Hi,
I was looking for some advice on how to deal with my issues. She's a 1990 L98 convertible. As far as I know nothing special about the engine. Only run in summer and never in rain,(started in the winter monthly ) always garaged. All numbers matching original equipment. At the moment it has somewhere near 35K miles. I'm the second owner.

What happened is I started working remotely for about 5 years and I was rarely home except on the weekends - that is when I would drive it, in the summer every few weeks maybe 30 mile jaunts, for the first years. Then in last couple years about three times, then the last time on the road it stalled and I coasted to a stop. It wouldnt restart. I towed it home.
So since that day, a year ago I found for awhile I was able to cold start in the garage but it would stall out when it warmed. And thats how I put it away after the last time I had it out and had to push it back into the garage. I had put stabil in the gas but, long and short of it is the gas went bad and now she has a check engine warning light, ran rough as hell, and stalled when it got warm - at the last it kinda revved high then quit as it sat there trying to idle.
Ok, so - how do I deal with this on a shoestring budget. Like very shoestring....
Appreciate your time - thank you

 

….. Keep it simple … make NO assumptions … check the fault codes and see why the C.E.L. is on … engine needs 3 things to run … Fuel … Air … Spark … do you have a factory service manual ? It has flow charts for diagnosing fault codes and no start issues … be empirical and avoid the temptation to throw parts at it ! ….. Good Luck ! …..

 

Check the codes

 

So you are driving fine and suddenly it stalls? That doesn't sound like fuel to me since fuel does not go bad suddenly. When it happens, what is the fuel pressure? Does it spike up when you turn the key to run and don't crank? Does it hold pressure? What is the pressure at? Check ignition with a spark plug that is new. If you get a blue flame and it sparks steady, that isn't the issue.

 

I agree. You don't have a fuel problem most likely, I think you have an electronics issue. You need to pull the CCM codes and go from there. I don't know what a shoestring budget is to you, but I would expect to spend between 100 and 1000 to fix this, depending on what it is.

 

If it will start cold, then stall when warm check the CTS, but first thing as already advised check the code(s).

 

How old was the gas in the car? Did it contain ethanol (good chance it did)? If it's old gas it may have gummed up the injectors and just need to be cleaned, but as other said pull the CCM codes to see what is complaining...pretty easy to do:
https://tech.corvettecentral.com/201...trouble-codes/

 

Not saying it can't happen but has anyone see bad gas run and then suddenly quit and won't restart? I haven't.

 

A (very short) shoe string budget AND a C4 Vette, not a good combo....Remember to K.I.S.S. and start with the basics that have been mentioned above before you start throwing part$ at it.
Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

Wow thank you all, some great advice. First, yes a shoe string budget. But when I got her it wasnt so. I made a plan and God laughed, enough said? But really the cost of keeping this car in the condition it deserves is an issue with me. And I was thinking of getting her back to right and letting her go.
But now after reading the replies - I had been siphoning the gas out and putting it in other machines with good gas in to get rid of it. The lawn mower didnt seem to mind too much but it did run rougher. It killed the weed eater and its in the shop, so I dont know how it all happens but yes I think the gas has lost enough octane or whatever to make it bad. It appears completely clear by the way.
The other thing that your advice made me think about is the battery. It went bad and needs replaced as its dead. I am now wondering if the CEL and or the stalling while going down the road may have been due to it. Further, I noticed on the bend up towards the mufflers I have identical cracks in the exhaust pipes and in fact a slight hole on the passenger side. I know the electrical current and back pressure can cause issues.
Frankly I'm wondering if I just dump in some new gas and a new battery she might run. Fact is there was nothing wrong until this. It was and still is a practically newish car in a sense.

 

Either get it done right and keep it or dump it yesterday. To get things done right, you are going to be out more than you will recoup in the sale.

Take the battery out and have a parts shop charge it. AFAIK, Autozone will recharge it for you and test it. If it is bad, that might be a $100 plus issue. Once the car gets running, how is the battery relevant to it dying? The hole in the muffler is one thing but I am not sure that the backpressure angle has been more than hype unless it is blocked completely or near complete. If it has issues down the road, electrical is more likely alternator.

 

aklim I'm not sure what your saying.
But I figure the car is worth at least 10K and if you are thinking to get it running again is going to cost that doesnt make sense to me.
Further, of course I am going to fix it right. As far as the stalling, in my younger day I experimented with cars running and taking out batteries while they were. And what I was saying is I think now that perhaps it was weak and what charge was in it expended after about a few miles.... after I got it back home It only held a charge enough after being on a charger to turn it over for about three tries. Then it was dead, a new battery is the way Ill go.

 

I thought you said it has stalling issues? That was BEFORE the question of bad gas, right?

