Bought my first 'vette a couple weeks ago, a 94 LT1. Looked beautiful and in decent shape. I thought I got a great deal on it, but put it this way, I drove it 3 days, then noticed one problem after another. It's now sat in my garage for over a week and a half. Just to begin to show the issues with this car, in three days of driving I've noticed the following problems:

Trans won't shift out of first at WOT.
Oil leaks faster from the rear of the intake then from the oil drain plug itself.
Shimmy from the front tires, been told it's either a tire problem or a bearing, neither are cheap to fix.
Headliner has fallen.
I have a hole, yes, A HOLE(!!) in the floorboard where the protective shield didn't cover.
When I checked the other floorboard, there was no hole, but an entire floorboard full of coolant. Add a heater core to the list.
The "SYS" light keeps coming on.
...and I'm too tired to type the rest of the problems.

Needless to say, I bought the car after only seeing about 50 pictures. Like I said, looked great! I'm guessing that's because the previous owner painted it just before dumping it. Then in between the time the pictures were sent and when I picked it up something had run into the front corner of the nose damaging the plastic and yes,...the only thing the car had going for it,...the paint!

And I STILL bought it. What a fool I am.

Okay, I've tried to fix the transmission, but nothing has worked so far, so I'm going to turn my attention to the heater core. I know it's going to be a pain in the rear, but while I'm in the dash, is there anything else I should replace so I don't have to do this again?

 

if this was a private sale,then there is nothing you can do.This should have been totally checked out by a corv. mechanic but that is water under the bridge.IMO i would have a vette mechanic check it out and call up the previous buyer and tell him your cost-if possible split it with him if he wont offer the full amount.I would work on the tranny first and then little at a time do the rest of it.Maybe some forum members that live near you can help you out for a smaller fee.Just dont go to any mechanic.Ask members in your area who the would use
good luck-how many miles?

 

Well, the difficult part of this is I bought it from a small out of town dealer who didn't know the cars problems very well himself. He said he drove the car and he didn't notice anything. I actually believe him because under normal driving, none of these things would have popped up. Anyway, he said he would pay to have the car looked at, but said I was pretty much on my own for the repairs.

I'm a decent mechanic, and it's an old car so I was well aware there would be problems even though the salesman told me he didn't know of any. I got cocky and thought "hey, it's a great deal and if there are any problems, I can fix them no problem." My problem was I took the salesman for his word. I didn't expect EVERYTHING to be wrong with it. I'm disappointed that I can't drive it in its current condition. I've dreamed of owning a Corvette ever since I can remember. I got star-struck I guess.

The transmission shifts fine in normal driving, just not at WOT which I don't do that often. I can live with that for now. I've already temporarily fixed the intake oil leak, but the residual oil is literally covering everything! The heater core I could by pass, but I want to fix it before I need it. I want to do the pain-in-the-**** stuff first while I'm still moderately motivated.

I'm actually too scared to find out what the transmission problem is. I just bought a new 700R4 transmission for another truck I'm working on. Unfortunately my car has a 4L60E so I'd have to buy a another one if it needs rebuilt. I just don't have the cash or the stomach to find out if that's what I need.

It's got 124,000 miles.

 

You can contact PeteK on this forum-he is an expert in transmissions.He can answer your questions. He has rebuilt many for cf members.As far as leaks go you can put some special dye in the oil and it will pinpoint the exact leak.You should have permanently fixed the oil leak-not temporarily fixed the leak-wipe off the excess oil-dont try to wash it off because water and opti is .
I would get a list and tell the dealer about it.Some repairs are ok but what you mentioned is more than ok-it was more than you expected maybe he will give you back a little money.The most he can say is no.
good luck

 

I've tried to get PeteK to help me in a previous thread, but didn't hear back from him. I'll try again.

As far as the leak, it's the typical LT1 intake leak. The bolts in the rear of the intake back out over time. I'll fix it permanently later, but for now that's not keeping me from driving it, so it's not at the very top of the list just yet. The leak has stopped for the time being.

Thanks!

 

Start with the heater core. It is definitely the biggest "pain-in-the-****" and close to the cheapest on the list you mentioned. Caveat Emptor.

RACE ON!!!

 

Sorry about that. I have been a bit busy lately, and I must have missed it. I will check on it.

 

I've got 4 other cars to drive so if I injure myself wrestling the heater core, I can recover without having to reassemble it in a time crunch.

I said I was a "decent" mechanic, not a "good" one! I just plan on it taking 3 times longer then the normal guy these days. If I start today, I think that puts me well into November before it's completed!

