Hi Guys, Had a 69 charger for 8 years and had very few issues with it. Bought an 80 vette last October and was really excited. Every time I take it out this year, something goes wrong. Power steering leak, then oil leaks, then transmission leaks. Thank God its all been minor stuff.

Yesterday, after driving the vette and parking it, I noticed a large puddle of antifreeze coolant under the engine block. What now?

Is this a corvette thing or did I buy a lemon? I know its an old car but I haven't caught a break yet!!

 

Sounds like all you need to do is a little preventative maintenance on it. Be proactive, and attack one area at a time, brakes one month, cooling system the next. IMO, any car over 15 years old is a lemon and the older they are the more lemony they get.

 

If it makes you feel any better, I got soaking wet on my way to work when I found out that my T-tops are leaking

 

The power steering units in C3s are known to go bad from time to time. Sometimes it is the pump, most times it is just that the lines got damaged one way or another, or the rubber return line just dry-rotted. When I had my '69 for 7 years, I think I was under there mucking with the power steering unit at least three times, and other owners didn't seem to find this as terribly unusual. It is a 28 year old car, things are bound to go wrong.

I never had any trouble with oil leaks, but again, it is an older car, and if it has had any long stretches of time where it was not driven regularly, a variety of gaskets and seals on the car can dry rot or just decay. If your car has sat for long periods and you are just replacing gaskets and such to stop leaks, I wouldn't worry about it.

Your coolant comment has me concerned. Some people take out the overflow tank from their Corvettes. Why? I have no clue, but mine came without one. Without the overflow tank, when you drive on a particularly hot day and the engine gets a little hotter than normal, it would be normal for the radiator to overflow a little, which without a tank would end up on the street under your radiator. I am concerned that you said "large puddle of antifreeze coolant under the engine block", do you think the coolant came out of your block? This could be caused by the rupture of a freeze plug, which depending on where it is, could be a big deal or a small deal. I am sure there are other potential causes, but none jumped to mind.

 

Didn't have a chance to investigate the problem. I was so discouraged that I closed the garage door and went inside. I'll check tonight fot the overflow tank. I am pretty sure its there.

One pet peeve about the vette is that its so low to the ground that I can't get under there to investigate unless I jack it up. With the charger, I was able to slide under there with room to wiggle.

Anyway, we'll see tonight.

Agree with the preventative maintenance comment.

 

I currently have two corvettes. Through the years I am continually amazed at how little maintenance the previous owners did. I often think they took no pride in their ownership of these cars. As I like to say: They had their way with them on Saturday night, then ignored them during the week. They were "rode hard and put away wet." They just didn't respect these old beauties.

But with each project I do; with each bit of cleaning and repair; with every dollar spent and every wrench turned; these babies become less a reflection of the previous owners and more a reflection of me.

And that suits me just fine.

 

I bought a New car and had those problems.. It's and Old car . restore it or chase the Monkey..

 

Old car = Maintenance.
IF your not willing to make repairs either proactively or after the fact, maybe sell it and buy a new one? If the prev owner didn't maintain, you may have a lot of work ahead of you.

 

Check to see exactly where the antifreeze is coming from - even though under the block the fan can blow some back from the water pump, or weep hole under the water pump - may not be that bad. You've got lots of friends here - just keep asking questions and have patience. (You have to determine if this is a hobby or mental illiness - have fun!!!)

 

Nicely put.

I guess my frustration is that I did not anticipate so many small problems so early on. It got me a bit discouraged.

 

Over the seven year's I have owned my 81 I have changed almost everything. It is to be expected.

 

When I bought my 72 I made a list of all the things I needed to replace because of age. Since I did not know the history of how old various consumable parts were, I decided to slowly replace them piece by piece to keep the car mechanically sound.

Here is what I mean. How old are your belts? Alternator, power steering, ac? So the next time you are driving and your belt brakes you can either consider it a lemon, or think it is due to the fact it may be the original belt from 1980. You shold spend the approx. $50 and replace all the belts at one time.

Now there is a coolant leaking problem. And that brings up another area. How old are the upper and lower radiator hoses. There is no telling how old they are so it would be better to replace them, and know that they are new.

When was the last time the transmission filter was changed, or the fluid? You might as well add that to the list also.

It may not be that the car is a lemon, but that the previous owner did not do the routine maintenance that any car required.

kdf

 

You have to expect to perform some maintenance. That said, you shouldn't have a problem every time you turn around if the issues are resolved correctly. Not to say that you will never have any more problems, but a lot less. Chances are that the previous owner was not as diligent about the preventative maintenance and that's what put you in the current predicament.

Take a deep breath and take care of one thing at a time. You will get ahead of it with some time.

 

Thanks guys.

 

Heck, doing 'light' work like minor leaks just gives me another excuse to go into the garage! That's not a 'problem', that's the FUN of it.

 

 

My guess on your coolant leak is that the overflow tank is bad. Over time they get brittle with heat and age.

On my '79, I had a coolant leak also and I had to replace the tank. 3 bolts hold it on from inside the fender. I had to some move some stuff around under the hood to snake the old one out.

 

I've got this problem too! Where abouts did you find your tank?

 

overflow tank visible in this shot - passenger side under teh fender overhang

 

uhh... I meant my tank is brittle and leaking too. Where abouts did he find a tank for purchase from a supplier. REALLY nice engine bay and car though. Never tire of looking at it. Thanks