I purchased my 2000 C5 Corvette in Aug of 2001. I have been very happy with the vehicle till TRAGEDY STRUCK!! I was on the freeway at about 90-95 mph and was exiting the freeway when all of a sudden the car completely shut down. I coasted to a complete stop and tried to restart the vehicle. I then tried to start the vehicle with some gas ( not needed as many of you already know) it started and ran like crap. I shut the vehicle down and called for a tow truck (flatbed ofcourse ) I took the vehicle to Michaels Chevrolet in Michigan where basicaly everyone was trying to explain to me that my cars engine failed somewhere and I was out of warranty by time not miles. The original owner of this vehicle purchased the car in Aug 31 of 99. Now that makes the vehicle out of warranty by time by 53 days from when the vehicle encountered my defect. Now the dealer has tried to figure out exactly what is wrong with the vehicle with now luck. Now a service guy from chevy (he comes to all the dealers and says yes or no on good faith claims) calls the dealer and says Gm is not going to perticipate with the repair until they know EXACTLY what the defect is. Here's the funny thing. The only way I can get them to warranty this engine is if I authorize them to pull the motor which will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-3 grand. I tried everything in my power for them (GM) to take responsibility for the repair but................I FAILED!! On Dec. 10th 2002 I authorized the dealer to do this tear down of the motor but........... if Gm doesnt warranty the engine then I am totally screwed because I got a motor thats out of a car that could be completely bad and not repairible.
Now the top of the motor is working just fine and holding for a compression test but one side of the engine is not making the top of the motor work. I know absolutely nothing about the inside of the engine so I am speaking from what they have told me. I have talked to several people on this situation and everyone thinks it has something to do with the timing or cam chain or something.

I dunno why I am getting the run around but.......... I am definitly not a HAPPY CORVETTE OWNER. If I had done something to this vehicle that I would considered to be hard on this car then FINE......I would be more apt to pay for this problem but I did nothing wrong to this vehicle except drive it. I do all the maintaince to the vehicle and take very good care of this vehicle and find what GM wants me to do is TOTALLY LUDICRIS!!

Now I know there are alot of peeps on this board that can give me infomation or know someone that can help me because THIS COULD HAPPEN TO MANY MORE PEOPLE THAN ME......EVEN YOU. I bought this Corvette with the anticipation of it being the BEST VEHICLE I have ever bought but........ what makes me want to put $10,000-12000 into a car thats 53 days out of warranty. Sorry I forgot to mention the vehicle has 35,000 on it.

Any help would be appreciated,

Steve Schneider
(586) 709-8867

 

Steve,

I feel your pain, but I think you should be directing your anger towards the previous owner, not GM.

I purchased my C5 pre-owned as well, but it was still under warrentee. I then purchased the GMPP extended warrentee as insurance against this exact type of thing. I NEVER usually buy warrentees on any other items (electronics, etc) because they are usually a rip-off, but on a $50K car where it's $1000 minimum if ANYTHING goes wrong, I figured it was a good idea.

I hope they figure out your problem and you are motoring again soon with a minimum cost to you. Do you have any recourse with the previous owner?

 

Fuel air or spark. I don't think anything is wrong with your motor. It could be something to do with fuel delivery. Did you have them check the fuel pressure? YOur pump may have failed or even easier yet, the fuel cutoff might have tripped. There's a button in the hatch that just needs to be pressed to get it working again.
They are just trying to RIP YOU OFF if they think they need to pull the motor. NO WAY that needs to hapen if they do not know what's wrong with it. That is some pretty simple stuff for skilled mechanics to determine. That would be like doing open heart surgery to determine if you have any blood flow issues with your legs.
Whatever is what I would say! Have the codes scanned or look a them yourself.

 

I BOUGHT THE VECHICLE UNDER A 2ND OWNER WITH A FACTORY WARRANTY SO I WOULD THINK THAT A CAR THAT MOST PEOPLE HARDLY DRIVE THAT WAS UNDER THE 35,000 MILES WOULD SAY "HEY THIS VEHICLE FAILED BEFORE THE 36,000 MILE AND i THINK WE SHOULD COVER IT"!!! I USE TO WORK FOR DEALERS AND I SEE CARS THAT ARE 50,000 MILES AND THEY WARRANTY THE CAR SO I THINK THE PERVIOUS OWNER HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THE CAR IS A AUTOMATIC SO WHAT KIND OF REAL DAMAGE COULD I OR HE DO TOO THE ENGINE.

 

I WOULD HAVE HOPED THEY WOULD HAVE DONE ALL THAT!!! I have been confused for weeks now!!!

