vette will be lower... and lower... and lower... This happened to me.

I would recommend only the use of simple green for cleaning the engine. If you know what you're doing, you can use more aggressive methods. But you'd better know what you're doing ahead of time. There's a lot of ways to screw up the car by messing around under the hood for someone who doesn't understand at least the basics ins and outs of this high performance machine.

Even simple green has it's dangers. Do not spray simple green on the corvette emblems on your fuel rail covers. It will take them right off. Of course, this is only cosmetic. Other than that, I'm not aware of any way to hurt the engine using simple green... unless you were really trying specifically to do so... maybe if you purposefully hosed the optispark unit with simple green, that could hurt it... but I think you'd have to be trying to.

Not trying to scare you. The vette really is tough in quite a few ways. But it's not like a regular passenger car. There are many parts of the design where the engineers scrapped general utility/idiot proofing for weight savings/performance. So expect any maintainence that you want to do on this car to require special procedures until you know otherwise. Some of it is normal and typical, some of it isn't.

Hope that helps!

- Skant

 

[e3imcba]

Reply to Bob about '92 convert.

I just noticed , you even have the same car!! LOL ,,,,,dont do it!!


Black leather sport interior?

Bob

Thanks to you and all you other guys for the good advice! Bob - my Quasar blue has white leather sport seats and white top. I chose to buy it largely for those reasons - love the combination. -- John A.

 

[CKA_Racing]

I been using engine degreaser for years on my C4 vettes. I directly sprayed using a garden hose on my opti crap. Never had an issue.
Does it mean I recommend it to others?
NOPE!

 

[garycr14]

No Way!

Do not have someone else clean your engine bay for you. Ask the dealer I bought mine from, thought he was going to be nice and detail it for me before I picked it up. Well it took a dump on the freeway on m way home. Fortunatly he is a honest guy, and took care of the $1000 mistake. I have used a coin operated washer, but only at the wheel wells, along the sides, and the rear of the engine. Nowhere near the Optispark. I would not trust anyone else to do this for me, because you have to be very careful.

Good luck

 

[e3imcba]

Thanks to all you guys who helped me and, I'm sure, a bunch of other C4 owners who need to know what you veteran C4 owners have learned - sometimes the hard way! I'll do all my cleanup myself - and very carefully. By the way, I'm posting information I learned concerning rebuilding of Bilstein shocks from the "Selective ride and handling" package. Look for "Rebuilding shocks - RPO FX3 'Selective Ride and Handling'."

 

[redc4corvette]

Want to Buy an opti spark do it. pace chevrolet in ohio has them for 350.00
i just replaced mine great fun and the nice thing is the 3 weep holes in the bottom of the opti suck in the water and creat a vaccum can suck in more water. the wires get wet also and rust the distributor cap,then you have a real miss in your engine.
Use laquer thinner and wd40 to clean it up.

 

[Idaho Slim]

Not to beat a dead horse.........

But, I need to re-visit this, my leak has gotten to the point I need to get it fixed (Next week) and after I get it back, i want get rid of the oil buildup on the top of the bell housing at the back of the engine, and then from under neath. ......... Whats the general consensus of precise application of simple green and then very attentive directing of a pressure washer with soap??? I know to stay away from the opti-spark. Any comments??

 

[garycr14]

But, I need to re-visit this, my leak has gotten to the point I need to get it fixed (Next week) and after I get it back, i want get rid of the oil buildup on the top of the bell housing at the back of the engine, and then from under neath. ......... Whats the general consensus of precise application of simple green and then very attentive directing of a pressure washer with soap??? I know to stay away from the opti-spark. Any comments??

I have used water, very carefully on the back parts of my engine, the wheel well area, and the headlight area, always being very careful to not get anywhere near the optispark. I have never had a problem, but again I am VERY careful. You also need to be very careful if you are shooting water up from underneath the care, this could really be dangerious if you are not very careful.