Yes I did get a carfax on it. It started life in Texas (no rust!) and found its way up to where I am. The report was very unordinary and didn't indicate anything which would lead you to believe there would be so many problems with the car. of course carfax reports don't contain anyting that isn't reported to official channels. But the car is in spectacular shape. The paint and interior are almost perfect. Its just got all kinds of electrical problems. I wish I had known all this before, but many of them were things that you could only know by driving it around for a few days.

 

Did it happen to come from Houston Texas?

Can anyone tell us if these problems similar to the ones experinced by the 97 Corvette owners? Any chance they replaced the computer withthe slightly buggy 97 version?

My curiosity makes me rude, for that I apologize, let me backtrack.

I know how annoying it can be to by the car you wanted forever, and then find out it isn't exactly perfect. If you can stick it out, you can get the car back to the way it should be. You can buy the different components from ebay or a recycle yard and see if by swapping out the modules you resolve the issue. The great thing about the new corvettes is they are fixer friendly (In most cases) They often use components that are used on other vehicles, and are relativley cheap on the secondary market. The older corvette were exclusive and buying parts meant spending a fortune.

If you think it is an electrical problem (AND NOT AN ELECTRICAL COMPONENT ie, computer) problem, then take it to an automotive electrical shop. They will probably be able to track down the problem for you. Electrical problems are annoying, but not unfixable.

 

Well I got my final phone call regarding what the dealership feels they're obligation is to me with these problems. it was not the answer I was hoping for and I'm very displeased about it. I took my 99 in to have two sets of issues addressed. one is the one I'm talking about here, and the other is intermittently working turn signals, which from searching appears to be a fairly common problem also. the turns signals is a bad 4 way flasher they said (I thought it was the switch, but oh well) they want something over $500 to replace it since you have to dig into the dash aparently to get to it. the dealership will cover $150 of that to help me out, still leaves me with a very expensive repair on a car I've only had 1 week. regarding the other issue, they now claim that they had to put in a new tire pressure monitoring system when they inspected the car for GM certified used vehicle status. they said of course that if that is the malfunction, then they are 100% responsible for that. turns out it is not. as if this couldn't get any worse, they say the car needs a new EBCM. they quote $900 to replace that. they say now that since the tire pressure sensors they installed were not that cause of the problems, that they are not responsible for anything at all.
so I will be contacting GM about this and see what they have to say, because this dealer is making them look bad. I have a list which is discustingly long of problems with this car which I gave to the dealership. some of them are problems which I just got unlucky with. others are specifically listed in the 110 points of the GM certified vehicle inspection, and they still are problems with the car. not just one, but a few problems are things which the inspection should have caught. my position is that I bought a certified vehicle, if there are problems which I found 2 days after the purchase which should never be problems on a certified vehicle, that they should fix them for me. well they disagree of course.

I might ask the dealership how much it would cost to just buy the parts. I may be able to do the replacement myself. can anyone give me any info on where the parts are located and how hard it is to replace them? its the 4 way flasher for the turn signals, and the ECBM for the tire pressure monitor/abs/traction control
thanks for any info.

 

Wow, things aren't going so well for you.

If I were you, I'd make a priority list of what you want.

1. Satisfaction from the dealer? Take the car back, and/or hire a Lawyer/Paralegal.
2. A car with no problems? Take this one back.
3. This car fixed? Take it to another mechanic. Possibly another dealership or an electrical expert. Have them fix the car. Take the repair bill to your lawyer and see what the dealership will do about it. (Or just enjoy your problem free car)

If you ask me what is wrong with a car, I can give you a dozen answers. That sounds like what the dealer is doing to you. What you need to do is ask WHY the dealer thinks you need a new ECBM. What does the ECBM do, and are those the exact areas you are having trouble with? You probably want to ask questions like, Could a loose wire cause the same problem? Has you ever seen these issues with another corvette? If it turns out not to be the ECBM, what recourse do I have? Do I get a refund?

No one wants to buy a "new to them" car and go through these headaches. If I were you, I'd take the car back. If I were me, (Who happens to like working on cars) and I got a REALLY good deal on it, I'd keep it.

It kinda depends on what your priorities are.

 

Oh yea, did you ever access your on board computer and write down the codes for us?

Reading C5 Codes

If you know what the codes are, you can look them up in the 99 corvette service manual and get step by step instructions on how to fix them

 

I did get what I feel is an awesome deal on this car. time has elapsed for having any ability to return it to the dealer. I have already solved some of the problems with the car including the most annoying one.

I haven't been able to read the error codes because with a couple of attempts after that one day I have not been able to reproduce the problem. I gave the dealer's tech a detailed account of exactly what happened. they went over the car with a fine tooth comb and they seem to be very confident in the final diagnosis.

I enjoy working on cars, and I have the service manual on the way. I'll probably buy the parts and fix it myself when I get a chance. I thought this was an amazing deal, turns out that with everything that needs to be corrected it wasn't quite as good as I had thought. but I hope I can get it all working with some time and money.

I contacted GM by e-mail to try to complain about this dealer. I mean they are making them look bad, that's just not cool. I haven't gotten any replies yet. I'm thinking about calling them but I dont' know what number to call.

