[sevy.8]

Suspension squeaking
In cold weather you may hear the suspension creak when you go over
speed bumps. To fix this, clean (optional) and lubricate the sway
bar bushings. The adjustable metal sway bar end links on Hotchkis
and T1 bars can also create loud clicking sounds. Most adjustable
end links are quiet initially, but wear out and get noisy over
time. Greasing and protecting the end links from dirt may prevent
wear.

Tough shifting
The shifter in manually shifted Corvette's takes a strong arm to
get it into gear. You really have to make sure that the shifter
is fully in 1st and Reverse, or it will pop out of gear when you
let the clutch out. This is not the fault of the car, but rather
the fault of the driver.

Manual transmissions -- Replacing the transmission fluid often
helps shifting. Early transmissions have paper blocker ring that
require Dexron III compatible (usually organic) fluid because some
synthetics will destroy the paper blocker rings and subsequently
the transmission. Later transmissions, and all rebuilt transmissions
, have Kevlar/carbon fiber parts that allow the use of synthetic
fluids. I believe the 98-00 transmissions have the paper blocker
rings. The safe transmission fluids seem to be: GM Synchromesh
PN #12345349, Honda ATF-Z1, Royal Purple Synchromax, Amsoil ATF,
O’Reilly Dexron III ATF. The following transmission fluids may be
unsafe for early transmissions: Redline D4 ATF, Mobil 1 ATF, Royal
Purple Max ATF.
Related threads:
LS1.com - Ending the speculation: Blocker rings, who's had them
fail?
LS1Tech.com - Ending the speculation: Blocker rings, who's had them
fail?
Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF for a M6?

If it is especially tough to shift into 2nd or 4th gear, it's
possible that the synchro's are worn out or the forks are bent.
Do NOT force it into gear. Abuse creates and aggravates this problem.
You can still drive, even quite well, without synchro's....or a
clutch for that matter if you know how to rev match.

Some aftermarket shifters make it easier to make sure you're fully
in gear, and prevent gear grinding, but they also vibrate, and
require more effort to shift. The stock shifter has a tuned weight
damper that changes the vibrations to a non-audible frequency. The
shaking doesn’t annoy some people, and there are some fixes.

Leaky butt
The differential can leak from the side covers. The problem has to
do with the design. The lip on the casing is not wide enough to
create a proper seal with the cover. Resealing the covers can be
successful, but many dealers do not use the correct sealant.

Inside/outside tire spinning
If one tire spins while turning, adjust the friction modifier ratio.
Aftermarket gear fluid from Royal Purple, Amsoil and Redline do not
require additional friction modifier. GM’s friction modifier is
PN #12377916. Too much friction modifier and the inside tire will
spin/skip/hop. Too little friction modifier and the outside tire
will spin/skip/hop. -- Thanks Russ!

Tire hop
Tire hop during hard acceleration in cold weather is common, even
if the same tires don’t hop in warmer weather. Tire rubber when
viewed thru a microscope looks like a web. Normally parts of this
web grabs onto objects on the ground and stretch until either the
car moves forward, or the web breaks, resulting in tire spin. I
believe in cold weather, the web is too stiff for either of these
events to occur, so the tires hop. To find out more, read Racing
& High Performance Tire: Using Tires to Tune for Grip and Balance.
I haven’t read it, but if you do, please let me know if my guess
is correct. I found a couple stories on Google about people curing
wheel hop with stiffer bushings and/or (jounce) shocks.

Interior rattles
The visors may rattle when they are put up, but if you flip them
down, the rattle goes away. Squeezing the mirror lid down seems to
take care of it. Try glueing a piece of felt or velcro between the
mirror and lid to see if that fixes it. Caravaggio also makes
replacement leather visors, but they go for $400.

The stereo is Bose, and to go along with the historically crappy
build quality of Bose products, Bose has graced the Corvette with
Bose emblems on the door speaker covers that rattle when you play
music with bass. A Bose system doesn't exist that puts out good
bass, but the system still manages to rattle the emblems when
playing Country, Hip Hop, or Techno at moderate volumes. Check
this problem by having a passenger and yourself putting a finger
on the emblems with music playing. Glue the emblems down to fix it.