 

PeteK, with the number of times I've seen your name pop up on this forum alone, I'm well aware you are a busy man! Thanks for popping in.

I think the title of my previous thread was "4L60E wont shift at WOT", or here:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...t+shift+at+WOT

I've tried what the F-body guys wanted me to try and that was adjust the shift lever at the transmission. Any help would be greatly, GREATLY appreciated. The computer controlled transmission is the one thing that I'm not super comfortable with diagnosing or repairing, although I did read the excellent thread you participated in regarding the rebuilding of the 4L60E almost step by step. Great stuff.

 

I was sitting here, the stock market is down near 400 points, just feeling sorry for myself. Then I read your thread. I guess life is relative.

Get a handle on the heater core first and work out from there. It will be a project but if you are handy, you'll be able to fix everything you mentioned.

Use the Forum and members for their help and get yourself a factory service manual from www.helminc.com

 

Ha! Market is down for me too! I feel confident a 200 point rally tomorrow will make "Black Thursday" into just "Slightly Merky Dingy Gray Thursday". I have my fingers crossed.

Helms Service Manual should be at my door today as a matter of fact. Checking the UPS website is the next thing on my list.

 

Ha ha! I just gets better! Tried to change the trans fluid and even that was an adventure. Ended up breaking off 2 bolts. Obviously these bolts has never been removed in the 13 years the car has been alive. Drilled one bolt out to try to use a screw extractor and the extractor broke too. Now I can't even try to drill it out to re-tap it because you can't drill through a hardened steel bolt extractor. I ended up putting the pan back on with the 2 bolts still missing. Started her up and see a leak under the car. Now I'm really getting frustrated, as if I wasn't already. Look to see where it's from and the trans pan looks good. Wipe up the fluid and see that it's oil and not trans fluid! I had no idea this thing leaked this badly. With this kind of luck, it has to be a rear main! Intake and valves covers would just be WAY too easy! Bets anyone? I don't even know if changing the fluid and VSS sensor has fixed my shift problem yet.

I even replaced the VSS sensor, but now the "SYS" light blinks almost immediately upon startup. It used to come on only rarely.

This thing isn't going to beat even if I have to dump $20k into it! Just please don't remind me that I could have just spent the $ on a better car.

 

We've all made mistakes. You have to figure out how much of this you want to fix and when to cut your losses and find another car. I don't know the mileage but with an older car you have to get one that has been maintained. My conclusion after a couple of less than satisfying experiences is to get something under 30k mi. If you want older, I'd say you have to know the guy personally to be able to take his word or else he has to have a lot of receipts.

Bypass the heater core and fix whatever is causing the SES light so that you can drive your car. If the rear main is that bad, (to where it's leaking much more than 1 qt every 500mi) I would do that before the core also so that you can drive. You can get a new wheel here cheaply in the parts section; even wheel tire combos can be had inexpensively.

 

I actually already have the heater core, but after the transmission, I think I will just bypass it and move on.

As far as the oil leak, I ran the car for about 1 minutes at idle and has a spot about 5 inches in diameter. I'd say that's more then a quart every 500 miles wouldn't you think?

I do just want to drive the dang thing. I already have a project car and I blew almost the entire budget on getting the 'vette. Now I have 2 project cars and no money.

 

Hang in there. Been there and back. Get a Service manual and start with the important things, like the transmission and heater core. There are alot of great guys at the Forum that can give you advice and assistance. Their help is free, although priceless.

 

as far as the engine oil leak, check the oil pressure sending switch, its back beside the dist. thats a lot of oil in 1 minute. maybe youll get luckey.

 

I agree! Thanks!

 

I think you are on the right track although it is an LT1 so no distributor back there.

That much oil in that little time is not a passive leak, it is being pumped out. It could very well be that someone did reseal the intake prior and did something to the oil pressure switch (loosened it, didn't use new thread seal, whatever...)

I can't express well enough the importance of having the Factory Service Manual. We can guide you where and what to look for but when it comes time to turn the wrenches you need step by step guidance to prevent taking two steps back. It will also keep you moving instead of having to stop and ask every 15 minutes about how and what to remove.

 

I have already purchased the Helms manual directly from HELMS. $121 for an 800 page LOOSE LEAF photocopied manual that probably cost about $10 in paper to make. Good information, but the presentation needs work! I run across about 45 pages that are so blurry they are illegible and about 4 or 5 where the copier must have jammed and it's half of 2 different pages.

Anyone see a theme here?

 

That doesn't sound right at all. I'd get on the phone with the Helm people...