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UPDATED Again 8/25/13**** Ultimate DIY/FAQ Thread ...It's All in HERE!!
***Updated, cleaned up 08/04/12****I finally got around to cleaning this up AGAIN, re-numbering things and removing unnecessary stuff. I also moved some links in here that were former sticky threads to clean up the section. I hope everyone enjoys this thread and if you have something to add by all means post it up and send me a PM to get it added to the list!
Robert The purpose of this thread is to try and consolidate all of the DIY and How To's posted here in the tech section. I know alot of forum members have posted threads on how to do alot of stuff from swapping out lights to fluid changes and painting calipers. Alot of these threads have some great information and some very helpful pics and tips so in an effort to get everything in one place and save some time searching I encourage you to let me know about a good DIY thread so I can include it here. I am not saying don't post it in the section but let me know and I will add it here so it will be easier to find in the future. I will start a table of contents in this post and try and update it as things are added...please PM me if you post an article in here so I can update the TOC. A very useful link Bill Curlee's list of must have info http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...ould-have.html Weights,measurements, ratios, strengths etc http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...s+measurements Post #2 C5 Headlight gear replacement ****also see post #22 for other version** Post #3 Installing Clear Corner Lights Post #4 Connecting wideband via EGR or A/C Pressure in HP Tuners Post #5 Reuse original shift boot with C6Z06 shifter/knob Post #6 HOW TO PUT 99-02 PCM into 97-98 Corvette WITH PICS! Post #7 & 48 How to replace TPM sensor batteries Post # 8 Narrow band oxygen sensor emulation with a LM-1 wide band Post # 9 AC Refrigerant charge level Post #10 Intake manifold Removal Post #11 How To Fit C6 Fender Guards on a C5 Post #12 DIY Trunk Lid Liner Post #13 Sun Visor Fix Post #14 Heated Seats Installation Post #15 Retractable Antenna Fix Post #16 How to fit a Pioneer AVIC N1 Post #17 Simplified differential output shaft removal Post #18 Outside mirror repair Post #19 Installing interior electrochromic mirror Post #20 Repair Dim HVAC controller Post #21 How to fix leaking turn signal housings Post #22 Headlight gear replacement (version #2) Post #23 Rocking Seat Fix Post #24 How to install a FAST 90/90 Post #25 How to install Auot Dimming mirror in car that didn't have one Post # 28 DIY Rear Hatch Mechanism fix. Post # 30 How To Refurbish a C5 Hoodliner Post #31 Z06 screened Front License Plate Mod Post #32 Popping rear axle fix Post #33-35 Corbeau A4 Seat and Rail Installation Post #36 DIY Exhaust Hanger repair - without ordering the hanger. Post #37 Front License Plate Fresh Air Screen Mod Post #38 How to refinish your C5 clear Targa Top..... Post #39 Headlight switch failed. Decided to repair instead of replace… Post #40 dash removal and HUD install Post #41 Vette Essential's Full Custom Seat Cover Replacement Post #42 TheRadioFlyer's LED "halo" tail light mod Post #43 Vette Essentials: Replace any interior piece: shift boot A4 and MN6, counsol lid, ect Post #44 bunch of misc links, threads, and DIY's ..if you can't find it elsewhere Post #45 Leaky rear fix...with pics Post #46 Replacing TPM batteries Post #47 Multi-Function Switch / Headlight Switch / Blinker Arm Removal Post #48 - DIY Flasher Bypass. Post #50 How to lower your C5 (3 different threads) Post #51 DIY Repair a curbed polished rim Post #53-56 Fix airbag light that stays on Post #58 Power Seat Issues (formerly a sticky thread) Post #59 Oil Pressure Sender Relocation How To (former sticky) Post #60 How to fix exterior mirrors with broken swivels (former sticky) Post #61 C5 Differential Rebuild Post #62 How To Properly Jack Your C5 Post #63 How to replace your AC compressor Post #64 Door handle LED install Post #65 Service ABS, Service Traction Control, Service Active Handling and EBCM Tutorials Post #66 Evil-Twin's Rotor Cleaning Technique Post #68 How to Replace Halo Weatherstripping on a C5 Coupe Post #69 Clutch Install guide from forum member Dope Post #72 Upgrade TPMS Post # 73 Oil pressure sensor replacement without cutting or intake removal Post # 80 The $40 fix for broken side bolsters [pics] Post #81 Tips on shocks, sways and lowering Post #82 Clear Corner lights Version #2 Post #83 AntiVenom Mod Post #84 Flasher Switch Post #85 Another DIY Jacking Puck thread Post #86 DIY AR Header Install on my 1997 C5 6 speed car (by bucketlist1957) Post #87 Z06 rear Brake Duct Template * FREE * Post #90 Link to C5 DIC Codes Post #91 Torque Converter Install Post #92 Lowering C5 the right way Post # 94 When air comes out of all AC vents: How to Fix w/Pics Post #95 How-to-repair-EBCM-avoiding-costly-repairs-through-ABSfixer-or-Fleabay Post #98 Window Motor Rebuild Post #100 Links to Steering Position Sensor Post # 101 DIY for adding AUX Input using GM10-AUX do not need COR HAR Harness Post #102 Headlights stuck in bright / dim Fix Post # 103 DIY GM #12102635 for TPMS upgrade Post #104 Sideskirt DIY...make your own...10-13-2011 Post #106 How to remove stock control arm bushings with only a vise and free Autozone Loaner Tools. Post #107 Lazymans Rocking Seat Fix Post # 108 Weights, measurements, strengths etc. Post #109 Fuel Regular, Premium, Real Gas Post #110 Planning on Wheels and Tires? Not sure which tires to go with? AH/TC issues? Post #111 Making the C5 go the distance! Post #112 The Anatomy of a Hydraulic Lifter Post #113 Multifinction Turn Signal Lever Post #114 Engine Grounds Post #115 1997-2004 PCM Pinout Post #116 C5 Ignition Switch Repair Post #117 C5 T56 Rebuild 5th-6th Extension Shaft Details Post #118 Leak Checks Post #119 Opinions on Propshaft Rubber Couplings Post #120 ACA HID install prep - bulb jiggle "fix" Post #122 Sound Deadening and Stereo Install (step by step) Post # 123 Fast 92 intake with LS2 Throttle Body install Post # 124 An Alternative Fix For The P1416 Code Post # 125 C5 steering wheel with a regular steering wheel puller Post # 127 How to get your seat out when there is no power or broke Post # 128 Mesh Side Cove DIY Post #129 Dipstick Mod Post #132 How to check fluid level in A4 Transmission Post #135 18 minute hazard switch replacement Post #136 DRM transmission cooler install process pictures and helpful hints Post #142 Adding AUX/iPod jack into the stock C5 Headunit Post #143 Install a DRM Transmission cooler Post #144 How to stripe your Vette using the PlastiDip product. Post #145 How to install 9000 pound twin post lift |
C5 Headlight Gear rebuild
Parts needed:
brass gear kit 10mm socket 13mm socket 1/4 drive ratchet magnetic pick-up tool phillips screwdriver brass gear kit (you can get this from Rodney Dickman) at www.rodneydickman.com (yes I know he sells Fiero parts...trust me he sells the gears for the headlight) you can order online or call him. he is a super nice guy and ships the stuff Priority Mail. you can also buy the kit thru MidAmerica. Ok, lets get started. Turn the headlights on or manually crank up the bad light. If you turned the lights on you can unplug the bad light and turn the other light off so as not to kill the battery. Remove the black plastic headlight surround, 3 Phillips head screws. Now look inside the opening and you will see there are basically 5 nuts/bolts that hold the assembly in place. After these bolts /nuts are removed lift the assembly out Turn the whole piece on its side and you will see the round cover which is secured with 3 little screws Remove these screws and take off the cover. Now install the new gears and replace the cover. Install is the reverse of removal. Plug everything back in and you should have this. |
Connecting wideband via EGR or A/C Pressure in HP Tuners
Here is a great write up in a thread started by 95BlueBomber. I know this isn't your everyday mod so, since it is already a sticky in the Scan and Tune section, I will just post a link to it in case someone starts here looking for it.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1705471 |
DIY:Reuse original shift boot with C6Z06 shifter/knob
A note regarding the shifter install itself: When you put the new shifter assembly in, make sure you get the the grooved part of the shaft lined up with the collar correctly (peek in the hole in the collar and you'll see if it's lined up). Also if the collar is not tight enough when you release the neutral locking pin and rock the shifter side to side you'll see that the collar will slip relative to the shaft. If this happens it will be hard to get into reverse...
What I did with the old boot was slice the stitches in the folded over area, and two stitches into the outwardly visible section of the boot (this allows for the bigger diameter knob to fit into the old boot). If you find that the knob doesn't quite fit sparingly remove an additional stitch one at a time until it fits. You don't want to cut too far down as you'll make the boot too short. Turn the boot inside out, then take an exacto knife and slice into the glue that the factory uses to hold down the folded over area until the folded over area is freed from itself (this part is a little tough, but take your time, you'll get it). Most of the folded over area will be trimmed off later, but it needs to be separated to help the leather to not bulge at the base of the knob when installed. I then got some steel wire, doubled it over (for strength), inserted the new knob in the boot (in the proper orientation, you'll understand once you look at it). Then take the wire, wrap it around the boot with the knob in place, twist the ends together. Use pliers to tighten (not too much as you'll break the wire) but enough to cause the wire/leather to sink into the groove in the new knob...Then snip off the excess wire and tuck the twisted together end of the wire into the groove. Trim off the excess leather to expose the area where the screw goes in to attach the knob to the shaft. Invert the boot (right side in) and check to see if the stitches of the boot line up with the stitches in the knob.. Twist it to line it up if it is not..Lastly, I liberally applied Lexol leather conditioner to the inside and outside of the boot to make it supple again..All done...Hope this helps...Let me know if there are parts I need to clarify better... http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...46_31_full.jpg http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...46_32_full.jpg http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...46_27_full.jpg |
HOW TO 99-02 PCM into 97-98 Corvette WITH PICS!
HOW TO 99-02 PCM into 97-98 Corvette WITH PICS!
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1750377 |
How to replace TPM sensor batteries
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LM-1 narrowband emulation at stock location (forward sensor)
Here is a write-up I did a few years ago.
How to use a wide-band oxygen sensor in place of a stock narrow band: http://www.kanesbrain.com/Corvette/wbo2.html Could also be called narrow band oxygen sensor emulation with a LM-1 wide band. If anyone has any questions about this please feel free to PM me. |
AC Refrigerant charge level
6 Attachment(s)
This is a post I made a while back to address AC problems. Nothing in the AC system works right if the chg level is incorrect. It's often the first thing we need to verify.
