Corvette servicing - Oxfordshire
Discussion
Hi chaps,
I'm a proud new owner of a le mans blue Corvette C6 that was for sale on her a little while back. I just wondered if there was anywhere recommended near Oxfordshire that work on Corvette's/LS3 engines? I'm happy to work on it myself, but wondered what my options were? Anywhere is closer than the dealership in Manchester!
I've already got a problem where the car suddenly got hot whilst parking up and the coolant overflowed. Got the car trailered back to mine and I'm getting her up on a jack tonight to find out where the coolant is coming from. It's seemed to be towards the front drivers side of the radiator, but hard to tell without getting her up higher. Bit of shame after having her for only 2 weeks!
I'm a proud new owner of a le mans blue Corvette C6 that was for sale on her a little while back. I just wondered if there was anywhere recommended near Oxfordshire that work on Corvette's/LS3 engines? I'm happy to work on it myself, but wondered what my options were? Anywhere is closer than the dealership in Manchester!
I've already got a problem where the car suddenly got hot whilst parking up and the coolant overflowed. Got the car trailered back to mine and I'm getting her up on a jack tonight to find out where the coolant is coming from. It's seemed to be towards the front drivers side of the radiator, but hard to tell without getting her up higher. Bit of shame after having her for only 2 weeks!
Whilst we are not exactly local to Oxford we do have a number of customers who travel much further distances to bring their cars to us due to the depth of experience within our workshop. Their are a number of good specialists slightly further south of you but diagnostic issues, particularly electronic, tend to mean you are more likely to find the trip north more worthwhile.
For what it is worth I have only ever encountered one C6 overheating and that was as a result of it throwing off a belt. I would be interested to know if you find a culprit. If the coolant has been refilled be wary that there have been issues with people using the incorrect anti-freeze on GM engines so be sure to use Dexcool if you need to.
For what it is worth I have only ever encountered one C6 overheating and that was as a result of it throwing off a belt. I would be interested to know if you find a culprit. If the coolant has been refilled be wary that there have been issues with people using the incorrect anti-freeze on GM engines so be sure to use Dexcool if you need to.
Thanks Mitch. I need to make a trip up to you to collect a new targa roof at some stage, the issue I have is that the C6 isn't driveable at the moment due to the overheating. I'd love to be able to just hand her over to get it sorted, but Oxford to Manchester with overheating issues isn't a brilliant idea unfortunately.
I am hoping to put her up in the air on Friday and do a good search for the problem. Thanks for the advice and if I can get her roadworthy again, I'll be up soon to visit for the Targa roof replacement.
I am hoping to put her up in the air on Friday and do a good search for the problem. Thanks for the advice and if I can get her roadworthy again, I'll be up soon to visit for the Targa roof replacement.
I doubt that you will find anything conclusive from lifting the car up. It sounds like the coolant will have left the overflow and I have to guess I would suggest that the cooling fans are not operating correctly. I cannot remember exactly but there are 3-4 relays that control the cooling fans on C6 and any issue with these could be causing your issue.
Somebody else has suggested this. When I turned off the car, I could hear the fans loudly and then they continued for a while as the coolant potentially escaped the overflow. I was going to get it up in the air to check for leaks, but if it is what you/few others have suggested... not really sure what I can do about it myself... let alone how I'm supposed to move it to a garage capable of fixing it!
Any ideas will be welcomed with me making a pilgrimage to BM in Manc for every service etc.
Any ideas will be welcomed with me making a pilgrimage to BM in Manc for every service etc.
Well my personal and non-professional opinion would be based on my experiences with my 1968 Pontiac GTO. Cooling wasn't exactly an advanced science back then and given that my GTO is now 7400cc's in displacement she generates a fair bit of heat. It cools itself very well....as long as you keep moving. I would imagine that your Corvette is the same given that it decided to overheat when you came to a standstill and started maneuveuring. People have forgotten with modern cars that slow maneuvers can lift engine temp significantly and my GTO doesn't like to be sat still either. The problem tends to come when you stop the engine as the water pump ceases to move the coolant at which point the coolant in the block will superheat and cause the increase in pressure that leads to a let-off from the overflow.
I would suggest you should be able to drive it, you just need to keep an eye on temperatures and try to avoid sitting in traffic jams.
I would suggest you should be able to drive it, you just need to keep an eye on temperatures and try to avoid sitting in traffic jams.
From where it overheated in the parking lot, I filled up with water after it cooled down and drove it to the local petrol station to get coolant which is 1 minute away/1 mile most and the temperature rose to nearly 230*c in this space of time and it dumped again, so I'm a little concerned about driving it in case it happens again on a much longer journey. If it hadn't of dumped the second time, I would have felt confident about getting it to a garage.
After stripping the car, I believe I need a new radiator. I will confirm 100% on Saturday when I get it out, but initial investigation is showing that it's cracked somehow.
Where can I source a new radiator from in the UK? I've enquired to Chevrolet UK and Monkfish, but no reply yet. I'm also going to replace the ECT sensor and get some water wetter + dexcool after some advice from the US forums.
Such a pain that this has happened 2 weeks after buying the car, I wasn't ready for a repair bill this early on, nor weeks with the car off the road and the time it takes to strip, install and put it all back together! I just want to be driving it
Where can I source a new radiator from in the UK? I've enquired to Chevrolet UK and Monkfish, but no reply yet. I'm also going to replace the ECT sensor and get some water wetter + dexcool after some advice from the US forums.
Such a pain that this has happened 2 weeks after buying the car, I wasn't ready for a repair bill this early on, nor weeks with the car off the road and the time it takes to strip, install and put it all back together! I just want to be driving it
Whilst I clearly have not seen nor inspected your car, the problem you have described is not in my opinion symptomatic of a leaking radiator. If your rad was leaking the car would only lose control of its water temperature due to insufficient coolant in the system, but I recall you saying it only blew coolant out once you had stopped the car. If you subsequently refilled the rad and the same thing happened again shortly after then you would have had to lose a significant amount of fluid for the car to lose control of its water temp once again. I would still suspect a water pump or electric fan failure as the cause and the leaking is actually coolant being blown out of the overflow due to extreme pressure.
This is my personal opinion and not a formal diagnosis.
M
This is my personal opinion and not a formal diagnosis.
M
My experience of cars overheating very quickly and blowing all their water out has frequently been a stuck thermostat. It's a simple and quick check to pull it out and drop it into some boiling water on a bit of string to see if it operates. As others have said, I would doubt it was a leak.
SeeFive said:
My experience of cars overheating very quickly and blowing all their water out has frequently been a stuck thermostat. It's a simple and quick check to pull it out and drop it into some boiling water on a bit of string to see if it operates. As others have said, I would doubt it was a leak.
Old ways are always the best, good to know somethings never change and we can still tinker with our P&J.Edited by ZR1cliff on Thursday 16th August 22:07
Got the radiator out today. Hard work! It's connected to all sorts... engine oil, transmission oil and also coolant? Anyways, I found out the problem. A massive stone had fired itself through the fan into the back of the radiator and split it toward the bottom 
very unlucky in 2 weeks of ownership. Here are some pics of the damage:
http://s277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/rbooner/Co...
She's a beauty Ian. Here is the car in question chaps
very unlucky in 2 weeks of ownership. Here are some pics of the damage:http://s277.photobucket.com/albums/kk70/rbooner/Co...
She's a beauty Ian. Here is the car in question chaps
Edited by booner on Saturday 18th August 20:23
Edited by booner on Saturday 18th August 23:29
Edited by booner on Saturday 18th August 23:30
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