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I did the reach in and scrape a few months ago, took a mountain of crap out. But I knew there was more in there, just didn't realize how bad it was. It was totally blocked, impossible to clean it out while it was still in the car, and compressed air couldn't touch it. Never seen one this bad. Hoping I can save it.
Following up, after a couple days with the cleaned radiator, condenser, and new tensioners and idler pulleys. No more squeak which is great. The old pulleys had definitely had enough, freewheeling and scrapey. And temps have come down a good 15-20 degrees. Driving around here in the 90 degree heat with the a/c on full blast, and it's staying between 190-205 where before I was seeing a pretty constant 210+ with occasional jumps into the high 230s in traffic. Haven't been in full stop and go traffic yet, but put quite a few miles on it and the fans haven't come on at all. It was a weekend of work in a very hot garage (I went through gallons of water), but really good result.
I'll tell you, if you have crud in your radiator then compressed air is just not enough to do it properly. I was running 100psi and it blew out some of it, but didn't touch the serious stuff. It took a jet stream of water, a little soap, and time to do it right. I did use air on the condenser because I just didn't want to remove that and have to recharge the a/c, but the fins there are wider and it worked a little better. It's still not clean, but definitely made a difference.
If you recently had the radiator out, and are getting a ton of check engine codes, down on power, and the active handling warmup comes on every single time...reconnect the MAF sensor.
Changed the oil today. And while I generally like working on this car, this "stance" is ridiculous. What were they thinking putting the drain plug on the front of the engine? Pain in the butt if you don't have a lift. Also I had to let it drain for a good 20 minutes before it stopped. For reference I also changed the oil on the Land Cruiser in the background. That thing drained its oil in about 30 seconds. I will say the filter on the Vette is easier, but that's about it.
Damn, this is a lot of revival work for 40K original miles
Nice work getting it back to glory. It's amazing how much "stuff" these cars pick up. I went through the same radiator cleaning when doing my cam swap. SO much packed dirt gets in there along with picking up debris and tossing it on the intake manifold.
Damn, this is a lot of revival work for 40K original miles
Nice work getting it back to glory. It's amazing how much "stuff" these cars pick up. I went through the same radiator cleaning when doing my cam swap. SO much packed dirt gets in there along with picking up debris and tossing it on the intake manifold.
49k now, still my (mostly) daily driver. I've put about 11k on since the day I bought it. I work from home so I don't drive a lot of miles these days, but it's still my go to car for just about everything. This was just a normal oil change, but it strikes me as silly how the oil pan is designed. Took about an hour overall, while the Land Cruiser took about 15 minutes.
The radiator was something I knew I would have to dig into. It was hellaciously clogged from those years sitting in the weeds, and while my initial hand-scraping pulled out a lot, it wasn't nearly enough. What finally made me do it was a trip to south GA on a 98 degree day, hitting traffic through Atlanta and it just ran way too hot. It would only run reasonably cool at 70+, not a good situation. Now at least it's much cooler, but still averages probably 198 in town driving, will get to 210 or more in heavy traffic with the AC on, and will drop to the low 190s at highway speeds. That's still a little too hot, so I'll be replacing it at some point in the future. For reference the Land Cruiser runs just above 180 almost all the time, getting to the mid 190s in heavy traffic. That tells me the Corvette's radiator just isn't doing the job it should, even after the cleanup.
49k now, still my (mostly) daily driver. I've put about 11k on since the day I bought it. I work from home so I don't drive a lot of miles these days, but it's still my go to car for just about everything. This was just a normal oil change, but it strikes me as silly how the oil pan is designed. Took about an hour overall, while the Land Cruiser took about 15 minutes.
The radiator was something I knew I would have to dig into. It was hellaciously clogged from those years sitting in the weeds, and while my initial hand-scraping pulled out a lot, it wasn't nearly enough. What finally made me do it was a trip to south GA on a 98 degree day, hitting traffic through Atlanta and it just ran way too hot. It would only run reasonably cool at 70+, not a good situation. Now at least it's much cooler, but still averages probably 198 in town driving, will get to 210 or more in heavy traffic with the AC on, and will drop to the low 190s at highway speeds. That's still a little too hot, so I'll be replacing it at some point in the future. For reference the Land Cruiser runs just above 180 almost all the time, getting to the mid 190s in heavy traffic. That tells me the Corvette's radiator just isn't doing the job it should, even after the cleanup.
Hey Mark, remember that the C5 cooling system is designed to run at a warmer temperature compared to typical systems for the sake of fuel efficiency. These aren't like the old small blocks than ran at 160-180. If you're not seeing temps above 210*F in even the worst situation, I wouldn't worry as it is still within normal operating range.
If you really want peace of mind, new radiators are cheap enough that a replacement is worthwhile. You can also look into thermostats that open sooner (180F) as well as having the fan activation temps changed in the tune.
Fun has arrived! I took advantage of a deal at Walmart, yes that Walmart...and picked up the exhaust I have wanted since before I even owned a C5. Tomorrow will be a good time in the garage.
Great, you're going to fit it yourself, I had seen the back of the car needs to be quite high off the ground to change the exhaust, mainly to remove the OE parts. I've been getting a bit far ahead of myself looking at exhausts and cams!
Very much enjoyed reading your progress reports last night, they're giving me encouragement for this car in Spain!
Last edited by silver50; Aug 18, 2019 at 07:31 AM.
Life interfered with my garage time yesterday so I wasn't able to fit it, and now I'm on a business trip all week and the C5 is stuck at the airport waiting for my return. But I will be installing it next weekend, and I'll post pictures. I know you have to get the rear end up pretty high in the air and I have a plan for that. Hopefully it works out, I'll definitely post pics.
Out with the old, and in with the bold. For what it's worth, this was just high enough to get the old exhaust out. You really have to get the *** up in the air for this. And yes I know the back is really dirty, have to fix that soon.
Last edited by mark4cam; Aug 25, 2019 at 06:49 PM.
First start. I LOVE the sound of this thing. We took it to meet our daughter for lunch right after I got it installed, and I'm here to tell you I don't hear any drone. 75mph cruise and it's almost factory inside, but ripping around the roads around here and it sounds fantastic.
Interesting, I just noticed that while it felt like I jacked the car a mile off the ground, it’s just at the same height as the Land Cruiser. Off road Corvette? Wonder if the LC tires will fit....
When you report no drone with the Borla system, what is the rest of the system? Stock manifolds stock cats? Or longtubes?
100% stock except for the stinger cat-back. I've driven it around here at all speeds, and I really don't notice any issues at all. Yes it's a little louder, but no more than I expected.
100% stock except for the stinger cat-back. I've driven it around here at all speeds, and I really don't notice any issues at all. Yes it's a little louder, but no more than I expected.
Bummer, I was hoping you had LT's at least lol. Contemplating a switch from my Ti catback, but with LT's and catted X pipe I'm hesitant.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
Not the easiest thing to do on your own with the car still (fairly) close to the ground.