How do tell if my AC is short on refrigerant? This question keeps coming back so I thought I would offer up my way of checking and correcting AC charge problems. First we need to determine what the correct charge looks like because the pressures vary a great deal depending on engine speed, humidity, ambient temp and some other things. Shown below is a chart I’ve used for years with some success. Attachment 48168435 Notice that humidity has a strong effect and that all readings are taken at 2000 rpm. OK, how do we measure these pressures. The pic below shows the equipment needed. Yeah, I know a lot of people just use the Walmart can that reads the low side only and do fine. I just like doing it this way and the whole setup can be bought for less than $60; not big bucks for a tool nut. You don’t need one off the Snap On truck for our purposes. Look here: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92649 Don’t forget the clamp that goes around the can of R134 and punctures the side of it. Look here: http://www.ctd4ac.com/actools6.asp Attachment 48168436 Now that we have our new toy, how do we use it? Make sure both hand wheels on the gage set are closed. Turn them clockwise until they seat. Look under the hood of your C5 on the pass side and you will see the test ports covered with a black plastic cap. Unscrew the caps and snap the gage hose connectors onto the test ports with the engine off. You cannot hook them up wrong because the low and high side test ports are different. LOW SIDE-rear of eng compartment Attachment 48168437 HIGH SIDE-front of eng compartment Attachment 48168438 Here the hoses are connected Attachment 48168439 Once you’re hooked up with the eng off you are reading static pressure. It will be over 100 on both gages on a hot day. Both gages should be about the same, if not, you have other problems. The left gage is low side and the right is high side. See the pic above showing static pressure on my C5. Now we need to start the eng, turn AC to it’s coldest setting, fastest fan speed, lower both windows and place a thermometer in the center air vent. When you start the eng the low side will start to drop and the high side will go up. If this doesn’t happen, your compressor is not working. Look at the front of the compressor to see if the clutch is turning with the rest of the pulleys. If it isn’t, and your static pressures are close to zero, the computer may have shut down the compressor to avoid damage. Disconnecting the batt cable for a few minutes will usually fix this. If that doesn’t work, your problem is beyond the scope of this post. Below is a pic showing correct pressure, both low and high, for a 60% humidity, 100 degree day and an eng speed of 2000 rpm. You younger guys can probably find a Hooters girl to press on the gas pedal, the rest of us use a wife or grandkid. My center duct temp was 50 degrees at this point. Look at the chart above and you will see we’re OK. Actually the duct temp is much better than the chart. Score one for GM engineering (wonder if the same guys did the column lock). If this is what you see your AC is working well and you are wasting your time reading this post. Attachment 48168440 If your readings are a bit low on both gages and duct temp is too high your car is probably undercharged. Now connect your can clamp to the center hose(yellow) and clamp it around your can of R134. Then gently loosen the yellow hose connector where it attaches to the gages. When a clear or white mist comes out you have purged that line of the air in it and it is full of refrigerant. If you skip this step the air in the hose will be added to your system. To add 134 you simply open the left hand wheel gently. Do not touch the right hand wheel. Keep the high side closed. You should now see the low side pressure increase because we have connected the can to the system and it will typically have up to 90 psi on a warm day. Make sure you keep the can sitting on its base to keep from pumping liquid into the system. The compressor cannot deal with liquid very well. Allow the 134 time to enter the system while you periodically close the left hand valve to get an accurate reading of the low side pressure without the pressure of the can being involved. While you’re doing this keep an eye on the high side gage (RH) and do not allow it to exceed the chart pressure. There are few things in life more exciting than blowing an AC hose with your head under the hood. Don’t ask me how I know this. :lol: When both low and high side readings approximate the chart your center duct temp should match or be lower than the chart . Close the left hand valve, shut down the engine, remove your gages and replace the caps on the test ports. You are now a highly skilled AC technician and may want to open your own business.:) A NOTE ABOUT LEAKS. If you used half a can(6 oz) you have replaced 20% of the total system charge. If that amount leaked out over a period of 5 years don’t waste your time trying to find the leak. Just plan on recharging in another 5 years. If, on the other hand, you just added refrigerant a month ago you need to find and fix the leak or adding refrig will be a monthly service. This isn’t a Bible. There are a lot of different ways to go about this. It’s just the way I do it and it’s always worked well for me. Some people are intimidated by AC repair. It’s a whole lot simpler than some of the stuff I read on this forum. Heck, we’ve got guys here who could repair their PCM with bubble gum and baling wire alongside the road at night! Give this a try, you might like it!:D |
I don't want to take credit for this, I took it from someone elses site, a very good write-up on getting the intake manifold off for either the check valve or oil pressure sending unit.
http://pages.infinit.net/vette747/IntakeManifold Great to have a DIY thread. If you ever break the hard plastic hose that is hooked up on the rear of the intake manifold you can route a vacuum hose to below the battery. There are two plastic hoses under the battery, one routes to the firewall (don't cut this one) the other routes to the wire harness and to the back of the intake manifold. Just cut and slip the vacuum hose on, route carefull, use ties to keep in place. Other DIY on this site http://pages.videotron.com/vette747/ |
How To Fit C6 Fender Guards
Heres a link. maybe the mods can move the post into the thread.
How To Fit C6 Fender Guards to a C5: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...=fender+guards |
DIY TrunkLid Liner for a Vert or FRC.
2 Attachment(s)
I'd been seeing the trunk lid liners on some of the members Vettes but being a good Yorkshireman, the $150 price tag seemed a bit steep.
