Alright my car has been acting up lately... I think it hates me.

The low coolant light came on. Last time it came on I did not need antifreeze. So today(2 days later) I filled her up. Its like it is drinking the antifreeze. My dad said it could be a sign of a blown head gasket. I don't know how accurate that is.

My windshield wipers uhh crapped out i guess, at of course the worst time here in Florida, the rainy season. I have unplugged the wiper fuse and now they are sitting close to the home position. The wiper switch lever... is switched to off but when the fuse is in it picks what speed it wants to go, regardless of where I move the lever. I am hoping it is just the switch and a quick, cheap, easy fix.

My car keeps dying on me. I have to pop the hood and fiddle with the battery cable then it regains power and starts up.. I will tighten it up tomorrow maybe that will help. (this seems to happen more after rain or in hot weather) I started the car and it stalled (its an automatic) I started it again and it stalled.. then again and it worked..

Another night after a hard rain I got the "Pull Key Wait 10 Sec" message...... GRRR.... I did it and it ran fine after that.

CAN ANYONE HELP ME! I am seriously considering trading this vette in on another... I would like to avoid this if at all possible. does anyone have any ideas on what could be wrong?? I am almost scared to drive it anymore, as to not break anything else.

It is a 1997, with B&B Bullets as the only performance mod. I live in florida with hot hot heat and wet wet weather.

Sorry I'm going on and on and please excuse all the typoes I'm sure I made..

Thanks for you help Corvette Forum.

Doug

 

well i guess its done for..... right about now i would like a different vette... anyone wanna trade?

 

If you do, I'd like to buy the Factory GT kit off of it.

 

I am not sure if this is a serious post. Water lost througha head gasket is always possible but the least likley. Pull the dipstick and look for water. After you have done that, check hoioses and water pump as likely water loss points.

The electrical gremlins are pitifully easy to solve and if you cannot take the time to tighten, or even repalce a battery connection/cable, I suspect fixing the wiper switch is beyond you as well. Take it to a mechanic and get it fixed. Then the car will love you again.

 

That would require getting stock door hinges and all the hastle of the install/removal. We will see.

 

Is your battery new, Doug?

 

I highly doubt the battery has anything to do with the wiper probelm. And I am going to tighten up the battery just as an extra help. Hopefully it may help. Yes I am serious, just very frustrated right now and not so literate when it comes to cars.....

 

Negative, do you think that would have something to do with the elec. problems?? (like the wipers)

 

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=896875

 

I'll have to try that. If that doesn't help any would a new battery be in order?

 

Don't go to Vegas!

 

I gues it'd be in my better interests, eh?

 

You're loosing a tremendous amount of coolant if you're filling it up every 2 days.

• Is there coolant under the car?
• Do you smell antifreeze?
• Is there water in the oil or oil in the radiator?
• Do the carpets or padding feel wet?
  
• Pull the plugs and check them for moisture then perform a compression check on each cylinder
• By the way, your dad might be right on with his assessment

.

If you "fiddle" with the battery cable and it starts up then I'd go from there. It might be a loose of defective battery cable end or the cable itself, replace the cables. It also could be an internal problem within the battery itself, replace after checking

Doug,

I don't know how mechanically oriented you are but these electrical problems, while they can be frustrating, will only take a couple of hours to diagnose and fix. The coolant problem will take a bit longer but you still have to find the root cause. You might want to enlist the services of a competent mechanic if you don't feel comfortable doing these things yourself.

Bob

 

thank you

 

Don't forget to let us know what you find and how you made out.

Enquiring minds want to know.

 

Maybe the sensor that measures how much coolant you have (or need) has gone bad. All the extra coolant and water you add may be boiling out of the coolant reservoir. Just a thought.

 

 

Are you by any means using an aftermarket alarm system?