corvetteronw

Last night I sat down and read the service records of the Corvette I just bought. I purchased it new from the original owner. He was in the U S Air Force and it looked like he was stationed in Virginia then Arizona and finally North Carolina. He saved all the dealer service records. Interesting to see some of the common problems that we L98 owners face.
7-29-81 Passed pre-delivery dealer inspection.
8-13-91 Wipers adjusted as left hand wiper is too high and hangs up. Miles: 3302
8-26-92 Wipers not fully cleaning windshield and side windows leaking at the top. Miles: 9950
2-3-93 Wiper blades chatter. Blades replaced. Miles: 13007
12-24-93 Air filter changed, fuel filter replaced, wiper blades replaced, coolant flushed and refilled, left rear compartment lid adjusted, center console door adjusted. Miles: 18251
1-28-94 SES light on, runs rough. Code 32. Replaced EGR valve and #1 fuel injector. Miles: 19238
3-28-94 Brought in for SES light. Install SOP for EGR valve. Valve replaced as it was opening too fast. Miles: 20772
4-15-94 Third brake light inoperative. Replaced brake switch and bulb. Miles: 21198
5-13-94 (Dang - this is a rough year for this car!) No start. ECM code 46, Pass key failure. Cleaned key and cylinder. Miles: 23798
8-29-94 Weatherstrip corners at upper rear glass split. Repaired with RTV. Also low coolant level. Replaced intake gasket, left valve cover gasket, thermostat and gasket. Miles: 25028
Note: I'll bet his wife is giving him grief about how this 3 year old, 24000 mile car being in the shop so much!
Here's a good one: 5-20-95. 2 customer supplied Goodyear GSC 275/40/17 tires replaced. Miles: 26778. Note: Dang fighter pilots, always spinning those rear tires. Wore them out in only 27000 miles!
8-8-95 Complete tune with PCV valve, plugs, fuel filter. SES light on and idles rough. Code 45. O2 sensor replaced. Transmission serviced. Miles: 27874.
9-25-95 SES light on. Tech 1 showed no problems. Coolant leak. Replaced water pump. CD player shows error. Cassette player will not eject tape. Right wiper arm sits too high. Wiper arm adjusted. Miles: 29074.
10-12-95 Tire repair. Miles 29841.
10-25-95 Missing, poor mileage, car bucks. EGR sticking. Remove intake plenum and replace EGR valve. Miles: 30099.
Note: WTF is with these EGR valves?
11-1-95 New radio receiver installed under warranty. Miles: 30399.
3-14-1996 Loan paid off!
9-8-2000 Vibration at 65mph. Wheels balanced. Battery replaced as it kept dying. New alternator installed and faulty wiring repaired. Miles: 44207.
3-8-01 Cooling fans on all the time. Technician could not duplicate this condition. Tested and found cooling fans kick on at 228 degrees and off at 216 degrees. Customer brings in new front speaker amps for dealer to install. Serpentine belt replaced. Multiple oil and trans fluid leaks. Power steering fluid is low and contaminated. Engine oil leaking at front and rear of oil pan, front crank seal, and hub area, front and rear of intake manifold, possibly rear main. Auto trans flush and fill and new filter installed. Miles: 45201.
3-30-04 All brake pads replaced. Brake fluid flushed and refilled. AC system recharged. Miles: 75490.
8-24-06 License plate light shorting out. Left headlight will not always come up and makes a knocking noise. Technician recommended new headlight assembly as gear is partially stripped. Estimate: $644 (holy schizzle!). Miles: 98986.
12-19-06 Coolant flush and fill. Serpentine belt replaced. Miles: 101595.
5-2-07 Leaking coolant. Replaced gaskets on intake manifold, air plenum, egr and valve covers. Miles: 105,393.
5-15-07 Heard weird noise under the hood, volt guage shows 8. Miles: 105727. Alternator bad. Alternator replaced. Right front marker bulb replaced.
5-31-07 Temp gauge reads high. Temp sensor replaced as it was out of range. It read 255 while actual temp was 223. Retested and found to be OK but recommends cluster be replaced as it is reading 30 degrees high. Miles: 106075.
2-22-08 Battery will not hold charge. Replace battery and positive cable. Serpentine belt tensioner assembly replaced. Miles: 106678.
9-9-08 Door ajar switch is stuck on. Right door ajar switch disabled. Battery hold down replaced. License plate bulb replaced. Miles: 107652.
8-7-09 Will not start. No crank. Towed in. Water found in gas tank and fuel rail. Blew out fuel rail and all fuel lines. Replaced fuel filter, fuel pump and fuel sender. Gas tank cleaned out. Interior lights fuse replaced. Miles: 108244.
8-26-09 Hood won't open. New cables installed. Miles: 108395.
10-15-09 Very slow crank. Battery replaced with Delco battery. Miles: 108589.
12-12-09 Sold to me for $5,600. Miles: 108xxx. Driven from Goldsboro North Carolina to Lowell, Michigan a total of 916 miles. Mpg was 22.3 average. Problems: Tachometer reads extremely high, right windshield wiper blade comes off partially and duct taped repair was made. Starts easily, runs strong, handles and stops well. Some roughness at idle. New 18" rear tires with 2003 Corvette 50th Anniversary wheels installed upon arrival at new home along with new 17" tires and 2003 Corvette 50th Anniversary wheels on front.
Needs: new right wiper arm, exterior paint, driver's bolster repair and diagnosis of rough idle. Tach is reading high and needs diagnosis and repair.
I did not plug in all lube/oil/filter dates and miles here. It was noted that owner brought in his own Mobil 1 oil at each oil change.
Hope that was not too boring and that someone out there finds this enlightening.