Had a bit of a DIY morning and made one up myself A sheet of pegboard - Home Depot $3 A roll of black carpet from Walmart - $8 Spray Glue - Lowes $4 Velcro - Lowes $8 I made a template from some wrapping paper and transferred it to cardboard. Then used the template to cut the pegboard. Shaped the edges to make it fit the space using a rotary cutting disc. Glued the carpet to the pegboard leaving a 2" strip. Folded that over the edges and stapled around the edge after priming with the spray on glue. Fixing proved tricky. I tried velcro on the V Channels on the inside of the trunk lid but the weight pulled it away continually. I decided to use push fit studs which hold the liner in place a little better. Four studs were a few extra $ from Autozone. Attachment 48168386 Mark positions for the studs carefully. Drill holes through the liner into the V Frame. The stud pushes through and fits tightly into the frame behind. There are 2 studs at the top and 2 at the bottom. Most Important: Be very careful not to press too hard and drill through the trunk lid Voila, the end product: Attachment 48168387 The logo was embroidered by my wife. You could buy the commercial GM logo but that would add to the cost. An enhancement may be to fit some foam blocks at the lower outer corners. This would prevent some minor flexing |
Sun Visor Fix
2 Attachment(s)
I had a problem with the mirror separating from the visor and I tried a couple of things before I got one that worked. I used zip ties:
Pull the mirror away from the housing gently. Stick a piece of 3M double sided tape along the inside edge of the top of the mirror between the two holes in the visor. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/HPIM1140.jpg Thread a small zip tie through each hole from the back and outside of the hole, with the “head” of the tie located in the large rectangular recess. Pull the tail of the zip tie towards you and thread from inside to out through the hole in the locating pin. Push the tail through the head loosely at first. Attachment 48168384 Use needle nosed pliers (holding the tail) and a precision screwdriver (pushed against the head) to tighten the zip ties. Be very careful when pulling the ties tight not to pinch the lighting wires which run through the same hole. Once tight, snip the spare tail of the tie but carefully so as not to snip the electrical wires. Push the mirror back into its housing and press firmly against the double sided tape. Should be good as new Attachment 48168385 |
Heated Seat Installation
3 Attachment(s)
I bought my kit from Sports Imports. They have a good range and I went for the Universal Model (Product Code SIL-01) which at the time cost $160. It was particularly good because the element design allows you to trim the pads to fit the seat.
http://www.seatheater-heatedseats.co...OVMTC=standard The kit came with very clear installation instructions. Each seat kit included a 9” x 18” backpad, a 9” x 18” seat pad, 1 electronic temperature control module, 1 dual temp high/low bi-color illuminated round switch and cable ties and insulating tape. First disconnect the battery. Make sure you can reactivate your radio if you have the security code set. There are instructions in the Forum sticky by Leaftye. A good wiring diagram comes with the kit. I used the Vette Essentials website for instructions on removing the seats and the seat covers. http://www.vetteessentials.com/instr...er_change.html I also used the VE instructions to remove the console: http://www.vetteessentials.com/instr...t_install.html Seats: Run down to individual steps to 17c but stop before removing the bottom covers. I then worked the Velcro fastening inside the pads loose. Take care because the hooks re very sharp. Work out the size of pads you need and trim the pads to size. Slide the lower pad into the gap between the cover and the pad and route the wires out of the back of the seat. My kit was adhesive backed to hold the elements in place. There are connectors on the wiring harness which allow you to make the connections later. Fix the back pad into place and replace the seat cover. Console: Dismantle the console following the instructions to step 3 to allow you to run the wires forward underneath the console to the switch mounting position. You may feel you can route the wires without stripping the console completely. Run the harness to the ashtray area from the rear of the console making sure you leave enough wire to connect to the seat looms. Run the hot wire under the edge of the console area and down into the passenger footwell to emerge next to the lower fuse panel. This is a bit fiddly. I used a wire coat hanger to thread the wire down. An alternative would be to route it directly under the carpet from the rear of the seats to the passenger footwell. Dismantle the ashtray unit. Take off the outer door and retain. Remove the inner door of the ashtray and discard Cut a slot in the rear side of the ashtray mount to allow the wires and connectors to route out from the switches. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/HPIM0179.jpg I used a small black plastic faceplate to mount the switches. Drill 2 holes 5/8” for the switches to sit snug on the plate. Pull the main wiring connector through the hole and attach to the switch. Fit the switch snug in the hole until it clicks in place. Fit the faceplate into the ashtray and screw in from the sides to hold it in place. Reassemble the console taking care not to pinch any wires. Pull the wires through the ashtray hole. Connect to the switches. Slot the ashtray back into place. Attachment 48168381 Reinstall the seats leaving access to the wires. Connect the wires from the back of the seats to the main harness connectors and secure the wires if necessary. Connect the hot wire to a switched power supply. You can buy spade type connectors from the Company which splice onto the hot lead and will slot directly into the fuse slot in the fuse panel. The attached pic shows each wire individually attached to ~20 and #22. Attachment 48168382 Hook the ground wire to a suitable ground. I ran through the bulkhead to the ground behind the passenger headlight. Attachment 48168383 There are other grounds nearby. There's one located under the bulge of rug found beneath the dash panel on the passenger side. It’s that little overhang of carpeting located just off to the left-bottom corner of the glovebox Reconnect the battery and test the seats. Best Mod I ever did. Another member posted an alternative switch mount on the AH panel. This is no use if like me you have the ride control switch |
How To Replace a Defective Vert Antenna
6 Attachment(s)
How To Replace a Defective Telescopic Antenna
Now this is a simple mod and the OEM assembly with motor is $130+. You'll know you have the problem because the antenna won't fully retract Attachment 48168375 Parts: Adjustable wrench GM OEM Power Antenna Replacement ($13 E Bay). Attachment 48168376 Make sure the antenna is fully retracted and that the radio is off Remove the antenna mounting nut located on the base of the mast on the outside of the car. If the mast is bent it may be necessary to cut off the old mast). If you can't all of the plastic cable out as one piece, (sometimes the plastic gets really hard and breaks into pieces then falls down into the motor), you can just pull the motor after you have pulled the mast out and get all of the pieces out. To do that you'll need to take out the outer right turn signal housing. Attachment 48168377 Turn on the radio and pull out the old mast and serrated cable completely out of the antenna motor. (Note which way the serrations on the cable are facing) Feed the serrated cable of the new mast into the antenna hole and stop when resistance is felt. (about 12”). Make sure the cable is fed in with the teeth the same way the old cable came out. Attachment 48168378 Turn the radio off to lower the antenna until the serrated cable catches.. You may have to cycle the antenna a few times until the cable catches the gear mechanism and retracts into the antenna motor. Attachment 48168379 Replace and tighten the antenna nut into the mast base. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/HPIM2130.jpg Turn on and make sure that the mast fully extends without binding. Clean the surface of the antenna to remove any adhesive etc. 10 minute job. Attachment 48168380 If you encounter a stuck mast here’s advice from the mast vendor: You see the new "Retaining Sleeve" (silver, 2 inches or so, with slots) on the shaft of the new antenna mast, the original one is most likely a little corroded/frozen into the shaft of your antenna No problem : You are in need of what I refer to as the "snap and tap" technique of mast removal Turn radio on and let cycle to as much extension as is currently possible Take hold of the thickest metal mast section (closest to fender) with you thumb and forefinger about 2-3 inches above the top of the antenna shaft hole Push the thickest mast section into the shaft (as much as it will go within that 2-3 inches) Hold tightly with thumb and forefinger and Snap your Wrist upward.....you will here the mast bottom "tap" the bottom of the frozen in place retaining sleeve (what this is all about) Repeat this over and over again In-Snap-Tap-Repeat Short Firm Bursts of Energy Focusing the energy blow to the point of the tap This will free the retaining sleeve little by little till it comes out completely |
