Hi guys, Recently sold my 70 vette and purchaced a 1998. With all the time and $$ that I put in that 1970, I was very dissapointed in how the car still rode and leaked. Even with all of the rubber (weather stripping) replaced, it still whistled down the road as well as leaked water when it got a bath. Complete suspention rebuild and road like a tank. Again, very dissapointed. Still love the body style, but will never own one again.
What a world of diiference in a C5. Quite, nice ride, and a blast to drive. Couldn't be happier. Thinking I got a pretty good deal on her. $19,500 with barely over 50,000 miles on it. 5,000 a year not bad I don't think. Just my opinion.


Have a question. While reading the manuel, it says that if you change your own oil, that one needs to purchase a "shop manuel" for this car, because there is a particular procedure neccessary for doing this. HUH?????????? Please someone enlighten me. What is so different with an oil change on these cars?? I know about re-setting the "D.I.C." on "oil life" monitor. Maybe thats what thier referring to. Help!

 

No problem. Do the oil change like any other car. Then, press the "trip" button (odometer) until the oil life %. Then press and hold "reset" until it clears and it will reset to 100%. Dont matter for me anyway, I use full syn oil and change it every 5,000mi.

 

Got it. Thanks. 5,000 miles sounds good.

 

You need two shop manuals to change the oil. You put them in front of your tires, then drive the car on top of them. This gives you enough room to fit your jack under the front end...

 

There is a procedure in the shop manual for changing the oil and it is different than other cars. The winged oil pan requires this procedure. I have posted it several times over the years so here it is again:

Engine Oil and Oil Filter Change
Removal Procedure

Important
Be sure the vehicle is level during this entire procedure.

Raise and suitably support the vehicle. Refer to Lifting and Jacking the Vehicle in General Information.

Important
In order to completely drain the oil from the oil pan internal baffling, the bottom of the oil pan must be level during the oil drain procedure.

Allow a MINIMUM of 7 MINUTES for the engine oil to fully drain, once the engine oil drain plug and the engine oil filter are removed.

Remove the engine oil drain plug and allow the oil to drain.

Remove the engine oil filter by turning the oil filter counterclockwise and allow any remaining oil to drain.

Installation Procedure

Clean the gasket sealing area on the engine oil filter mounting surface with a clean, dry cloth.
Lightly oil the replacement engine oil filter gasket, use CLEAN oil.

Important
Use a cap-type wrench, AC Delco OF17W or equivalent, or a strap-type wrench with swivel handle to insure proper installation.

Install the filter by turning the engine oil filter clockwise. Tighten
Tighten the engine oil filter to 30 N·m (22 lb ft).

Wipe the engine oil drain plug with a clean, dry cloth.
Install the engine oil drain plug. Tighten
Tighten the engine oil drain plug to 25 N·m (18 lb ft).

Important
Allow a MINIMUM of 3 MINUTES for the NEW engine oil to fully fill the engine oil pan.

Fill the engine with the proper type and amount of NEW engine oil. DO NOT use any engine oil additives in Corvette engines. For information on the proper type of oil to use, refer to Fluid and Lubricant Recommendations in Maintenance and Lubrication. For information on the engine oil capacity, refer to Engine Mechanical Specifications .

Run the engine for 3 minutes and thoroughly inspect the oil filter and the oil pan drain plug areas for leaks.

Allow the engine to cool for a minimum of 3 minutes.
Check the engine oil level.
Top-off the engine oil to the full mark on the oil level indicator (dipstick).
Lower the vehicle.

Despite the so called wisdom of certain people on the forum the procedure calls for the car to be level Vs having the rear raised more than the front. The 7 minute and 3 minute wait periods allow the oil to drain properly and new oil to settle back into the pan before the oil level is checked for full.

Oil change interval on a 98 is when the oil life monitor indicates its time for a change or every 10K miles or 1 year. Doesn't need to be changed any more than that. Here is the oil life monitor info:

Oil Life Monitor - Resetting
Description
The engine oil life monitor will indicate when to change the engine oil - usually between 5 000 km (3,000 miles) and 16 000 km (10,000 miles) since the last oil change. Under severe conditions, the CHANGE OIL message may be displayed before 5 000 km (3,000 miles). The vehicle must not be driven more than 16 000 km (10,000 miles) or 12 months without an oil change.

The engine oil life monitor will not detect dust in the oil. If the vehicle is driven in a dusty area, be sure to change the oil every 5 000 km (3,000 miles) or sooner if the CHANGE OIL message is displayed.

Reset the oil life monitor when the oil has been changed; use the following procedure.

Resetting Procedure
Follow this procedure to reset the engine oil life monitor:

Turn the ignition to ON.
Press the TRIP button on the driver information center (DIC) switch to view various menu choices and stop on OIL LIFE REMAINING. A message will display the percentage of oil life remaining.
Press and hold the RESET button on the DIC switch for at least 2 seconds. A message will display the percentage of oil life remaining as 99 percent. The engine oil life monitor is now reset.
Turn the ignition OFF.

Bill

 

If you raise the back of the car more than the front, you WILL drain out 4 more ounces of oil. Is this important, probably not. Do I do it ? You bet.

A little more background about the oil life monitor. On early C5's (including 1998's), the maximum oil life was 10,000 miles. Later, GM learned that they could go even longer on synthetic oil, so it was raised to 15,000 mile maximum. Note that these are maximums, the computer looks at your actual driving and subtracts from this to determine when YOU should change oil based on your actual driving. Evil Twin has done several posts about this, and he is one of the GM Engineers that worked on the C5. One last comment, this system does not measure any characteristics of the oil, if you drive in dusty areas, you should change oil more than indicated by the DIC.

 

Wow! Thanks again guys. Had no Idea of these specific procedures.