Maybe the battery is bad or maybe the alternator or maybe both. Every time I change either, I check the other. Still, I'm not certain what the weak battery has to to with stalling. If you think the gas is bad, suck it out and dump a few gallons of good gas and a replacement battery IF the old one is bad.

My point is that if you are on a tight budget and you can't keep the car in the condition you want, I wouldn't spend any more money in getting it there. Sell it as it is or you might find out you are upside down and cannot sell. I have taken a few simple jobs and they turned out into nightmares. Sealing up the "China Wall" and wanted to take a peek at a cylinder because a spring failed on the TFS heads turned out into a discovery of scored cylinder wall and broken piston and ended up in a new motor. Changing rear brake pads on another car became a pad, rotor and caliper job on all 4. The list goes on.

Once you start down that rabbit hole, it can go very deep and if you are on a shoestring budget, it gets dangerous to begin. Sure, there is the hope we change the CTS and life is good. There is also a chance you break something or discover something that now brings up a few new issues. BTDT. As to your car's worth, hard to say if it is worth $10K or not. In today's market with the China Virus, well.......

I guess what I am saying is that if you are going to put effort and money into fixing it, be prepared to be upside down and keep it. If not, you may be upside down in it. Unless you are really disciplined and lucky, you may not get away with it. So cut your losses and sell as is or make the commitment to keep it and slowly spend money as needed. First off, find out what people are paying for it and not what you think it is worth. If it is about $10k like you think, that helps you set a "red line" to not go past.

 

Surprised that nobody has mentioned the Multec injectors. Original injectors for that year are prone to failure with fuel cooled circuits or whatever inside. Grey body for ID. Will often run fine cold but cause shutdown when warm. These injection systems are batch fire meaning one whole side fires at a time. 4 on left then 4 on right and again to the left etc. One bad injector shorts the whole side so only the other side will fire. With engine off and cold, set your multimeter to Ohms. Remove each injector connector and check ohms of injectors. Should all be somewhere around 14. Or at least similar. Reconnect all, warm engine, and recheck. Replace bad injector. Hope this helps.

 

Why replace bad injector? Might as well go all the way and replace them ALL with injectors that aren't susceptible to ethanol in gas so that you can fuel up anywhere. Replace the faulty one and you will still have to be careful about where you are getting gas.

 

Covered...right in post #1 of this very thread....

 

Shoestring budget says replace 1 bad injector if someone has one to send. I agree that for longevity and the labor involved, replace the set. But the set needs to be sized right and fit right. #s per hour I think is 22? I have seen some that wouldn’t accept the factory snap ring. I still have the Multecs in my ‘89, probably on borrowed time.

 

My '90 Vert followed the OP down to the low yearly mileage. Always ran like new. Then one day I decided to visit a friend with it....100 miles each way. Ran perfectly all the way out. Shut it off and could not start it when time to leave. Stayed the night and the next morning it started right up and ran perfect for about 45 minutes then stumble and soon it stalled and wouldn't start. Sit and wait an hour and it starts right up for another cycle.

Turned out to be a heat soak problem with the Multecs on ethanol. I found that not many mechanics or dealerships know about this problem. It took several visits, on a flat bed, until I found a Vette mechanic that fixed it.

 

Just so we are on the same page, does shoestring mean "spend less today but probably more tomorrow?" or does it mean spend wisely?

My logic is to buy a set of FIC injectors, regulator and gaskets. That would ensure that you don't have to worry if you have ethanol in your gas or not. I understand that is about a $300 bill. If it were me, I'd buy the set and do it if I can afford it. If not, save my money and get the set and park the car for a while. I assume the C4 is a toy so sitting it isn't an issue. If I were to pay you to do that for my toy, you really can make money doing it again and again till all 8 are done. Might not be ethical but it would definitely be profitable and I can see shops doing just that. Gaskets and labor will make them money. You run a shop. You tell me. Would YOU tell a customer to sit the car till he can afford it or take his money, do one injector and then charge him again when the next one fails?

 

I don't expect them to. Most of the mechanics are probably not doing the job back in the day when it was a problem. Most of the "specialists" or "experts" I have run into are the ones who drew the short straw and have to handle old stuff. It isn't a "today" issue so I don't expect them to know it. I believe they were an issue for a few years only.

I understand the OP's position. Money isn't falling out of the sky. In my own way, I can't spend too much on the C4 besides consumables. So if a catastrophic failure occurs or it is going to cost too much to fix, it goes to the scrapyard. If not too much, it leans off the next year's budget. Unlike the govt, I can't print money so if it keeps nickling and diming me to death, well, it has to go. That said, if I have to park it till I can buy a good solution, I got no problem. If I keep spending money on it day in and day out, the wife is going to get pissed and there will be a problem.