Fitting the Pioneer AVIC N1 in a C5 Convertible
6 Attachment(s)
AVIC N1 Installation in a Corvette Convertible
This was the original Pioneer AVIC system and I think the latest version is the N3. there may be minor differences between versions. These instructions are offered in good faith. Please follow them only at your own discretion. Attachment 48168369 The initial impressions of the installation guide are daunting but in reality they are well written and easy to follow. By using a combination of the Pioneer instructions, the Soundgate instructions and these notes you should be OK. Disconnect the car battery during installation. I used crimp type connectors to hook up to the existing wiring. You will need a car stereo installation kit. I used the Metra Dashworks BB-444GM which I picked up from Best Buy. The BOSE speakers on the Corvette require a specific installation harness. I used the Soundgate GMCRV1 (1.5DIN to 1 DIN) interface harness. Metra also make a suitable kit. The kit comes with comprehensive instructions which are Corvette specific. You also need an antenna adaptor to take the GM small connector to a standard size, available from Autozone for a couple of $$. You only need the system extension kit provided by Pioneer if you fit the mic system. First step is to disassemble the console unit. The instructions provided with the Soundgate harness also walk you through the process logically. These are reproduced below. Next is to connect all the wires on the installation kit to the power cord provided by Pioneer. The wire colour match is good. I hooked up the power line to the main ignition switch by tapping into the power wire at that location. I subsequently had problems and eventually ran the power tap down to the spare yellow wire located in the passenger footwell. You could also use fuse #22 if you haven't used it already for something else. The main problem is finding a good earth. Eventually I took earth wires through the bulkhead in the passenger wheel well to the main earth point aft of the headlights. The earthing point (Ground Distribution Cell 14) is on the driver side, seen below . Remove the 10mm bolt and use a crimp-type ring-shaped terminal connector to secure the ground to the bolt. You may also want to solder the end, heat shrink it, and tape it. Attachment 48168370 The illumination wire can be connected at the hatch release fog light switch. If your car is an automatic, a connection could also be made at the gear indicator lights. Next, drop the wires into the dash and route the bundles down to the glove box area. It takes some time to feed the wires down. Before installing the head unit you need to set the impedance on the rotary selector on the harness. This is a one off adjustment to personal taste. The head unit mounts into the car using the GM specific car stereo installation kit. The housing supplied with the N1 fits into the installation kit. You may have to cut out small pieces of the aluminium structure of the dash at the rear of the radio to make the unit fit properly. It’s a fiddly install and the screws provided by Pioneer to mount the radio into its housing are tiny! I found I had to make adjustments to allow the radio housing to fit past the bolt heads provided with the installation kit. Once the housing is in the kit, it’s an easy fit into the dash with a couple of screws. Fit the installation kit first, connect the harness and AV lead and then feed in the head unit being careful to ease the wiring bundle into place and not trap wires. Struggle for a few minutes with the tiny screws being careful not to strip the threads. I looked at various alternatives for the hideaway box. It needs to sit flat and the orientation is critical (marked on the unit). It would not fit in the dash space without rearranging the order of the units (radio, A/C unit and ashtray). The preferred location would have been under the passenger seat but the routing for the wires was complex. I opted for the glove box. It takes away glove box space but the owners manual still fits below the unit. The wires feed in easily through a gap at the back of the glove box. Once the wires are all routed correctly, hook them up to the hideaway. Attachment 48168371 I mounted the GPS antenna on top of the rear view mirror and ran the wires around the top bar of the windscreen. The installation instructions stress that you need the metal plate (supplied by Pioneer) to ensure adequate GPS sensitivity. I didn’t use this plate and have had no problems so far. Accuracy seems good without it and the installation is much neater. Attachment 48168372 I routed the reverse wire around the back of the glove box, up through the door post, along the door sill and up the rear door post, around the convertible top housing and through the rear side wall of the boot behind the carpet. I then drilled a small hole through the bulkhead into the rear bumper area and fed the wire through. To attach to the reversing light circuit you need to remove the number plate housing. The screws are obvious. The most complex hook up is the VSS wire. The PCM is inside the passenger wheel well and you may need to jack up the car to access it. I managed by turning the wheel fully to the left. The access panel to the PCM needs to be removed. Make sure to remove the three screws underneath the car that are partially hidden from view. Below is a picture of the PCM. You will have to lie on your back and slide under the car to see this. PCM 2 is closest to you. On the 2000 Corvettes and up PCM, the VSS wire is c2 pin 50 and it is a green/white wire. You can see the pin number by squeezing the end of the grey cover and releasing the clip and moving the cover to the side. I used a crimp type connector to splice into this wire. Attachment 48168373 I've since heard that you can tap into the VSS wire in the instrument panel area. Worth a search because if you can get to it there and are confident you have the correct wire, the installation will be much easier. The parking wire should be connected to the power side of the parking brake circuit. To view DVDs on the move (a dumb idea!) or operate the nav kit rerouting function while driving (actually often quite important and straight forward), instead of hooking the wire to the parking brake as instructed, attach it to earth. This will not work on the N2 and N3. However, you can achieve the same effect on the move by clicking the parking brake on a couple of notches. This earths the circuit without bring on the brake. You can then make changes on the move. Reinstall the console and reconnect the battery. The finished Installation: Attachment 48168374 |
Simplified differential output shaft removal
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Outside mirror repair
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Installing interior electrochromic mirror
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Repair dim HVAC controller
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...HVAC+Light+fix
Note: there are more than 1 versions of the boards, read through the whole thread. Mine is like the one in post 50 in the above thread. |
How to fix leaking turn signal housings
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Headlight gear replacement...version #2
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Rocking Seat Fix
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How to install a FAST 90/90
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Post #23 above has some good instructions on how to install an auto dimming mirror in a car that didn't come with one. This is a good thread to add to that with some pictures I took of my install. If anyone has any questions, feel free to PM me.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...post1562691970 |
Originally Posted by pewter99
(Post 1562077791)
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Originally Posted by tgriffin
(Post 1562893621)
THANKS FOR THE INFORMATION ON THE HEADLIGHT MOTOR REBUILD. IT WAS A SNAP WITH YOUR INFORMATION!!!
