billschroeder5842

I'm going to take a look at a 96 CE LT4 later today.

The price is super low (6500) and it looks in pretty good condition.

https://dallas.craigslist.org/mdf/cto/5786213019.html

However....

I spoke to the owner and he says it has 128 on the clock and the engine was rebuilt about 1000 miles ago. According to the owner, the car is throwing O2 fault codes and will not idle. He says that he has replaced both O2 sensors but the codes persist. He states that once running with your foot feathering the gas, it runs "like a bat out of hell".

He states that he has all receipts from the corvette shop that did the rebuild in California. He says that the opti was replaced but the car really has not been driven in 6 months. He is attributing the idle issues to lack of driving (they all say that) and bad gas, clogged injectors...etc.

So.... is there anything resembling a "normal" sound to the lack of idle- like a few obvious things to check? I'm looking for a C4 to drive and enjoy (with a modicum of tinkering) and not a full on project; I have my 82 X-Fire for the headaches!

So... proceed with caution or stay the hell away???

Thanks Bros!!

RollaMo-LT4

It probably has a "super low" price for a reason.

Just looking at the pictures, the car is not very clean at all.
Looks like they just tried to stick the fuel rail covers on as an afterthought.
The cables should be over the covers.

I would pass on that one.

RUU

Actually, it looks like the covers are on the wrong side. The throttle cables should be clipped to the top of the driver's side cover.

BTW, there are 4 O2 sensors on a 96, and a scanner can tell you which one is faulty.

RollaMo-LT4

Yeah, typo on my part.
Too many things going on at once.

And your right, they are on the wrong side.

The C4 emblem goes to the back.
And you can see the two small holes where the throttle cable snaps into. That cover goes on the driver side.

Churchkey

Might be worth a look/listen, erratic/no idle could be a vacuum leak maybe a bad brake booster. If it has a dead cylinder(s) = pass.

If you do not have an OBD 2 scanner any of the chain part stores can scan it.

Good luck

billschroeder5842

On an LT4, would a bad O2 sensor(s) cause it to not idle?

(really? Four O2 sensors??)

My experience with my 82 C3 is that the car will idle reasonably well even with a bad O2, but that car is a different generation. The owner says that it will start every time, die at idle and run well with the accelerator on.

I'll check the OBDII scanner and see what it says.

BrandensBeast

Coming from someone who bought a "cheap" corvette, i'd run away unless you're SET on a collectors edition, you can get a pretty decent completely stock corvette with under 100k miles for under 6,500!

What's all those little white specks on the engine bay in the pictures? Rain water or paint or something?

divotdug

+1......too many others to chose from. No need to buy one for that price that comes with known issues.

mtwoolford

Well lets see, taking my own experience as a guide, and your results may vary, my 96 LT4 with similar mileage had:

a bad opti, not the opti's fault, the vacumn venting hoses to it failed...but still needed a new opti...replaced it with a then new oem opti...try finding one of those today;

A multi tech fuel injector was leaking..replaced all with a set of new Bosch III's; I'm fairly certain at your cars age a new set of injectors will be in the program;

new fuel filter (of course); new plugs and wires (of course);

when I pulled the valve covers, one rocker arm was off the valve stem and needed to be replaced and those original LT4 rocker arms that mount on the 10mm pedestal are expensive, like $75 per, if you can find them;

a blown out cat; passengers side...at least legal after market cats are now available in California;

and a cam shaft with three rounded off cam lobes, replaced with an LT4 "Hot Cam" , highly recommended, with a new set of lifters

and BTW, even with all that bullshit, it "ran like a bat outta hell" too.


why someone with a newly rebuilt LT4 would let it go for that price and not work through what are probably (relative to the cost of an engine rebuild) minor issues is anyone's guess.

billschroeder5842

YIKES!

Nuff said. Thanks for the warning. I'll keep looking!

cv67

Not the 02s

"just needs a tune up"
"needs to be driven probably old gas"
" ac just needs freon". (Ac systems arent like tires you dont jsut put some in there and motor on usually looking at a buttload of $)

Really so if its so easy why didnt they do it and keep their car?
All lines of bs..too bad hes sunk a lot in it but still an old car.

Unless youre real good with diagnostics move on.
Fixer vettes can be real nightmares.

Purple92

Does't pass the smell test that it just needs an O2 sensor (or sensors), and fresh gas...

The two post cat (a.k.a downstream) O2 sensors don't do anything other than verify the cats are doing something other than acting as ballast. You can pull the connectors off them, and aside from the Check Engine light coming on - the car will run just fine. The front two O2 sensors are a very different story... They do control closed loop operation. The better scanners out there can tell if they are slewing back and forth between rich and lean properly.

No owner in their right mind would take a thousand plus dollar bath on a car that needs the gas tank drained and refilled and two new O2 sensors installed. Most likely the problems are significantly more involved.

Of course - if you're good with diagnostics, you could try a significantly lower offer for the car. IMHO - the 1996 CE Cars are worth significantly more than base 96's,so if you bought it for say $6,000 and ended up putting a grand or so into it - you'd be in very good shape.