First, I hear ya. My first car was an '86 TA that I bought in late 1995 with 105k mi on it and I put on another 59 k mi without powertrain issues or anything that would make the car un-drivable.

The '93 I purchased 5 years old as my 2nd car. My theory here is that 1)it wasn't taken care of too well 2) The quality really isn't that great, as it's low production for GM and they were just trying to keep the Corvette alive in 1993.

Things I've had go that shouldn't ever happen 1) 2 heater cores, 1 at 6 yrs old and 1 at 10 yrs old 2) Clutch slave at 5 yr old 3) clutch and $850 flyweel at 7yr, 50k mi (other guy must have sucked at driving a manual) 4)AC leak at 7yr old

and the crowning glory: 5)new waterpump & timing gear ruined engine.

Now you have an '86. Everybody knows that the quality wasn't there on any domestics in the 80's. Sorry to tell you now.

Corvettes are low production sports cars and Car companies don't typically care to put a lot of quality into low production lines they are not making much money off of. Get a Ferrari or a Viper and see how that goes.

...And it could be a LOT worse for you. After I paid and waited to have my motor fixed, an idiot in an SUV pulls out in front of me and then, on top of that, hits me to boot. All that work-----GONE.

Get something newer that was cared for.

 

Getting a 20 year old car to be a dependable daily driver is no small task.

That sucks you couldn't get your Vette to cooperate, anyway- good luck with your new riceburner.

 

Very sorry to hear you've been wrestling with so many gremlins on this one, Rick. That's a real shame.

As others have commented here, it sounds like you lost the luck-of-the-draw with this car. If you have reason to believe you've almost solved all of the problems, then I'd encourage you to take a deep breath, take some time away from it if necessary, and make another attempt to get 'er right.

If, on the other hand, you've concluded that this car is just gonna be continuing problems, then I'd encourage you to cash out of it and find another that's a better candidate for you. The later C4s were, generally speaking, of better build quality (and that's not to say that the early C4s were poor, or that many haven't had great luck with them). Aside from an Opti failure, my '94 has been a very reliable car so far. Sure, I've had to attend to a few assorted minor maintenance-level issues, but that's to be expected with any 20-year-old used car.

I guess what I'm suggesting is that you don't need to run screaming into the night from the Corvette hobby -- you just need to either get the bugs outta the one you have, or cut your losses and find one that can invert the pain/pleasure ratio for you.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

Be well,

SJW

 

I bought an '88 w/ 192k miles on it because that's what I could afford and figured that I would fix everything myself. At first I was going nuts trying to repair everything at the same time and it was frustrating but once I made a list and just starting down it one at a time I finally started to have a sense of accomplishment and actually enjoyed it.

Keep the faith!! It's still better than wrenching on Metroliners, AHE???

 

i am not sure "spoiled" would be the right word, i used to have a t-shirt that had a picture of the devil on it, the caption read, "Lucas Prince of darkness" i wish i could find another one.

Greg N

 

I've got an 86 too, and here's how I see it.

First off, we're dealing with a car that's 20 years old. So it stands to reason that many of the parts have either been changed already or on their last legs. Comes with the territory.

I've had my share of frustrating times too. Most of the gremlins I've come across on my car can be broadly put into one of two catagories (occasionally both): Sensors (failure or mis-adjustment) or Mechanical Failure.

I'm continually amazed at how crucially dependent our engines and ECM are on accurate sensor input. Just one sensor being off can, and often will, cause all sorts of running problems. Hair pulling immediately follows!

Over time, I ended up replacing all my sensors and verified that the settings (such as TPS and IAC) were correct.

As far as mechanical stuff, well all engines will suffer failures to that stuff; some sooner than others. Water pumps, alternators, power steering pumps, timing chains, etc., all have a life-span. Only real concern for me is that some are easier to change out than others. I'd take on changing an alternator anytime before wanting to tackle a timing chain set LOL.

I've now got mine to a state where I can drive it daily and all over the USA without worrying about much more than the alternator or fuel pump quitting (I always carry replacements in the hatch area).

Just life I guess.

Jake

 

I drove my 85 six days last week on a 104 mile round trip each day. Runs like a champ. I've been driving mine every day for about 6 months. I've had the car 3 years. My daughter moved back home and has taken over my regular driver.

Yes, I've had to fix some stuff. Yes, at times it gets old. A new car payment would be at least $300 a month ($3600 a year). I'm not putting nearly that much in the vette. My problem is that I start with a simple job like valve cover gasket replacement and end up removing the exhaust manifolds to clean up and paint (that messy oil leak). It never ends, and I love every minute of it. The only real problem was when I bought the car with the supposedly recenly rebuilt tranny in it. It died within a week.

Now I need carpet, tires, door panels, weatherstripping, etc. I just keep plugging along. Look at it this way, at least it's not depreciating any more. I can also pull up beside "Rice Boy" and laugh at his $30,000 POS. They look awesome in the rear view mirror.

 

I feel your pain. I definitely have been in your shoes before. But honestly, my '86 have been pretty good to me since I bought it in '96. It's been a daily driver ever since and besides the normal wear and tear items (water pump, u-joints, alternators, etc...), it's been okay on the wallet. The only high $$$ repair was having the tranny rebuilt. And what I usually do is purchase higher quality replacement parts. So I'm fairly certain that the parts I replaced will last a long while, which means that at this point I've taken most of the old-prone-to-fail gremlins out of this 20 year-old car. Good luck with yours and do know that there are a lot of people in CF who will gladly help you tackle whatever comes your way.

