I still remember the day my father brought home his 1999 Pewter Fixed Roof Coupe. I was about 14 years old, and I couldn’t believe my dad had bought a Corvette. It was absolutely beautiful.


The moment I first laid eyes on that FRC, I fell in love with it. Even back then, before I knew what made an FRC special, I knew there was something about it that hit me differently than a regular C5. The body lines, the stance, the profile, there’s just something about this car that still does something to me today that I can’t fully explain. And that Corsa exhaust… it sounds incredible.



My father was a famously frugal guy, which made it even better. He hadn’t even mentioned to his wife that morning that he planned on buying a Corvette. Needless to say, it was a complete shock to my little brother and me, but boy were we excited.



That car became a staple of my teenage years. I have endless memories in that FRC. I drove it so much while learning that I actually passed my driver’s test in that car—a manual 6-speed FRC, first try. I’ll never forget the look on the instructor’s face when she climbed into the passenger seat, she told me she didn’t know how she was going to get into a car so low to the ground, haha



My dad was the cool dad. He’d go to late-night causeway sports car meetups, and we may or may not have witnessed our fair share of “spirited driving”… in Mexico, of course. The Vette to us, was a life style. Not just a car



But more than anything, that Corvette was therapy for him. His favorite thing in the world was hopping in the Vette, cranking 90s rock, Nirvana, AC/DC, RHCP, along side his cocker spaniel for the ride, and heading to the beach to watch the sunset. Over the years, he’s easily clocked thousands of sunsets from behind the wheel of that car.



He took incredible care of his baby girl, and it shows nearly three decades later.



Now she sits in my garage, and every time I stare at her, the memories come flooding back.



I lost my dad 3 weeks ago, March of this year to a heart attack. He was far too young at only 61. I am 38. What I wouldn’t give for one more sunset ride with him.



Because of that, this car is no longer just a car to me, It’s a piece of him. It’s part of my bloodline, and it will never be sold. My duty now is to bring his FRC back to 100% and preserve the legacy of the man who made so many memories in it.



That’s why I’m reaching out to this community for help.



The issues are a bit tricky because my father had recently begun troubleshooting them but never got the chance to finish, so I’m not sure whether these are all related or separate issues. Nor do I fully know what troubleshooting he has performed there was a multimeter inside the car and the passenger door panels were removed. All of the panels are also removed around the steering column. I know these cars have security module issues, as I had the same issue with my 2004 Z06.

Below are some notes that I have taken from my observations and troubleshooting.

—



The biggest problem right now is the cluster of error messages on the DIC that alternate one after another:

• Service Traction System
• Service Vehicle Soon
• Service ABS
• Low Tire Pressure LF, RF, LR, RR

Gauge Issue

• Oil pressure gauge does not work

Strange Electrical Behavior


One random but possibly related issue: while driving, all gauges suddenly dropped to zero (except battery voltage), yet the car continued to drive perfectly fine. After a minute or two, everything came back to normal, but the error messages aforementioned continue to cycle.



Because the car still drives like an absolute bat out of hell, I have a hard time believing all of these warnings are legitimate failures. My gut says this points more toward a module issue, ground issue, BCM/EBTCM fault, cluster problem, or possible wiring short, but I honestly don’t know where the best place to start is.


Brake Light Issue

• The third brake light works normally
• The main four rear brake lights do NOT illuminate with pedal input
• Turn signals and hazards work normally
• If the battery is left connected, the running lights stay on continuously

That makes me think there may be a shared ground issue, multifunction switch issue, or wiring fault in the rear lighting circuits. I just don’t know where to start here either.



Rear Window Molding


Lastly, the rear window outer molding is starting to peel up, which I know is a common FRC/Z06 issue.



Ideally, I’d love to replace it with a brand-new OEM molding instead of regluing it, but I’ve had zero luck finding one anywhere.



The part numbers I’ve been hunting are:

• OEM GM 88948473
• OEM GM 10400804

I’ve searched just about the entire internet and have come up empty.



