Just checking the valve springs on the passenger side 2001 C5. Could this be an example of a worn out valve spring? One is much lower than the other in the photo for cylinder 8.
I've been reading about valve springs but I'm still not experienced with them.

 

That valve is open.
What are you checking for?

 

Nope. Those look fine. Like Ross said, that valve is just open. Those all look to be in really good shape. Believe me, you will know when you see a bad spring. They usually make noise too.

 

Had a bad automatic transmission. Replaced with one with 50K. Initially things were fine. Then, with cruise on, on the interstate, I pressed resume and I thought it went into safe mode when it went into a higher gear to resume. It started shifting at higher RPM's after that but it will shift to 3rd gear. The transmission before it did the same thing. I have attempted looking for normal RPM shift for the C5 Corvette but I found some people say that it shifts at lower RPM's like many other cars do and some people say theirs shifts up around 5800.
Sometimes if I drive it in 2nd at higher RPM (4000 to 5000), the oil pressure goes to 80.
I changed the transmission fluid and filter recently and that helped it shift a little better. It doesn't always have the same shift point.
I'm wondering if the shifting is caused by an engine issue instead of transmission. No error codes.
I know that the upper oil pan gasket is leaking in several places even at idle. Wouldn't this cause a pressure loss and possible engine malfunction?
Right after starting it, it was on ramps and I went underneath to replace the rubber drive train bell housing cover that was missing.
I heard something that sounded like metal against metal and envisioned the cylinders dropping down to low and banging on something.
The sound stopped after about 20 seconds. I thought it was probably an engine pressure issue and looked up causes of pressure loss.
I didn't see leaking oil pan on the list so I considered valve springs or seals.

 

Last year I connected an aftermartket tech2 as I shifted gears in the driveway and the tech2 gear selection didn't always match what the gear selector showed.

 

That's normal.