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DIY Rear Hatch Mechanism fix.
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Originally Posted by djengr
(Post 1562006410)
I don't want to take credit for this, I took it from someone elses site, a very good write-up on getting the intake manifold off for either the check valve or oil pressure sending unit.
http://pages.infinit.net/vette747/IntakeManifold Great to have a DIY thread. Other DIY on this site http://pages.videotron.com/vette747/ |
How to Refurbish the Hood Liner
6 Attachment(s)
Refurbishing a Corvette C5 Hood Liner
The liner is made of a very delicate material so be careful in how you handle it once it’s removed. The surface is a fabric type finish and hard brushing will cause it to become rough and fibrous. It will also crack easily if you let it flex so if you take it outside beware of strong wind. As you take the final fasteners out, support the liner so you don’t crack the liner around the eyelets. The actual work takes only minutes. The drying time is the only slow process. As you can see, the liner will have attracted quite a bit of dirt and grime. Attachment 48166253 OK here we go. Lift the hood. Remove the fasteners gently, top, then bottom and middle ones last. This will support the liner better as you take them out. Us a tool with a forked end. I’ve heard of a barbeque fork being used. I used a nail puller work in behind the fastener. Attachment 48166254 Take the liner outside and brush the surface gently with a soft brush to remove any dirt. Take care not to damage the surface of the liner. Attachment 48166255 Spray the liner with black paint. The difference between the old and the new surface is immediately apparent. Attachment 48166256 Use as many coats as you see fit. The liner is porous so it will take at least 3 coats to get good coverage. Leave it for 30 mins between coats to allow the paint to dry. Attachment 48166257 If you plan to paint the Corvette emblem, you may wish to apply extra paint around the embossed area on the liner. This will stop the liner absorbing the coloured paint. Once the paint is dry (and you may wish to leave it overnight), you can either paint the emblem or apply a decal. I chose the decal. Alternatively if you prefer, you can refit the liner and apply the decal when it’s back in place. Refit the liner in the hood fitting the middle fasteners first to hold it in place, then refit the remaining fasteners. A gentle push fit is all it takes to reinsert the fastener. The finished Hood Liner Attachment 48166258 |
Z06 screened Front Licsense Plate Mod SWEEET
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Popping rear axle fix
7 Attachment(s)
Here are all of the tools that you will need: 33mm deep well 6-point socket (I purchased replacement spindle buts that had 34mm heads, so double check this before sitting down to do the job), 19mm socket, torque wrench, wheel lock key, some penetrating fluid (I prefer "PB Blaster" but didn't have any handy when I did this) and some synthetic grease (not pictured).
Attachment 48165418 Pull off the center cap for your wheels and break loose the lug nuts and output shaft spindle nut. The spindle nut could be pretty tight so don't be surprised if it takes a bit of elbow grease to get it to break loose. Attachment 48165419 Jack up the rear end, support the car, spin the lug nuts off, and remove the rear wheels, you will now be looking at this. Attachment 48165420 Now you don't have to worry about hitting your wheel with the torque wrench or busting your knuckes open on the wheel. Remove the spindle nut the rest of the way and take a good look at what is behind it. Now we can see the front side of the splines that mate the output shaft and the hub assembly. Go ahead and give a little squirt of the penetrating fluid into these ridges, but not too much cause this isn't the important part. If you push in (towards the transmission) on the middle of the output shaft it should slide in to the hub. If it's rusted in place a light tap with brass hammer or mallet should break it loose so you can now move it by hand. Attachment 48165421 Attachment 48165422 Now while pushing in look behind the hub assembly and look at where the drive shaft actually goes into the hub. If you look carefully you can see the splines entering the hub, and the mating surface of where the drive shaft buts against the hub. Give this area a nice layer of synthetic grease, both on the splines and the flat portion where output shaft meets hub (I used penetrating fluid the first couple times around but the problem kept coming back, once I used grease it stayed gone). Attachment 48165423 Attachment 48165424 Work the spindle back and fourth in the hub a few times to make sure that the penetrating fluid has completely covered the splines and all contact areas have at least a thin layer of grease on them. Spin the spindle nut back on until snug, put your wheel back on and snug the lug nuts down. Drop back to the ground and torque the spindle nut to 118 ft/lbs and the lug nuts to 100 ft/lbs (make sure to torque in a star pattern so you get even torque). Now go for a test drive and listen to the beautiful silence coming from the rear end. After driving a few miles I like to double check torque on the spindle nut, but I don't know how necessary that really is. Hope this helps!!! |
Corbeau A4 Seat and Rail Installation
8 Attachment(s)
Everything arrived in a single monstrous box, and as I unpacked the inventory began. First thing I grabbed was an allen head taped to the bottom of one of the seats - it was the wrong size and didn't fit a single thing in the assembly (a sign of things to come)...
