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Old Jul 12, 2012 | 05:51 PM
  #1  
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Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed what an electrical nightmare the C5 is? I have a 2001 MN6 coupe.

I bet they hired new electrical engineers in 95 and it took them 2 years to design enough screw ups in corvettes that the senior management in GM will never forget their names.
I would guess that it would have taken millions to redesign everything just to make the GM cars reliable again, so the subsequent electrical engineers have probably redesigned out most of those original guys' mistakes year after year...
Funny though, my 2001 tahoe is trouble free............Maybe a different electronics engineer was the manager on the truck division?
Even my old 86 corvette is electrical gremlin free, with the digital dash....

Last edited by coupeguy2001; Jul 12, 2012 at 05:55 PM.
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Old Jul 12, 2012 | 06:06 PM
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Have you cleaned your grounds?
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Old Jul 12, 2012 | 06:31 PM
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I've been procrastinating on jumping into my electrical problems. I'm almost scared to find out what's hiding behind the panel....
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Old Jul 12, 2012 | 07:30 PM
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Electrical problems? What electrical problems?
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Old Jul 12, 2012 | 09:55 PM
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Originally Posted by 8VETTE7
I heard that GM succeeded in hiring away the cream of the crop from Lucas Electric and the C5 electrical system was their project.

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Old Jul 12, 2012 | 10:14 PM
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2002, No issues here at all.
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Old Jul 12, 2012 | 10:16 PM
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Knock on wood, but all three of my C5s have been free of any electrical problems. Hope that continues.
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Old Jul 12, 2012 | 10:29 PM
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Same here...very few problems... I've found the car to be electrically sound everywhere I've looked. Schematic diagrams, tech. literature and parts are readily available and accurate.
Nothing other then normal preventative maint. and common sense so far.
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Old Jul 12, 2012 | 10:41 PM
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99 with zero issues for me so far and I have logged 10k miles in the last 17 months.
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Old Jul 13, 2012 | 01:55 AM
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To date,
door lock relay fail
steering column potentiometer,
oil pressure sender,
all 4 tail light bulbs one at a time.
headlights won't pop up,
The same right front turn signal bulb 3 times
backup light switch, causing backup fuse to blow, cancelling the mirror auto dimming function,
alarm suddenly goes off with the car parked, and nobody near the key fobs or the car,
ABS module fail,
Gas gage on 1/4, when I filled it up, it went to zero,
10 years old, 3 batteries, But that's not a big deal.

Other than that, nothing wrong.

Last edited by coupeguy2001; Jul 13, 2012 at 02:04 AM.
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Old Jul 13, 2012 | 04:01 AM
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It's just you. I've had a 98, 01, and two 03's and have yet to have any electrical problem. The battery in my first 03 lasted 8 years and still cranked the car when I replaced it for HUD display defaulting to oil pressure everytime I started the car after sitting a while. I do keep them inside if that makes a difference.
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Old Jul 13, 2012 | 04:19 AM
  #12  
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I've had a couple minor little issues but all VERY easy to fix.

My 2002 had the column lock issue, but twice I was lucky enough to unlock it. I installed a CLB and never had further issues with my 02.

My 03 had the EBCM go out, but I sent it to ABSFixer and had it back in less than a week.

I also had a ground go bad on me (just corrosion) which caused some gremlins. After I found the bad ground, I sanded down all of the contacts and haven't had any further electrical gremlins.

Oh, and my reverse lock out works 50% of the time. I'm pretty sure that it's an easy fix, but it's had the problem since I bought the car.
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Old Jul 13, 2012 | 07:34 AM
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Originally Posted by jrose7004
Electrical problems? What electrical problems?

Badges, badges.....we don't need no stinking badges. (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre)
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Old Jul 13, 2012 | 08:32 AM
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I had some electrical gremlins on my 01 a few years back. It started with the car going through some kind of strange clicking when I turned the key. It would start the process where the guages would go fully to the right, then back, and the DIC would display, "CORVETTE BY CHEVROLET" but it would get stuck in this cycle, as if it were "stuttering." I tried replacing the Optima Red Top battery, but the problems continued even with the new battery. I don't know what fixed it finally, but I'd been under the passenger footwell compartment, ensuring all the plugs were secured inside the module, checking out all the ground points, and checking all the fuses I could get to.

My headlights refused to come up one night on the way home from work. I stopped at an Auto Zone and tried for 25 mins to get the lights to come up, and then the car wouldn't start.

Suddenly, everything started working and I haven't had the issue since.
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