pologreen1

Well now you now how many problems it had, and what to wait for.
lol, at least you know it was taken care of.

corvetteronw

In one of my Gordon Killebrew classes he advised all C4 owners to drill a small hole in the lower corners of the rubber under the gas fill lid. He said that dealers had several complaints of owners driving in the rain and having water sucked into the pressurized tank through the cap's vent hole. I am going to do that tomorrow.

Jon Hekking

I think it's like a medical check up. I would rather know than not know.....

91yellowfellow

Note: Dang fighter pilots, always spinning those rear tires. Wore them out in only 27000 miles!

That is actually ALOT of miles out of a set of tires

RedVette84

Don't get many miles out of them.

mikeb

Geez.
What a problem filled money pit.

Wish you wouldnta bought it, huh?

Maybe you'll get lucky like I did, and have had the previous owner straightenjh all the bugs out.

mike100

I had a brand new 1992 Z-28 that had a LOT less problems than that, but the couple of issues it had could have been left alone, but it was under warranty. The techs did more harm repairing the car than the original issues did. I think I had my 25th anniversary black heritage appearance pkg stripes replaced about 3 times because they would shrink and wrinkle about every 12 months on the hood bulges. other than that I had them put in a new posi because those oem Auburn ones were sprung real weak and only lasted a few months. I had to redo that work as well as get my dinged aluminum d/s rebalanced...lesson learned..don't fix it unless you are doing it yourself or paying top dollar.

mike100

I actually found the original owners name and address on an extended warranty contract and was thinking about stalking them to find out a little bit more about the car..not sure the best way to go about it though...

6 speed car originally registered to a woman about 20 miles away.

corvetteronw

After the warranty ran out he paid major bucks for the dealer to fix things. Kinda nice to know that the battery and alternator, serpentine belt, belt tensioner, valve cover gaskets and intake gaskets are fairly new. Also nice to have a new fuel pump and sender.
I have been playing phone tag with Gordon Killebrew today on how to fix the tachometer.
It was 19 degrees out in my pole barn today so I hooked her up to a battery charger.

ZR-71

That thing sure has had a lot of wiper problems

cal55

That's great to get all that documentation with the car. At least you know the history of it pretty much, and that it was well maintained by the original owner.
Joe

mazdaverx7

i dream of finding documentation like thet when i buy a car. at least he had it regurlary serviced and seems like the car was well maintained. seems your car needs a cluster per dealer suggestion...not too many clusters fail..unless yo're an 84 owner like me, lol then a working cluster is like opening a big gift on christmas. whats the deal with the wiper arm?

RetiredSFC 97

he must have loved that car. I don't know that I would have kept it with all those issues. That's total BS for a thirty some thousand dollar car (and that was in 91 no less) to have all those issues.

That about 50K today. At least you have a good documented history and shouldn't be hard to track down problems should they occur again. That's the positive.

All the cars I have I have a folder with complete paperwork to include oil changes. I sold a 92 Honda Accord last year and I handed the folder to the new owner and he acted like a schoolboy on his first date he was so excited.

turns out he was a car guy and had just completed putting a vette engine in an RX7. Not sure what engine it was exactly, he told me but I forget.

SunCr

Typical in my opinion - just look at the numerous Service Bulletins issued on these cars.

Gatorbacks rarely lasted more than 20k with normal driving; the GSC's were much better - 5 to 10k maybe. Also, GM advised owners that the only way to rotate tires (with LTPWS) was by dismounting and remounting - each pressure sensor had to stay where it was mounted. That was corrected by Service Bulletin, but not until much later.

How an EGR opens too fast is mind boggling - the only way it opens is when vacuum is applied - and since the ECM drives it, it probably needed a new ECM and not so many EGR valves.

I'd still check for a leaking/weeping head gasket at #7 (though the '91 had the updated heads which were designed to stop the problem). GM's Service Bulletin outlined the cause as leaking intake gaskets (which have been replaced) which led to galvanic corrosion which ate up the head gasket; but the Code 45 often shows up when trace amounts of Coolant leans out the signal and a less than perfect idle is another sign. If it is weeping, it'll eventually wear a gully in the deck; usually by the time the gasket lets loose and the problem becomes more obvious.