Two C5 mounting brackets: Attachment 48165410 Tow Corbeau A4 Leather seats with sub-belt slot installed: Attachment 48165411 Attachment 48165412 Attachment 48165413 First things first I needed to mount the seats on their respective brackets. After talking with Corbeau I decided to mount the passenger side seat on the drivers side bracket and visa versa. Otherwise people have reported the reclining handle interferes with the seatbelt reel. The first thing I noticed when beginning to mount the brackets was there were square holes on the brackets, that were quite larger than the actual bolt head that held the seat secure. I am pretty sure it would have worked ok, but decided to add a washer to the assembly and ensure a solid and uniform contact surface for the bolts. I grabbed a bracket and made my first trip to the hardware store and picked up eight 1/4" steel flat washers. This size fit the mounting bolt perfectly, provided a larger/flatter mounting surface for the bolt, and also fit perfectly in the rails so there was no possible slop from side to side. Here is what the bracket and seat mounting bolt looked like if assembled with out any additional hardware: Attachment 48165414 Here is what it looked like with the washer added: Attachment 48165415 Now that I had the appropriate hardware it was time to secure the seats to their brackets. I decided to use a dab of blue lock-tight and ease any worries of the bolts backing themselves out. You can't access all 4 mounting holes at the same time, so slide the adjuster all the way to one side and install two bolts - then slide it back to the other side and install the other two. Also note that since the supplied allan head was the wrong size I used a 6mm allan head socket to tighten the bolts down. Seat and bracket mounted together: Attachment 48165416 Now I headed out to my car to begin the removal of the passenger side seat. I decided since the car is a daily driver I would replace the passenger side first and solve any installation issues prior to removing driver seat. A pic of the stock Z06 seats installed: Attachment 48165417 continued in next post... |
7 Attachment(s)
First thing to remove are the plastic covers on the front ends of the factory mounting rails. I like to use a pair of small wire clippers to ease the center of the pins out, I have broken too many by prying them out with a pocket screwdriver.
Plastic covers and center pins pulled partially out: Attachment 48165403 After the pins are pulled the plastic covers slide off toward the front of the car and expose the mounting bolts underneath. It takes a 15mm socket to remove the bolts, there is one at each corner of the mounting bracket. One of the mounting bolts: Attachment 48165404 Remove all four of the nuts and the seat will lift out - it might take a little maneuvering but nothing too difficult. Take a look and see what kind of goodies have been floating around under the seats, I found my pocket screwdriver that had been missing for a month. This is also a perfect time to vacuum! Seat removed and vacumed underneath, the 4 mounting bolts are exposed: Attachment 48165405 Next thing to do is swap the seat belt receptacle onto the new brackets. You will need an 18mm socket for this portion and some elbow grease because there was some factory lock-tight on this bolt. Make sure you keep everything that comes off, especially the plastic grommet. Stock bracket with receptacle: Attachment 48165406 Now take this to the Corbeau bracket and install in the same fashion. The Corbeau bracket didn't have a hole drilled for the retainer pin, and I didn't feel like taking the time to drill one myself. I decided the pin could sit off to the side of the bracket, as it would still provide full swing in the usable direction for the seat belt. With the seats swapped the belt receptacle will now be on the same side as the recline lever - but this is a better alternative than having the lever interfere with the seat belt reel. Receptacle installed on Corbeau bracket: Attachment 48165407 Now you are ready to bolt the seat into the car. Placing the seat assembly in the car is the easy part - getting the bracket low enough to tighten down the nuts is another. Even with the seats swapped there is still quite a bit of interference between the seat hinge and the seat belt reel. I had to lean heavily on the seat and try to get the threads started at the same time for the back nuts. The main interference point: Attachment 48165408 Get the rears started, but not all the way tight and then go to the front two and do the same. Once all 4 are started go ahead and tighten them all down. As far as I can tell there is no way to modify the factory rail covers to fit the Corbeau rails, so they stay eternally exposed along the floorboard. One of the front bolts tightened down on the Corbeau bracket: Attachment 48165409 continued in next post... |
6 Attachment(s)
The drivers side installs in the same fashion as the passenger side. The only difference is you have to unclip the wiring for the power seats and leave it dangling loose under the seat. I am not getting any seatbelt lights or strange codes from not having that plugged in, but I could just be lucky cause I have heard of others having issues.