For anyone in Hampton Roads, this was the Hall GMC/Pontiac dealer in Virginia Beach. they can't be trusted, and they deny any responsibility for selling a certified vehicle with malfunctioning turn signals, ABS, Traction control, and tire pressure monitoring systems amoung a rather long list of other less dangerous malfunctions. They have a nice 2003 Z06 on the lot right now...don't buy it, just stay away. There are other safer places to by a Corvette.

 

It sounds like you came up with an action plan. Way to go!

I"d try reading the codes one more time. The computer stores both active and past codes, so you can get a picture of what your errors your car has been throwing.

I love the C5's for many reasons, but I REALLY love it for the onboard computer. With that and the service manual, you can track down just about any problem.

If you want to buy OEM parts a little cheaper, try one of the online GM parts palces

http://www.gmpartscenter.net/oem_parts.html

 

ASK DEALER FOR CARFAX...THEN FIND GOOD VET MECH. AND HAVE THEM SCAN CAR...GOOD LUCK WITH THIS,,,,THERE IS NOTHING WORSE THAN A CAR YOU CANNOT TRUST...BOB

 

I did get a carfax on it, it showed nothing out of the ordinary.

I finally got around to reading the codes. that's a great interface they built into these cars. I'd rather read codes that way that hooking up my autotap.
as for the codes, there are many more than I thought there would be. but at least they should help me fix things.
40 BCM:
B2578 H
B2583 H
B2723 H
58 SDM
U1040 H
60 IPC
U1040 H
U1160 H
99 HVAC
B0338 H C
A6 SCM
B2605 H
B2606 H
B2860 H
B0 RFA
U1096 H
U1064 H
U1016 H

the codes about the turn signals make sense, it needs a new 4 way flasher, aparently they go bad sometimes.
The one about the HVAC is interesting. sounds like its got an open circuit on the interior temp sensor? I thought it was strange but I didn't really know if it was a problem or if I just didn't know what I was looking at, but when I put the HVAC system into auto mode the A/C light comes on no matter what. even when its cold the air blowing in is warm, but the A/C light still comes on. I didn't know whether that was aproblem or not because I dont' know much about how its supposed to work. maybe that's normal for auto mode?
codes about the power seat could help to explain why the power seat does wierd things sometimes. the rear height adjustment doesn't work on the driver's side at all. when you move the switch you can hear the motor running (or something) but it doesn't move. the front height adjust works fine though. the easy access mechanism doesn't always work either. sometimes when I put in the key it moves me forward some, but then stops, I have to move it the rest of the way myself. Sometimes when I take the key out the seat moves back some then stops. somtimes it doesn't move at all. I thought the relay might be to blame. sometimes it stops working for a second at a time using the manual switch also. push the switch and the seat moves. sometimes it will stop moving. still holding the switch, seat not moving. release the switch then push it again immediately, and the seat continues to move as it should. is there any way to recalibrate the seat so it knows where its supposed to move back to when the key is removed?
I have no clue what's up with the PASS key code, I haven't had any trouble out of that system.
the codes about communication failure are the ones which concern me the most. I'm a computer engineer but I don't know that much about the CAN network. is there some kind of a hub in there or is it a daisy chain network? I'm not even sure yet which components were throwing communication failure codes because my service manual hasn't come in yet. but something sure doesn't look right in there.

This just seems to be getting worse and worse doesn't it?

Some oddities or possible problems I've noticed I was hesitant to pass judgement on because I just don't know if its supposed to do that or not. At first I thought my disc changer didn't work either, but that one turned out to be my own stupidity. I didn't notice the message on the disc sleeves that the discs had to be inserted label side down. I flipped them around and now it works perfectly. If only all of my C5's problems could be that easy.

I knew it had problems, but I certainly wasn't expecting all this. Hopefully with the service manual as a guide and the vast knowledge of board members here I can get these things repaired.

 

The manuals are AWESOME! All you have to do is look up the code in the index and then go to the page it tells you. You still need to know how to fix things, and often when you get a combination of codes you have to be able to find out what all the codes have in common.

Out of the codes you listed, only one shows that it is current. B0338 H C you can tell it is current because of the C next to it (H is for history)

You probably already figured this out, but you can go here for code descriptions.

I would wait until your manuals come in before I do anything, but if you need to get to your sensor, you can go herefor instructions.

As far as your seat and key thing goes. I had the same problem. It was a VERY easy fix though. I took my title/registration into the Dealer and had an origional key cut. They had to call Detroit and get the key pattern and VAT key code, but it worked out fantastic. As you use your key the teeth wear down and it gets a little loose. If the key moves at all when the seat function is doing it's thing, it will stop. A new key fixed my problem right up. You could take your key in and have it duplicated, but if it is going to cost you the same amount, why not have an origional cut? Go to the parts department, not the service center.

You would think that if you needed a new BCM module, more than three codes would pop up, and that they would all be current.

When you have the time, can you please post repost your problems in bullet order?

I bet we cansolve 1/2 of them by next weekend.