If the roof isn't tightened down enough, it will rattle. There are
some adjustment screws in the roof to make this adjustment.

Belt Chirping
During cold weather, the belt can chirp. Goodyear Gatorback belts
from AutoZone don’t chirp.

Sticky Hatch
During cold weather, the hatch may pop up slowly, or not at all.
Spray the latches with silicone grease until they come up properly.
If the struts do not hold up the hatch, try lubing the strut bars.
1997: Service Bulletin: Hatch Will Not Pop Up When Activated in
Cold Weather

Rocker failure
The needle bearings in the OEM rockers have been known to fail.
Usually the problem is noticed with extra valvetrain noise and
needle bearings stuck to a magnetic oil plug. Nasty Performance
will rebuild OEM rockers with Harland Sharp bearings. This seems
to be one of the better solutions since the stock rocker is very
good at high rpms. Most aftermarket rockers are nose heavy and
require grinding the heads and valve covers to fit. Currently
Harland Sharp rockers are having problems with c-clip retainers
falling off and causing problems on the way. I’ll be following
this issue since I have a set of HS rockers on my shelf waiting
for this issue to be resolved. Here are some links:
LS1Tech - EMERGENCY!! ROCKERS! Help ASAP!
LS1Tech - Harland Sharp Rocker Failure
LS1Tech - Install or not install HS rockers?

Other Information

Active Stability Control
This allows you to keep some control of the car even when you do
really stupid stunts. It doesn't bend the laws of physics, but will
keep the car pointed where you are steering; you may still slide off
the road, but at least the car will be pointed in the direction you
were steering! One of the sensors is located around the passenger
seat, and needs to be considered when installing a racing bucket.
If you move that sensor, Active Stability will not know how to
balance the car, and can be very dangerous. Active Stability came
out around '99.

Jacking
The C5 was the first car to use hydroformed frame rails. Hydroformed
rails are quickly becoming a common platform for new cars, but not
many shops are prepared to lift these vehicles. The C5 requires an
adapter for regular jacks and lifts to fit the jacking points. Make
your own adapters with a hockey puck (or two) with a 1 1/2" eye bolt
screwed thru the center. Stick the eye bolt thru the slit in the
jacking point, turn 90 degrees, place jack under adapter and jack
away....if you can get the jack under the car. You may have to use
ramps. The C5 is so low that most people make their own wooden
ramps....rhino ramps are too steep.

Key Fobs
There are basically two different kinds of key fobs, and they are
not compatible with each other.
97-00, but 00 does not have the Passive Lock feature
01-04

Spark plugs
The OEM platinum plugs, along with other plugs have had problems
with the pucks falling off. I have a picture of missing pucks in
this thread. This thread outlines some of the problems with using
platinum, and a recommendation for using silver tipped plugs.
Basically, of all spark plug tips, platinum is the worst conductor,
copper is good, iridium is even better and silver is the best. Don’t
take my word for it, do a little research, starting with this
review. As for longevity, platinum, iridium and silver do have an
advantage over copper, but plugs foul up after ~10K negating any
difference corrosion would cause, and no plug will run well after
100K miles.

To make the spark plugs easier to change, get the Snap-On
double-swivel sparkplug tool and remove the coil packs. Here’s all
you need to know about sparkplug changes: Go!

________________________________________ _______________________

These problems, and many others, are addressed at the
www.corvetteactioncenter.com in the Tech Center -> Knowledge Base.

While these problems do sound numerous and severe, just remember
that JD Power considers this a very reliable car. If you buy a
Corvette, consider yourself fortunate that there are many resources
available to help you locate and correct problems.

Secrets of the C5
Copied from www.corvettemechanic.com

Quote:
● The little yellow "helper light" on the bottom of the rear-view
mirror that illuminates the shifter area.
● That you can put your key in the driver’s door and turn it twice
towards the front to unlock the passenger door and a third time to
pop the trunk.