Does anyone here know the secret sauce for solving this molding issue the right way on an FRC?



Thank you all in advance for any advice, technical guidance, or even just helping me honor my father by bringing the love of his life back to its former glory. For what it’s worth, I find a sense of gratification by hopefully being able to repair these issues myself, rather than taking into a shop to repair and having someone else do it. I know this would make my old man smile from above

With all my gratitude,
-Jeremy.

 

• Service Traction System
• Service Vehicle Soon
• Service ABS
• Low Tire Pressure LF, RF, LR, RR

It's 1999 so it's highly likely the brake control module is kaput. They are not available new, only used. Some online companies can repair SOME of the problems with them, depending on the issue. The module would need to be removed and shipped to them for repair. This link has the codes they can fix. https://www.absfixer.com/catalog/pro...products_id/62

Gauge Issue

• Oil pressure gauge does not work

The highest possibility is the oil pressure sensor. If you're handy, not too bad to fix, look on YouTube for instructional videos.

Brake Light Issue

• The third brake light works normally
• The main four rear brake lights do NOT illuminate with pedal input
• Turn signals and hazards work normally
• If the battery is left connected, the running lights stay on continuously

First thing I would do is change the bulbs and see if the brake filaments are burnt out, the bulbs have two filaments. and if all four are burnt try to find out why; four of them cooking suggests a short or power surge to me.

 

Well sorry for for your loss, My wife passed away last year as well, It is a corvette, so ground issues are always a good place to start. Now being a first gen ABS system which we have covered a lot in here, but my 2003 has a ABS system and it was finely fixed when when I bought a rebuilt ABS module from Mercer Corvette in Indiana, and it came with a lifetime warranty, now that is Delphi unit ( some are rebuildable ) but Bosch built the early cars 1997 to 2000, now everyone says that are not fixable, but it is more a legal issue, but I spoke to Mercar in 2023 and i asked about early Bosch units,and I was told by the technician, that Mercer Corvette was looking to arrange some kind of a work about, to buy a "license" to see if they could do just that, but that was in 2023 and were it me, I'd give Mercer a call and see if there anything changed. Now I'd follow Gorn Captain advice as to the other problems and below is the simple on-board Diagnosing System and you can get the different trouble codes on your car, I can't find it at the moment,but someone here can post it, Good luck !

 

Moving this over to C5 Tech for assistance.

And my condolences on the loss of your father.

 

Sorry for your loss.

Do yourself a favor, and buy a factory service manual for the car. If you truly want to know the car inside and out, that is the bible to follow. That way you don't have to have a connection to the internet to make a decision.

You indicate you will be doing the repairs yourself. Do you have the mechanical and electrical expertise/experience to troubleshoot? Do you have a DMM, test light, adequate tools, and have the ability to read schematics and interpret the service manual? If you find yourself challenged in these areas you are best to take your car to a trusted shop, or this will be a frustrating experience for you. If you are proficient in those areas, then you only need familiarize yourself with the platform, and the forum can fill in C5 specific information, problem areas, etc. Just remember that this is a C5 corvette forum, not a "learn how to work on cars forum".

Good luck with your journey.

I lost my Dad in a similar way at 67. Heart related, sudden, and left behind a garage full of cool cars that did not run.

Peace to your family.

 

Sorry to hear about your dad. It is great you want to become caretaker of his prize!!

 

My condolences on your father's passing. From the description of some of the problems it might be a seriel buss issue, the cars various electronic modules all communicate on a single dedicated wire that connects them all together. If a single module loses power or ground it causes the seriel buss to crash, one of the problem areas is the door to car connectors located in the A piller inside the rubber accordion tubing. It may take some time to sort out the various problems but it will all be worthwhile knowing that you will be restoring your father's FRC, good luck.

 

Sorry for the loss of your Dad. 61 is too young. I enjoyed reading your thread and glad to hear you are keeping his FRC and bringing it back to like new condition.

 

Send me a DM if you like and we can talk through these a bit. I have a Pewter '99 FRC as well.