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Old May 14, 2021 | 11:54 PM
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Default C5 handy features

I copied this from this forum, many years ago when I had my C5. If you already saw this, sorry. Hopefully some of you had not.
C5 Handy Features
  1. A Little yellow helper light is at the bottom of the rear view mirror.
  2. With your key in the driver’s door, turn it twice toward the front to unlock the passenger door and a third time to pop the trunk.
  3. You can pop the trunk and gas cap by pulling on metal lines hidden in the back.
  4. The little slotted cover on the dash behind the steering wheel is where the inside air temperature sensor is located.
  5. All of the option codes are in the glove box. If they aren’t there, look on the underside of the rear compartment lid.
  6. Your build sheet is in the front rebar; your front bumper cover must be pulled for access.
  7. When your engine is off, you can get the odometer reading (on the D.I.C.) by turning on the parking lights.
  8. You can program setting number 3 (both memory buttons at once) of the seat memory to run the seat back and steering wheel forward for getting in and out of the car with the engine running.
  9. Hold down the RESET button while viewing one of the trip odometers to see the mileage you traveled since starting the car.
  10. Hold down the ACTIVE HANDLING button for 5 seconds to engage Competitive Driving.(2000 and older C5s must be stationary.)
  11. Pull the emergency brake one click to turn off Daytime Running Lights (DRLs).
  12. Remove fuse #2 under the hood to permanently disable the DRLs. The only other thing that is affected is that when unlocking the door at night with the key fob, your front turn signals and back-up lights will not flash. The front turn signals will operate normally.
  13. The side-view mirrors can rotate both forward and backward to prevent damage if struck.
  14. If you pull the seatbelts all the way out while you are buckled in, they ratchet back in to hold you tighter in the seat.
  15. As is the case with other cars, the parking brake is self-adjusting when the car is forward on an incline.
  16. There is an air bleed flap for preventing pressure buildup whe closing the hatch. It is located just above the driver’s side rear compartment, just behind the panel.
  17. There is a spot on the driver’s side, just outside of the middle compartment and under the carpet, for the lug nut key. The key fits in an indent that resides there.
  18. The bolts that hold the disc changer to the car, when installed by the factory, cannot be removed. They must be cut off.
  19. You can ground an external amp to the screw/bolt that holds the rear middle compartment to the frame.
  20. Turn on the headlights and then back to the parking light position to clean the headlights. They will remain up until you turn off the parking lights.
  21. If you have a 6-speed car (MN6), you can still pop the hatch or trunk while the car is running by simply pulling up the emergency brake lever, first.
  22. I didn’t confirm this yet, but that yellow light that shines down from the rear view mirror can be changed to blue by sliding a built-in lens over the light.
  23. If you are in Competitive driving mode and it is displayed on the D.I.C., pressing reset will NOT turn traction control on, yet you can go back to viewing whatever was displayed on the D.I.C. before you activated competitive driving mode.
  24. If you have the passive entry feature and lock your keys in the car, wait a few minutes and shake the car. The car will be unlocked.
  25. You can set the HUD to display a shift light.
Old May 15, 2021 | 09:03 AM
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#15. How does the parking brake self adjust when the car is forward on an incline?
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Old May 15, 2021 | 09:10 AM
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Even after all these years still finding things out about my Corvette.

Thanks for posting the list.
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Old May 15, 2021 | 10:28 AM
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#16 Doesn't work on my car lol.
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Old May 15, 2021 | 10:36 AM
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I just passed this to some C5 Corvette lovers.
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Old May 15, 2021 | 01:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Fast one
#15. How does the parking brake self adjust when the car is forward on an incline?
Good question. Maybe someone can answer this?
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Old May 15, 2021 | 01:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Mr. Black
#16 Doesn't work on my car lol.
It never worked as well as I thought it should have with my C5, either.😏
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Old May 15, 2021 | 07:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Dave68
Good question. Maybe someone can answer this?
Yeah, any of us who have worked on or with the parking brake. The cake is a lie. The parking brake is not and can not be self adjusting -- it is not, in fact, adjustable from outside the drum.
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Old May 15, 2021 | 07:29 PM
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#21 is also not real -- and would make absolutely no sense if did. Seriously, I park the car and the hatch pops? I don't think so.
#20 does work -- BUT forget to drop the lights back to full off, and your battery will run flat. Ask me how I know that one...