 

All you can do at this point is to fix the car and move forward. Did the dealership ever offer you the chance to buy an extended warranty? With a car like yours, you really should have had one or at least been told to get one.

Hopefully the car will be fixed to your satisfaction so you can drive it and enjoy it once again. :)

vetterdstr :cheers:

 

Like everyone else, I feel for your misfortune and share your disapointment in the lack of reliability in your car. Also, it's quite likely that pulling the codes in your vehicle will yield some pointers as to what's truly wrong.

In terms of Chevrolet fixing your car under warranty, they don't have to but they still might if you approach them with respect and courtesy. However, stamping your feet and having a hissy fit, as opposed to taking responsibility for having a just expired warranty, is unlikely to be in your favour.

Perhaps a more profitable tack might be to call Chevrolet Customer Service and ask them if they would consider making a one time extension to the warranty, or try to find some other mutually agreeable accomodation. You'll need to find someone in authority as you won't get anywhere with the people who answer the phones. This path has been succesful for others.

Whatever you do, do yourself a favour and think about getting an extended warranty for the future. From what you said, this car was 1000 miles from its 36,000 miles mark anyway.


[Modified by chocoholic, 12:45 PM 12/14/2002]

 

I feel your pain, and yes, this could happen to any of us. That's why I bought an extended warranty. However, let's move on. Being that you've already had the engine removed, you may as well find out what failed in the engine.
In a worst case scenario, I believe a Z06 crate motor is around $5500.00. I would definitely look into this option. Good luck.

 

Man, i feel for you, that really sucks. If you have to pay sig. $ to have engine rebuild you might want to consider my heads/cam LS1 longlbock for sale with 32 K miles on it and running strong, as engine always put me well into the 11s in the 1/4 mile.

My 98 C5 is going to MTI in Houston next weekend for new 427 stroker and i am selling complete cartek heads/cam LS1 for 3,000.00, firm, plus shipping.

Best of luck to you in getting back on the road.

MTI 427 Roadster

 

THANKS FOR THE ADVISE BUT.... I HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY NICE WITH THE PEOPLE AT THE DEALER AND WITH CHEVY DIRECT. I JUST DONT FEEL WHAT HAPPENED WAS THE FAULT OF A HUMAN BEING! I THINK IT WAS GOING TO BREAK ANYHOW. WHO DRIVES A HIGH PERFORMANCE VEHICLE OVER THE SPEED LIMIT HERE???? LETS SEE SOME HANDS!!!! MY DRIVING RECORD SPEAKS FOR ITSELF AND IF I WANNA BEAT ON SOMETHING I HAVE A GXSR1000 THAT DOES HAVE EXTENDED WARRANTY ON IT (MID 9'S :D ) FURTHER MORE I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT IT WAS A 2000 SO I ASSUMED (STUPID ME) THAT IT HAD WARRANTY TILL THE AT LEAST BEGINNIGN OF 2003. I JUST FEEL CHEVY SHOULD STEP UP TO THE PLATE ON THIS ONE BECAUSE I BOUGHT A HIGH PERFORMANCE VEHICLE THAT THE MOTOR TOOK A DUMP!!! :confused: :smash:

THANKS FOR THE SUGGESTION I WILL TRY THAT TOO CHOCOHOLIC

 

I WILL KEPP YOU IN MIND I SHOULD KNOW SOMETHING BY END OF NEXT WEEK.

 

:iagree:

 

:iagree: also

 

If so, then why is one side working and the other side not!!! I'm speaking valve train (basically the upper)


:confused: :confused:

 

When I read in your post that there is a fuel shutoff switch and a buttonin the hatch to reset it I got out the owners manual and checked. I didn't remember seeing anything about a fuel cuttoff or reset button and sure enough I could not find a reference to it in the manual. Where on the hatch is the reset button? I have a 2003 coupe. This forum is outstanding. Thanks for the help. :confused:

 

I just can't imagine anything that would shut down the valve train on one side?? They both run off the same cam, and every cylinders valves are independent??
I am really curious know what could do this

 

could the rocker arm shaft mounts on the side that isn't working have broke loose ?? or is there something that could shut off the oil to the lifters on one side?

 

The info your looking for is actually in the service manual and the reset button the other poster is talking about is a valve that shuts off fuel flow when the car is involved in an accident, sometimes these valves will actually shut off for little or no reason.

 

I knew the cutt off was in place to shut off fuel in the event of an accident. Included since the vehicle has an electric fuel pump. Other cars I own have this same feature (??). They however call out the rest button location in the owners manual. Am I to understand that GM doesn't want me to be able to reset the fuel cut off in the event of a minor accident that trips the cut off?

I need to get a mantenance manual for this car. :cheers:

 

Did you see this valve train phenonena for yourself?