tjg9493

So after 6 years of looking into buying a corvette and having created my account here over a year ago. I finally found what I was looking for and got everything set up to fly out one way with my father who has a 1976 stingray. So we fly out from CT at 5 in the morning arrive in Michigan at 7 get to the dealership at 8 when they open do the test drive which didn't really matter anyway because it was a smoking deal and the only way the Chevy dealer would take out of state checks is if it was mailed and cleared before picking the car up. I noticed some shuddering when letting the clutch out in first gear from a dead stop but chalk it up to be that I am used to driving a 15 year old vw tdi and need to get used to a different car so I pay for the remainder of the car in cash and I'm out the door on our 700 mile trip home. About 300 miles into the drive we stop for lunch and when leaving the rest area I noticed a faint ticking noise in first and second gear while accelerating. Figuredo it must have been a loose heat sheild or something and I'd check it out when I got home 200 miles later stop to fill the tank and notice that I still haven't gotten any better and preventing the shuddering when starting from a stop and also that the ticking seemed louder but the car still seemed to drive totally fine one on the road again. I finally get home and drop my father off after our 12 hour drive and leave to show my girlfriend my new car I do two 1st to 2nd gear pulls on my way there to put a smile on my face only to notice that after that driving down the highway when I put the car under any kind of load I feel a chugging and some movement under the car like a bad motor or transmission mount so I took it easy the rest of the way picked her up and came back home on the way back the above symptoms seemed more noticeable. So I decided that I would take it back to a local chevy dealership to get thing sorted out as its still under warranty. So I'm on the way to the dealership the day after I buy the car to have it looked at BTW its September 17 which is also my 22nd birthday and the car was supposed to be the present that I bought for myself. This chugging and thumping now has a new noise of metal on metal squeaking. I finally get to the dealership to have it looked at and they tell me that there service dept. Is backed up for 2 days but to pull the car around so they can scan it. I go to start the car and now it barely turns over like a dead battery and after a few seconds finally comes to life.
I know this is a long story but it's very hard for me to accept the fact that after spending a large sum of money for a 22 year old plumber on a car that I've been obsessing over for years that in the first 750 miles of owning it I've been faced with all of these problems at once.

23/C8Z

it'll get fixed.it's just a car. i know it seems like the world is caving in and the sky is falling, but it's not. take a breath.

1. what year
2. mileage
3. car fax
4. is car all stock
5. what dealer purchased from
6 link to add of car
7. you check the oil

^^^ that's a starting point for places like kid, we're here for you.. but PLEASE break up that paragraph lol

SpeedyD

That really sucks but get it to a good dealer and the warranty should take care of it. Where in CT are you?
Dan

tjg9493

Thanks for the quick reply
#1 It's a 2014 premiere edition coupe so it's a z51 3lt.
#2 I rolled 29k on the way home
#3 carfax indicates that it hit a mailbox
#4 I know the world is not ending I've swapped out a few motors and transmissions ect in other cars I've owned and for friends. So I completely understand that cars are mechanical items and mechanical items break.
#5 didn't check oil there was no light on and the screen stated it had 95% life remaining at the start of the trip



One last thing
#1 car is 100% stock
#2 Moran Chevrolet in Clinton twp. Michigan
#3 I'm from Meriden CT but I brought the car to McDermott in East Haven

SpeedyD

Well the good news is the warranty will/should take care of everything. The other good thing is at least it didn't break out in the middle of no where!! I live in Watertown, CT myself. I'm sure McDermott will get it worked out for you pretty quick!
Dan

GOLD72

Keep us informed as to what your local dealer finds please.

blue_bomber697

Sounds similar to what happened to mine... It dropped a valve and destroyed cylinder 7. Started off with just a misfire and some reduced performance like you described.

Hope it isn't that because it will mean a new engine. Warranty should take care of what ever problem you have though if it is stock.

tjg9493

Dealer called today and asked me if I had checked the oil when I bought it then proceeded to tell me that it was 3 quarts low and it now won't turn over at all.
#1 I bought this from a chevy dealership and was told that it had just gone through some type of 170 point inspection. Was I wrong no to check the oil?
#2 being a dry sump car would being 3 quarts low damage the motor?
#3 if something is wrong with the motor does anyone know how long it'll be before I can even think about getting the car back?

Anyway waiting on the dealer to call me back with more information my fingers are crossed for a speedy recovery

eboggs_jkvl

So, did the dealer get the car running and up to normal operating temperature, shut the engine off, wait 7 minutes and then check the oil level? I thought it wasn't running at all now. If the car is cold, the oil won't even show on the dipstick!


Elmer

tjg9493

Good to know as far as I know the car has not run which would explain why they are saying it's low

NoOne

Was it a CPO Car?

Cozmo

That's a good point. I was told at Spring Mountain driving schools that a lot of GM technicians don't know how to properly check the oil on a dry sump car. The car also must be level.

Best of luck in your repair.

tjg9493

The dealer never got to car to run. They blew the main fuse onot the battery which I was told is a 350 amp fuse. They also told me that even with a bar on the crank bolt that they couldn't get the motor to spin.

They then continued to tell me that because I was low on oil that now my engine warranty is voided.
I tried to explain to them that you can't check the oil without having run the car to temp first.
The service manager then replied to me that what I told him isn't true and that they are refusing to warranty the car.

I immediately called the Michigan dealers general manager and told him what was going on and fortunately for me he said that whatever is wrong with the car he will personally see to it that it gets fixed free of charge.
He continued to let me know that if they cant work something where I can get the car warrantied where the car is now that they will pay to have the car trailer ed back to Michigan swap the motor and then pay shipping costs back to CT

hopefully I can get this all sorted out tomorrow and I will let you guys know what's going on

DOOKEY

Sounds like Moran is a stand up place. Please keep us updated.

Silver Stingray

What a cluster. Good luck!

don7790

Sounds to me like your selling dealer is an upstanding dealership. I would try to get it back to them.

Cozmo

Here's the procedure for checking the oil on a Z51/Z06 as taken from the 2015 owners manual.

NSC5

It sounds like you have found two dealer extremes; a stand up selling dealer and a clueless servicing dealer. It is bad enough when you have to tell owners to RTFM but in this case the person at the dealership needs to hear the same. It isn't like dry sump cars are new to a Corvette dealer but there sure are a lot of dealer personnel who are clueless about them. The only way to have any reasonable idea of the amount of oil in a non-operational dry sump engine is to carefully drain the oil from both the drain locations and measure the amount. You still won't get all of the oil out but it will be fairly close and I am confident it won't be 3 quarts under system capacity.

tjg9493

I'm going to stop by again tomorrow after work because I need to physically see with my own eyes that when you put a bar on the crank bolt that the engine wont move in just find it hard to believe that I drive it there without the engine skipping a beat and then now all of a sudden it's completely seized. Maybe it's just me but I find that its unrealistic that I wouldn't have heard horrifying noises or saw low oil / pressure lights and now it's 100% locked up

tjg9493

Is it possible that a seriously messed up starter motor could still be engaging the flywheel and prevent it from turning over by hand and also cause the fuse for the starter to blow?