I recently purchased an 82 Collector Edition Vette. The car is in very good condition. My question is about the engine. I've heard pros and cons about the cross fire engine. Could somebody give me some feedback on what to expect from this drive train. Thanks

 

If the drivetrain has been maintained properly and does not have any damaged or excessively worn parts, it should work well with few problems. And, if the check engine light (CEL) comes on, you can use the OBD-I connector to figure out what the problem area could be.

I had a new 1984 car (C4) which had the exact same CrossFire engine and transmission. I had no problems with it. Certainly, with many years of service, there can be wear. Areas of concern would be: condition of sensors feeding info to the ECU; wear in the throttle bodies; fuel pump wear (higher pressure pump than for carbed engines); transmission wear due to early design issues. If the transmission has been replaced or overhauled in the past, chances are that early design issues have been resoved with upgraded parts.

If your drivetrain works OK now, I would highly recommend that you repair it (rather than replace it with something else) whenever you have a problem with it. The CrossFire was a decent system that got a very bad rap because it was a 'computerized' system ( ). What folks didn't understand, they didn't like. Simple as that. Now, everything is electronic. You just have one of the early versions of electronically controlled engines/transmissions. It will provide better mileage, startup capability, idle quality, etc. than any carbed system...if it is maintained properly. If you get a CEL signal, check into it immediately, diagnose what has occured, and fix it. It should give another 30 years of good service. (all the parts are available for repair/replacement if you need it)

 

This is my opinion and experience with the CF. My 82 has 120,000 on it and I'm not afraid to get in it and drive anywhere. Aside from the temp sensor (known issue) giving me problems and making sure all vacuum lines are in good condition the system is a good system. Like 7T1vette said, people in the early 80's didn't understand or want the system so it got a bad rap. The system is a good system, good on fuel and IMO any air cleaner with a multi carb/fi setup under it looks better than a single.

 

If your new to owning a C3 I would suggest joining a vette club in your area and find out who does work on their cars. When and IF you need work done of your Crossfire you will just need someone who knows how to work on it. I'm fortunate to have Dub at corvettes ect. here in Charlotte NC.
He's bad *** and knows what's up! My 82 was runnin like a dog when I took it to him, hes got it running perfect!

 

What have you already learned from your Crossfire? Keep it tuned and drive it anywhere you want to go.

 

Thanks for everyones input. That helped me alot.

 

Really...DUB???...he made something WORK...noway...

JK, DUB is a master of all things vette and has yet to allow one to outsmart him no matter how hard they try...

I love the CF and it's biggest con was people who didn't understand it,
If I am not mistaken that one tuner got well over 300 hp out of one, but for a DD cruiser, maintain it and it's sweet.

 

most of what you need is here .https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...solutions.html

 

thankyou