Bought One

[abull1499]

Hey everyone,

I pulled the trigger on a 91 ZR-1. I let emotions get the best of me and I bought it sight unseen [emoji51]. Love the car so far, but I have some questions and I’m looking for advice if I can get it.

Full disclosure:

I live in Massachusetts and have no mechanical abilities.

Here’s what I have on my hands:

1. Car seems to run well and feels pretty fast. Not positive the secondaries are working. I’ve gotten a service engine soon light a few times but it goes away. Sometimes I drive it for an hour without it coming on. Just can’t tell if I’m getting full power. I’ve never drive a C4 so no comparison.

2. Service LTPWS comes on

3. Reverse lights don’t work. Can’t pass inspection without that.

4. Bose sounds like crap and only some speakers work sometimes.

5. Headliner sags.

6. Center console gets pretty hot. Not sure if that’s normal.

I took it to a local Chevy dealership to help me to fix the reverse lights. No luck yet. I know they may not be able to troubleshoot the engine but I figured they could fix the reverse lights. Anyways, looking for advice or a good mechanic in the general Massachusetts area.

Any advice would be appreciated! I attempted to attach a few pics.



IMG_1775.jpgIMG_1774.jpgAttachment 1


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[Dynomite]

Originally Posted by abull1499

Hey everyone,

I pulled the trigger on a 91 ZR-1. I let emotions get the best of me and I bought it sight unseen [emoji51]. Love the car so far, but I have some questions and I’m looking for advice if I can get it.
I have bought several (had a photo and a few questions answered) then said "Ship It"

Full disclosure:

I live in Massachusetts and have no mechanical abilities.
That is not possible.......
You can use a Torx T Handle?
1/4" Socket wrench?
You know about metric sockets?
You have some metric combination wrenches?
Anyway......Lowes or Home Depot can fix you up

Here’s what I have on my hands:

1. Car seems to run well and feels pretty fast. Not positive the secondaries are working. I’ve gotten a service engine soon light a few times but it goes away. Sometimes I drive it for an hour without it coming on. Just can’t tell if I’m getting full power. I’ve never drive a C4 so no comparison.
Post 66 - Secondary Functional Test and Reconditioning the Secondary Actuators

2. Service LTPWS comes on.
I pulled the LTPWS (Low Tire Pressure Warning System) bulb as I have after market wheels.

3. Reverse lights don’t work. Can’t pass inspection without that.
Backup Tail Light Switch

4. Bose sounds like crap and only some speakers work sometimes.
Post 60 - Bose Speaker Amp Options TIPS

5. Headliner sags.
Post 137 - Using Permatex and Headliner Glue

6. Center console gets pretty hot. Not sure if that’s normal.
Pretty Hot???? How hot is your coolant just for comparison? If you are idle in traffic (no air movement under vehicle)......your exhaust is running on each side of Transmission and it can get warm in that area.

I took it to a local Chevy dealership to help me to fix the reverse lights. No luck yet. I know they may not be able to troubleshoot the engine but I figured they could fix the reverse lights. Anyways, looking for advice or a good mechanic in the general Massachusetts area.

Any advice would be appreciated! I attempted to attach a few pics.
See First Post of -Solutions- using Albums.

Attachment 10487Attachment 10488Attachment 1

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There ya go

Have Fun........

See Signature for more information

[Ccmano]

Welcome to the addiction. Agreed... all that Cliff (Dynomite) said... Stay away from Chevy dealers! 99.999% chance they have no techs that know what they’re doing on an LT5 and will charge you through the nose to experiment on your car with a high likelihood it will be worse when they finish. I was in the car business for 40yrs, take my word for it, New car dealers are not setup to work on 30 year old cars and generally they don’t want to. There are exceptions but don’t count on it! Find a Corvette specialty shop that is willing to work on it. I’m not aware of any in New England, but check with Registry Member Marty Pender at Conte’s Corvettes http://www.contes.com/ in NJ. He might know of a shop in New England.
H

[lfalzarano]

Chevy dealer in Nashua, NH


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[We Gone]

Welcome, Grats on your ZR-1.

[dredgeguy]

Welcome to the group. I would suggest you go to Marty at Conte's in NJ or for more local contact Steve (Efnfast) who is in NH. I know he has "a guy".
Good luck and keep us posted. You are always welcome to come to MD for one of our maintenance days which are posted in the Mid-Atlantic section of this forum.

[Flyman 27]

If you have a list of issues, maybe you should ship the Z to Mark Haibeck of the ZR1 Specialist in Addison Illinois. He would fix you up in a few days and you could feel safe to drive it anywhere. When I purchased my ZR-1, I had a long list of issues and Mark fixed me right up easily and quickly.
Sure, it would cost you to ship it, but it could/would save you months of messing around with issues. Just a thought.

[Paul Workman]

Congratz and welcome to the Registry!

None of the items on your list are serious, w/o knowing what the SES light is about yet.

Highly recommend you purchase a "Bible", otherwise known as a Factory Service Manual (FSM) for your 91. Read it cover to cover (3 volumes) + the LT5 supplement), paying special attention to the section on sensors and actuators.

Speaking of great technical books, I have found Probst's book on Corvette Fuel Injection* to contain a huge amount of info on the LT5s.

*To order one from a book store refer to the ISBN number: ISBN 0-8376-0861-9

Oh, and Hans is absolutely correct: With extremely rare exceptions, you don't want to ever let a dealer get his paws on your LT5 (to practice on). But, not to worry. This is the place you need to be to get the help you need and the recommendations, far as where/who to get help from - including the majority of ZR-1 owners who have become at least familiar with and can find their way around the LT5 quite well.



Paul

[abull1499]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I've been debating on whether or not to just ship it up to Marc H in Illinois. Might be my best bet. I've only got a few weeks left before the beast needs to be put away for the Winter. I wish I had a lot of time to mess around with the fixes myself, but I just don't. I'll chat with Marty at some point too. I had a conversation with him a while back before I pulled the trigger.

[rush91]

Welcome to the Brotherhood!! That is a beautiful looking Z. Classic black with red interior......

You have come to the right place for anything LT5 related. I too was in same boat as you, but now I can work on the car myself and have had very few issues. That's only because of the wealth of knowledge and help of the members on here!