 

Sorry to hear your having so much trouble, but honestly if the car has been beat on and not maintained you are fighting an up hill battle. Aparantly the hill is a bit too steep. Hang in there man, plenty of folks have had it worse than you.
Hey I've owned an 84 Porsche 928S (still do actually), no hill is ever too steep for me.
Will

 

But once you have everything working, doesn't it make life boring??? Cheers to all who'd rather be crusing in a 20 year old Vette than a new Civic that sounds like a go-kart... Rock on

PS I spent my whole weekend tracing a very frustrating vac leak, but that is STRESS relief for me and I wouldn't trade wrenching on my 20 year old ride for anything!

I'd be MORE than happy to come take it off your hands...

 

Sorry for your misfortune with your Vette. Sounds like you got a Monday or Friday car . I wouldn't give up on it yet. You've invested alot it the car. Give it a chance. My '85 has been trouble free, except for me having to rebuild the transmission (which is a wear and tear item in my book). Ask yourself, how many cars twenty years old look as good as the C4? Whatever your decision, I wish you the best.

 

 

Doing my own wrenching is the ONLY way to get reliability and at a price I can afford.

Your Vette is just like those jet aircraft. Everything is there that's on any other car, it's just crammed into a smaller space.
The "rotatables" wear and need to be replaced. Once they are you get a good TBO on THAT part.
It may take a year or so replacing the already worn out parts but THEN you'll have a Vette that's good for another several years.

Working on my Vette is entertainment for me and great therapy.
There is no other car I would spend this much time with. THese things are so beautuful. I just love to look at and admire mine. Even when they act up a little and are sick. I ALWAYS look back at mine when I walk away from it and admire its sleek lines and agressive look and its graceful design and . . . . .

Engine accessories, water pump, bearings, brakes, battery, universal joints, tires. That's about it. Same as any other car.
Some people just never fix things as they break. If you got one of these cars then it's an uphill climb for about 6 months. Then you start going downhill fixing the small stuff. It takes awhile repairing all the things that were ignored in the cars life.



My '84 was an abused 'child'. Never got any TLC. Until I got it.
Spent about THREE times as much on it as it's worth. But it's not for sale and won't be in my lifetime.
Now it's perfect, looks brandy new, everything works and I drive it and park it. It needs very little attention now and it is GREAT at 149,000 miles, original engine & tranny.
Most effort it takes now is washing and detailing and change oil every 3k.

Ditto on my '91.

I bought a new one (Z06) but it certainly has been boring.
Just drive it and clean it. Not much time is spent with it.

Since you turn wrenches for a living, you may not want to do it at home on your hobby vehicles. If that's the case you will need to get a newer, lower mileage Vette. No rice.

Please, nobody flame me for saying this but........
Corvettes are a HOBBY, NOT transportation.

 

My vette has a multitude of electrical gremlins, cooling issues, etc. It infuriates me to no end.

However...find me a car that old that performs this well that I can take out to the track and absolutely beat the pi$$ out of every week and not break and you'll have shown me another vette.

Don't get me wrong, all the little stuff is maddening. Quality was not high on the list for the C4. But the drivetrain is bulletproof. I finally broke my stock motor after six years of racing...I just rebuilt it bigger, badder, and meaner. I can't wait to go spank some Vipers, the only thing I was lacking was the HP...so I took care of it

 

Can't really compare cars built after say 1980 to ones built before computer comand control type engine management systems were introduced. They were simpler, not much to go wrong. Pick any make car from anywhere with all the options like vettes pretty much all have that is that old, and odds are you'll have a pretty steady stream of malfunctions. Want an 80's car that's 99% reliable, strip your vette of all the technolgy. Put in a new all cast iron 350 engine with a carb and hei ignition, and a 3 speed 350 or 400 thm transmission. Replace the digital dash guages with the old type analogs, replace the speedo with a cable drive unit. Then you'll have a pretty much bullet proof mid 80's car. Lots of crap installed as is in these cars = a lot of things to fail when they get old. Best of luck with it. jmo

 

I know the feeling. I have a 94 which I maintain and she still presents me with problems now and then. It's been down for three weeks now and I still haven't gotten around to getting in there and working on her. I will this weekend. My wife is really cool and loves muscle cars but is suggesting I just sell the vette. I'm sure I could get a good price here in So. CA. Believe me, I've thought about it. The problem is, what could I drive that is close to what this car offers in performance without jumping into a new sports car and making those car & insurance payments. It's expensive enough to live in L.A.
So I simply continue on and face the challenge of repairing these issuse on my own. I've been lucky in that I haven't had to take it to the dealer and pay their astronomical hourly fees.
So the choice is yours. 1) Accept it is an older car which "will" need repairs, 2) Fix it and sell it, 3) Buy a newer corvette.
One thing you have to admit, they are wonderful cars to drive when they are working correctly.
Good luck and keep the faith.

 

Join the crowd! I thought that was you I saw dangling from the wing of a DC10!

 

as weird as it is unless its another vette or higher you will not get other peoples pride in your car. its a trip. "corvette this corvette that" and for most people it doesnt even matter the model? so if your tired of chasing codes and having your car down for weeks at a time or tired of paying somebody else to chase codes try carbed conversion.

 

that very same crap your talking about has drivin me to sell mine a couple of times.

 

Every time I open the hood of my classic 84 my neighbor runs over and asks the same question he's been asking for the last 3 years, when are you going to sell your Corvette? I keep telling him the same thing I've been telling him for 3 years, NEVER!

Owning a Corvette is like being a fire fighter, it has to be in your blood!

If your not content with your Corvette your best bet is to sell the car and let another enthusiast enjoy it.