Last edited by redzg; May 15, 2021 at 07:31 PM.
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Old May 16, 2021 | 06:49 PM
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Originally Posted by redzg
#21 is also not real -- and would make absolutely no sense if did. Seriously, I park the car and the hatch pops? I don't think so.
Try again. It is saying that if you set the ebrake, you can pop the trunk with the car running. No need to get all temperamental.
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Old May 16, 2021 | 08:12 PM
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Originally Posted by redzg
#21 is also not real -- and would make absolutely no sense if did. Seriously, I park the car and the hatch pops? I don't think so.
#20 does work -- BUT forget to drop the lights back to full off, and your battery will run flat. Ask me how I know that one...
When my C5 was new, I attempted to pop the hatch while the car was running but without the emergency brake lever pulled up. The hatch would definitely not pop. It wasn't until later that I learned about this requirement while the engine was still running. Those with auto transmissions could most likely just throw the trans in park.
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Old May 16, 2021 | 08:24 PM
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Originally Posted by redzg
Yeah, any of us who have worked on or with the parking brake. The cake is a lie. The parking brake is not and can not be self adjusting -- it is not, in fact, adjustable from outside the drum.
You might want to take a look at this:

C5 Corvette Parking Brake Adjustment - C5Forum.com

The author says that the adjustment is done when the ebrake handle is pulled while parked facing downward on a hill, but only if things were set up correctly at the factory.
The self-adjuster on C5's is in the handle mechanism, not at the wheel. I don't know why both star wheels on my well-maintained 2000 coupe were turned all the way in, but I suspect the factory never adjusted them properly. The way the self-adjuster's designed suggests it can't bring drum-to-lining clearance within specs, but can only keep it within specs by compensating for cable stretch. Once the clearance is set, though, it would only increase as the linings wore. But the linings should not wear at all, unless the p-brake's applied while the car is moving.

Last edited by Dave68; May 16, 2021 at 08:26 PM.
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Old May 16, 2021 | 08:26 PM
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thanks for the information. I was able to adjust my rear drums finally. I couldn’t understand why my rear brakes weren’t engaging. 🤣


Originally Posted by redzg
Yeah, any of us who have worked on or with the parking brake. The cake is a lie. The parking brake is not and can not be self adjusting -- it is not, in fact, adjustable from outside the drum.
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Old May 16, 2021 | 08:28 PM
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I sit corrected. Had misunderstood the tip.
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Old May 16, 2021 | 09:29 PM
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I never had to adjust my parking brake but then again, I owned the car for only 13 years.
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Old May 16, 2021 | 09:34 PM
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Originally Posted by 1bdvet
I just passed this to some C5 Corvette lovers.
I'll bet most C5 owners don't know at least some of these handy features. One of my favorite features was the digital display that allows you to read codes and display sensor outputs. That was and is relatively unheard of in other vehicles.
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Old May 16, 2021 | 10:53 PM
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How do you set the HUD to be a shift light?
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Old May 16, 2021 | 11:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Turbotalon1g
How do you set the HUD to be a shift light?
Don't know but the is an indicator on the HUD display that says shift.

Last edited by C5MSG2004Vert; May 16, 2021 at 11:17 PM.
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Old May 17, 2021 | 04:02 PM
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At the end of this video, the owner mentions that the HUD will display a shift indicator at redline.

C5 Corvette Heads Up Display HUD - Bing video
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Old May 17, 2021 | 10:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Turbotalon1g
How do you set the HUD to be a shift light?
The page button changes the HUD displays through 4 or 5 different choices.
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