EFI Connection 24X setup

Hey guys...been a long time.

I have had horrendous opti problems since I built my car, and it has caused me to have to park it recently, because I just can't trust it...so I've been seriously considering the EFI Connection 24X kit to eliminate the optispark entirely. Does anyone here have any experience with the kit? Fit and Finish good? Any good resources/readings about it that you could suggest?

Thanks guys!

ps...just wanted to head off the LS1 engine suggestions, I'm not planning on pulling this motor again for a long time, it's in, with a brand new clutch and new seals, doesn't leak a drop of oil, and is mechanically very sound and sure...I just can't keep opti's from blowing up. I really can't figure out what the hell is going on with these damn opticraps, they install perfectly easily without any trouble (I've done it enough times by now...meh...) but I've still had 2 blow up and a total of 4-5 in the car. When I say blow up, I mean the rotors shattered inside of the cap...both times well over an hour from home. I've checked cam pin length, and the cam will not move if I yank/push on it, so I'm pretty sure it's not walking...The most recent cap and rotor to explode was a chandler motorsports one, and they were supposed to send me a new one but totally dropped the ball, so maybe I've just had really bad luck, but I put a good, tested and true opti in and the damn thing surges a little when cruising, which is exactly what it was doing right before the old one blew up...WTF!?

Have you tried a MSD or stock GM replacement opti? I really don't have much experience yet (and I hope I don't get it), but I've heard anything other than the MSD or stock GM replacement is crap. Are you sure the surging is being caused by the opti? Maybe you have a vacuum leak or your tune is off?

it is entirely possible that the tune is off, there are no vacuum leaks though, all seals and vacuum lines are new and tested, but the surging only worries me because that's what the car did right before the rotor detonated the last two times. I think I've had 5 different setups of Opti's in the car, the first was an ebay opti that got moisture in it and died slowly, leaving me stranded randomly and then restarting...every subsequent opti was a gm unit, only the second to last one had an aftermarket cap and rotor, which was supposed to be the only aftermarket unit to trust, guess that was wrong.

it is also entirely possible that I've really just had a bad run of luck with the last 4-5 opti's and that with the gm unit I have in there I won't have any problems.

But. I will tell you, I will not spend 500+ dollars on an optispark, with the problems I've had with the optis I'm not going to risk that kind of investment when for the cost of 2 MSD optis I can have an LS1 system installed in my car

Are you using new or used opti's?

How does EFI Connection 24X setup work? Will you need the LS1 PCM and wiring harness too?

yup, you use a LS1 pcm and harness and coils, check out the website [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

they've come up with a custom made 24X crank reluctor, and a 1X cam reluctor, with a sensor that replaces the optispark so you can completely remove the high voltage distributor from the engine, the only downside is you do lose the high resolution optical disk...but you gain the tunability of an LS1 engine computer!

I have never bought a brand new opti and I never will, it just does not make sense to me, someone who's lost 5 already, all of which (except for one) were good working GM optis pulled off of running vehicles that had no issues...the only thing I can think is that my motor in particular doesn't like the optispark, so i'm going to get rid of it

Yeah thats horrible. I would say go for it but theres something nagging about the whole thing. My suggestion.... stop reving past 6K rpm!

Regardless, when you do this mod, post back with pics of the installation so others can reference!

Need to qualify with a few questions first.

1) is this unit a 1st or 2nd design?? 94 and prior is 1st and 95-96 is 2nd
2) either design "look closely at the vent system" , the vacuum source has a 1 way check valve for the sole purpose of preventing hot soak intake hydrocarbons from building up once the engine is up to temp and then turned off . The check valve prevents the hydrocarbons from entering the optispark and hvac system and resulting in recondensed fuel in both systems.. Gm has seen multi optispark unit desolved (a/c vacuum switches) or blown apart optispark units.
3)Also if it is a 1st design look an the drive pin, the pin is driven directly by the cam and can bend if a cap to rotor collision occures. The 2nd design has a rear housing hub and intermidiate drive to prevent this and other durablity/reliablity concerns.

Hope this is hepfull for you Benjamin

Dont feel bad, one of my customers/friends son's car is a camaro with opti, i spent the money on the GM unit and it lasted 50 miles then the rotor exploded and GM wouldnt warranty it... so i just put a cap/rotor from advance on it and its been ok, but its been randomly misfiring. I think your doing the right thing!

Mark

hey thanks Mark! That sucks, and that's what I'm afraid of happening with my car.

To Benjamin,

It's a second gen Opti (vented), my engine is a 97. I believe both vacuum hoses have check valves on them, and if i remember correctly they are both run up onto the intake manifold, because there's nowhere on my air intake to allow for a vacuum hose to be connected...is this alright? To clarify there are two vacuum hoses, both with check valves, which I've run to vacuum sources on the intake manifold.

Oh and I granny shift the hell out of this car hahaha...i've actually been scolded by friends who own 944's that i shift like a b!tch haha, to which i respond "i'm just letting you keep up!"

if/WHEN I do this swap I will do my best to catalog and document it for future users!

thanks guys!
let me know if you have any other questions!

oh and i wanted to clarify...it is probable that the current (slight) surging I'm experiencing is from the tune, but it still makes me very nervous

There is a lot of good info on the F-body forums on optispark alternatives. 24X is supposed to be a great system, but by the time you tally everything up, you could almost do an LSx swap. The stock LT1 PCM is good for 7k rpms and is very tuneable once you figure it out - more than adequate for most cars with upgraded heads/cam.

I'm facing the same issue with my opti. Driving in the rain it starts surging, missing. Not good since it rains a lot here.... Currently collecting parts for the Bailey LTCC conversion that uses the Opti just as a cam position sensor. I threw out my notes after finishing the cost comparison, but LTCC should be under $1k depending on how cheap you buy the coils while 24X was over $3k IIRC.

really? I've figured about 1100 for parts from eficonnection, another 100 or so for a wiring harness (hopefully), and a mail order tune from pcmforless or something like that to get the car running. Wiring for me is easy to do, so building a custom harness out of a stock LS harness shouldn't be difficult...why buy when you can build right? The most expensive thing is probably going to be the tuning, but if i can get a baseline tune with everything i need deleted out of the pcm then i'll be good to drive reliably for a while.

I considered the LTCC swap for a long time, but there's no way in HELL I'm keeping anything from the stock opti in my car. I've had at least one (two maybe) optical sensors go, in addition to multiple rotors exploding, so...just hell no...

looking at it again, and reworking numbers to include a full tune and the possibility of a more expensive wiring harness (350 bucks or so) i could be looking at close to 2K when I'm all said and done...but I don't really consider the cost of the full tune an expense for this swap, because I should have had the current engine tuned, but I couldn't find someone to do it locally, so I consider it a delayed cost. haha!

Without the cost of the tune i'm still looking at 1500ish, assuming that a wiring harness costs 350 bucks.