I have a 2008 with a strong odor of gasoline when over half full, although I don't see an actual leak to the ground. I found what I think is a recall for the exact issue I am having, but it expired in November 2017.

From what I understand, a recall notice should have been sent, but I didn't receive one and I am at the same address when it was purchased new. I also had some maintenance and tire replacement performed in May 2017, which is before it expired, but the dealer never mentioned it. It is also the same dealer where the car was purchased.

The dealer is refusing to do anything and from what I found to be the labor involved, this could be a $4000 repair. Do I have any recourse or anyone at GM that could be contacted? Thanks!

 

It was classified as a Special Coverage Adjustment (basically an extended warranty for that issue) and not a safety recall so no letter would have been sent out. And GM would not have wanted it publicized any more than it was. The reason, as you have found out, is the payout GM would have had to make.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...30551-9999.pdf

If you didn't have the fuel odor when you had it in for service, the dealer wouldn't have done anything anyway.

If you were a couple of months beyond the special coverage you might have had a chance, but 5 years......

Good luck. I have been slowly accumulating all the parts for both tanks on my 07 for when that day comes.

 

I think what you're looking for is the attached TSB. They were good for 10 years,120k miles - whichever came first. Good luck.

 

Thats what I found, but it looks like I'm SOL. I didn't notice an odor until last March. $4000 seems ridiculous to me.

 

Here's a vid of a kid that did it in his apartment complex. I agree 4k is steep but here's what you have to look forward to if you do it yourself

 

Yes, I saw the video. If I was his age I'd give it a go, but a mans got to know his limitations.

 

I had to deal with the same issue on a new-to-me 2007 late last year. From my research, what makes the job so expensive is the 11 hours labor that GM says in necessary (dropping the ENTIRE rear end, transmission, etc.) to be able to drop the fuel tank. The issue is a plastic elbow that exits the driver's side tank at the top and feeds into the fuel line to the injectors. There are plenty of videos showing that it's not really necessary to drop the rear end at all. I ended up sourcing the parts myself and then found a local mechanic who was willing to watch a couple of the videos and just charge me the actual labor hours it took to do the job. That ended up being 8 hours. The whole thing ran me about $1400 to fix instead of the close to $4k estimate I got from the stealership. If you go the same route, be aware that the fuel sending unit is different between the 2005-2006 models and the 207-2013 models. Getting the wrong sending unit will cause your gas gauge to read incorrectly. I haven't had an issue since.

 

Best advice I got was to ask the local Corvette Club for a local mechanic. I did, and was able to order the parts from one of the GM discount places online. I was out about $2300. Steep, but way less than the dealership. They did not drop the cradle to do it.

 

Does he make house calls ? Offer $1000 plus cost of parts ? The most difficult part to me looks like the cross over tube and lines, he has a clever trick with the zip ties to hold the inner lines solid in place. He puts the cross over assembly back together quickly.

 

LOL maybe. I had that video saved so if I ever got the fuel smell I had a good video reference. Figured if he can do it in a complex lot, I can do it in a garage.

 

I'm not a mechanic and I wasn't brave enough to do mine. But from what I've seen, the reason for the zip ties is broken tabs on the return pipes. When I had mine done, I bought new return lines, which negates using zip ties. $100 extra in parts but no extra labor.

A channel called Last Corvette on YouTube has a series of videos on the process. He mentions replacing the return pipes and also the electrical connector on top of the left fuel tank, since fuel has probably been leaking on to it. Below is my parts list for my 2008 Base from GMpartswarehouse.com. I ended up with one extra fuel level sensor, since I didn't realize the one pump came with the sensor already installed. It's more parts and money than was absolutely necessary but I didn't want to risk something else breaking any time soon. My car had a leaking left side pump and a bad level sensor on the right so everything needed to come out anyway. Prices may have changed since March 2022.

19420858 W (S)Module Kit $297.90
19420829 Sensor Kit $60.60
19354816 Electric Fuel Pump $347.87
15814858 Harness $90.44
10337583 Return Pipe $61.82
10337581 Return Pipe $41.73
19420830 Sensor Kit $60.60

 

No recall was issued for this issue, a tsb (technical service bulletin) was issued for the affected cars.....Gm would repair the vehicle providing it has less than 120,000 miles or less than 10 years old from the date that the car was put into service

 

If you crawl under the car it becomes real clear what's going on. The car has two gas tanks with a big fat pipe & pumps connecting the two tanks together. At first glance it seems kinda sketchy, but when you consider how little "extra" room the Corvette has for extra parts, and the performance nature of the car (it's way easier to get to 150 MPH than 185 MPH)\, this anachronistic problem becomes clear.

It may not cost all that much, depending upon the source of the issue. The solution could just be replacing a few low-cost parts.

Working on cars is a great hobby. It makes you appreciate your car more, and makes you more into a driver than a passenger along for the ride on top of unknown tech working in unfathomable fashion. It saves money too! Just find a good friend that knows everything about Corvette's, because they're different.

 

Does the Module Kit NOT include the fuel pump? Is this module, if it includes the fuel pump, and the pump listed separately the same as the Z06 pump? Thanks.

 

GM calls the fuel pump a module. You can usually get the pump only, the fuel level sensor only or both parts together.

Here is sticky with a lot of smelly gas info:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-recall-8.html

Here is a thread with a lot of part number info:
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...em-part-s.html
The part numbers he lists show that the right tank siphon pump is same for base and Z06 and the left tank electric pump is different for base and Z06.



This is what I have ready for my 2007 when I feel like doing the job. 2008 should be the same.

Right tank:
ACDelco MU1892 fuel pump with level sensor attached. This is a siphon venturi pump and not an electric pump.
GM 10337581 fuel feed and return line in tank. This line is prone to break off at the mount when pulling, making it hard to stay in position during reinstall. Get this or see the drill hole and add zip tie trick to hold it.

Left tank:
ACDelco MU2186 fuel pump with level sensor attached. This is the electric pump that sends fuel to the engine.
GM 10337583 fuel feed and return line in tank. This line is also prone to break off at the mount when pulling, making it hard to stay in position during reinstall.

The corrugated stainless steel crossover pipe:
GM 15223882. I got this cause had read that some struggled reinstalling this because the original had stiffened up over the years. You can get just the plastic line inside. It is GM 10337588.
I have held off buying the 2 pair of large orings for this pipe as they are not cheap and most guys reuse the originals. They are GM 10376929, qty 2 req.

 

With the parts I listed, the "Module" is the left side pump with no sensor. The "electric fuel pump" is the right side and includes the sensor. I have no idea about the Z06 part vs the standard one.

 

$4K is dumb. My dealer did mine last month for a tad over $2K ... which is still stupid but better.

 

Bought my 2009 in April from a private party. It had about 1/4 tank of gas in it when I test drove it. Stopped to get fuel on the way home and knew I had a problem (and what it likely was) after filling up. I bought the car at a good price and Atomic Orange 6M weren't exactly falling out of trees in my neighborhood, so I just paid to have the work done. Had the A/C charged and some new battery terminals. All in all it was about $3600 with parts. I just paid the bill and never looked back.

 

What year C6 did GM resolve their fuel problem and resolve the issue with a different design? Any GM resolve and what year?

 

It was never resolved during the entire 05-13 C6 model years