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Hello all, thinking of purchasing an 82 with crossfire fuel injection engine and would like some feedback from members owning one on their reliability etc.. This car I'm looking at has a great appearance with 41k actual miles. Thanks
Hello, I have an 82 with 26000 miles and I love the crossfire. Runs very smooth and I have never had a problem. Typically drive it at least once per week on nice weather days. Recently had to replace the very old Goodyear Eagles though.
Generally the problems with CFI are related to neglect or age. They are a very simple system once you understand it but got a bad rap in the 80's for two reasons......One was the lack of knowledge then to properly work on one. This stigma never went away and blacklisted the system to this day.....the Second is the amount of power it will support for mods without major changes. CFI can be made to handle 400+ horsepower but not without massaging everything in the system. There is a member here whos name eludes me but has a beautiful 383 CFI 82' with mucho detail work on things like wiring and fuel lines. The intake is a woeful piece that supports just about the 200 hp these were rated at.......the reason is the intake port were cast about 1/3rd smaller than a normal intake in an attempt to build low end torque and keep velocity up.......but it flows terrible.
Fortunately there is the Renegade intake which will support more than you would care to make with this system. There are old Hypertech PROM chips available, worked throttle bodies, billet fuel pressure regulators etc.....
But as far as the reliability goes......they were as reliable as any TBI unit of the era.....in fact the throttle bodies are the same as the 2.5l iron duke of the era except times two. The distributor pickup coil is prone to failure due to age.....Injectors do not like to sit for periods of six months or so without running......the gasket that seals the upper and lower intake is known to dry out and crack which lets it suck air. Other than that, the usual suspects of MAP sensor, TPS, IAS are pretty stone reliable.........
There are plenty of tricks for these systems so do some research here.........the C4 forum will have a lot of info too due to the 84' having the exact same engine.
Jebby
Last edited by Jebbysan; Jan 25, 2019 at 01:29 PM.
I would not hesitate purchasing the car with any worries about the crossfire system. I have owned two 1984 Corvettes with the crossfire system. One was new in 1984 and the other was purchased as a project back in 2011. Both of these cars ran just fine and the one that I restored is running just great right now. I did build a new motor for this one with some mods, but I kept the crossfire system and just love driving this car. I love the c3s and had three of them over the years. I would look for the records of maintenance on the car and make my choice based on this.
Like the answer to most ?s -- it depends. Let me explain
IF you want a nice reliable cruiser in stock form, the 82 is the most refined of the C3 line. All said above is accurate, ignorance of the system early in its life tainted it even until today ( we typically mock what we dont understand)
IF you want a C3 to "hot rod", drag race, or road race, YES you can do that with an 82 -- BUT it will be more difficult than say building up the same horsepower in the simpler carb'd 1980 (identical body style)
Another satisfied 1982 Crossfire owner. I've had one in my garage since 1996. To be honest, you'll pretty much find all the same problems of a 1968-1981 when it comes to major systems like brakes, a/c but the L83 is a solid motor and, mated to the 700R4, is darn quick for it's era. If I want today's level of performance I drive the Z06/Z16. If I want to cruise and remember the days gone by, I drive 2TONE82.
Make sure the check engine light works. If it NEVER lights, somebody is hiding a problem. If it lights correctly and then goes off correctly, it is just another efi car that works correctly. If light is lit while running, do the homework. Retrieve the codes. Figure out if it is too scary or not and try to get price adjustment accordingly. Worst case, these 47 year old ecu's die, but they are repairable too
A sincere thanks to all that replied. This was my first forum participation and it was indeed enjoyed. I think I will take a trip and see this vette,ride and negotiate with a little more confidence now. Once again thanks everyone.
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
I had a 83 crossfire Camaro and loved it. Only issues I had was I had cowl induction and the design of the air cleaner would suck in water if you opened it in the rain. Not a issue with the vette. Lower hp is where it got a bad rap but had for 6 years and never a issue.
Post up any questions you may have in those sections - plenty of helpful members there to assist you.
I82 crossfire