Both sides have their reclining knobs buried down next to the transmission tunnel. They are far from easy to get to, but it can be done - and adjusting the amount of recline really isn't that common for me anyway... Passenger side: Attachment 48165397 Drivers side: Attachment 48165398 Here is the finished product with both sides installed and ready for action: Attachment 48165399 Cumulative tools needed: ratchet 18mm socket 15mm socket pocket screwdriver small wire cutters or needle nose pliers 6mm allen head socket (8) 1/4" flat washers lock-tight After living with the seats for a couple weeks I wanted to change four things: 1 - How far forward I could move the seat 2 - Angle of the seat backrest (my back pain was coming from a twisted feeling in the seat) 3 - Angle of the bottom seat cushion and support (forward to back) 4 - Seat belts ride far too high Issue 1&2 - After removing the drivers seat and taking a look at how it is mounted to the rails and bracket (picture in 1st post) it was obvious there isn't any way to significantly move the bracket or rail mounting position forward. The bracket mounting bars went side-to-side instead of front-to-back, and the rail mounting holes were already at the very end - thus tapping new holes wasn't an option. The only way that I was going to significantly move the seat further forward was to weld additional material onto the existing bracket - and I don't have a shop in house any more so that was out of the question. The one thing that saved me here was the multiple locations of attachment between seat, slide rails, mounting bracket, and floorboard. I noticed that if I added pressure to the entire assembly with all fasteners loose I could gain an extra 1/2" or so of movement toward the front. Additionally I could twist the entire assembly 5-10 degrees left or right with everything loose. With a little help we added as much forward and clockwise pressure as possible to the seat while I tightened down all the fasteners. Also while bolting the seat back down to the floorboard I made sure there was as much forward and clockwise pressure as possible. Issue 3 - This one I had taken a half-a$$ attempt at fixing the night prior but ran out of time and didn't have much luck. Now it was time to do things right! There were four places that I could improve the end angle of the seat, and give it a bit of rake toward the back. 1st spot - When delivered from Corbeau there was a washer between the mounting bracket and seat rail on all four corners. First thing I did was remove the washer on the back two slots and place it on the outside (sorry, no pic for this one). 2nd spot - When originally mounted there were no washers or spacers between the seat and slide rails. I decided as a first attempt to add six 1/4" flat washers between the seat for the two front mounting bolts. The mounting hardware is suprisingly long here and I didn't have any worries about having sufficient threads available to get a good bite on the seat - even with the additional 6 washers. Attachment 48165400 3rd spot - While not much room for improvement using the original hardware there was room for 2 additional 1/4" washers between the mounting bracket and slide rails. The pic below shows both the 6 stacked between seat/rails and the two stacked between rails/bracket. Attachment 48165401 4th spot - I added two 5/8" washers between the floorboard and mounting brackets. This was the easiest place to make a difference, but because of how short the mounting studs are I could only add two washers. Attachment 48165402 Issue 4 - nothing I can do about this for now. I am currently looking for a pair of the receiver ends so I can cut them down, re-tap and re-install 2-3 inches lower. Result - Overall the seat feels 10 times better. Tilting the seat bottom back made all the difference in the world. Now instead of falling forward out of the seat I am tucked tightly down into the bolsters and can firmly feel the entire seat. With the seat all the way forward and back raised I can now confidently and firmly grasp the wheel, gear shift and the pedals are the perfect distance away. The pain in my lower back is gone after getting rid of the ackward twist from the initial install, and I feel overall better planted to the back of the seat. Now all I have to do is make the same changes to the passenger side and I am going to call it good for now. I am thinking about creating some full length wood shims to go between the seat and sliders to keep the seat frame from sagging, but that will be down the road some time. EDIT - I got additional hardware and ended up with 5 washers between the bracket and rails, 8 washers between the rails and seat, and left 2 between the bracket and floorboard. I think this is as close as I am going to get... |
DIY Exhaust Hanger repair - without ordering the hanger.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1936621 |
Front License Plate Fresh Air Screen Mod
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How to refinish your C5 clear Targa Top.....
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=2020059 :cheers: |
Headlight switch failed. Decided to repair instead of replace…
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1826359 Several people have successfully completed this repair so the link must be worthy of this thread! Mike :cheers: |
dash removal and HUD install
As I was searching the forum to find a set of instructions to remove the dash, I kept coming up with the same link:
http://home.comcast.net/~joshker99/hudinstall2.htm Unfortunately that link no longer works. 2000-C5 however, saved a copy of it and emailed me a word document of it. I decided to upload all the pics and instructions and I'm reposting it here. If someone wants a copy of the word document, please feel free to email me. :thumbs: I don't know what happened to Josh's site and Josh, if you don't want me to host this info, please let me know and I'll delete it. :) ***I take NO CREDIT FOR THIS INFO!!! Josh did all the work on this, I'm just posting it!***I put this on my website as well, but I wanted a working copy for the forum so I put the whole thing here so if someone searches for 'dash removal' they'll find everything right here. Also, the forum only allows 25 pics to be uploaded and there were 27 total so I removed some of the pics showing the different HUD display options as they aren't that important. Ok ok ok...enough talkin...here is the instructions :cheers: For those not familiar with heads up display, You get 9 different ways to project critical info on your windshield, like speed, Tach, gas level, oil pressure, coolant temp, turn signals, high beam indicator, shift light indicator (6 Speeds) and check gages. You can control which are displayed, adjust the height of the projection on the windshield, and the intensity. Some are shown here: http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...0pics/hud1.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...0pics/hud2.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...0pics/hud3.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...0pics/hud4.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...0pics/hud5.jpg Heads up display wasn’t even offered until late 99, but for those who were not fortunate enough to get this way cool option here's the directions to install it yourself. It can even be retrofitted in a 97,98, Early 99, and 01 Z06 Corvette when it wasn't even an option. Its plug and play. Any confident installer can install it within an afternoon. The factory HUD cars have a special HUD windshield that is not necessary as the projections shown above are taken on my non-HUD glass in direct sunlight. Also all 97+ C5's have the pocket for the projector, and the outline for the dash to be cut. The following are the necessary components needed HUD to work • HUD projector - 10279814 - (GM LIST: $1,118.82) You will have to drill 2 small holes in the dash to mount it. Even the 97,'s and 98's have the seat for the projector • HUD Projector Bezel - 10425223 - (GM LIST: $25.52) You will have to cut a hole in the dash and the bezel is there to cover the hole. Its very easy to do though because even the 97 and 98's have the cut marked out under the dash pad. The bezel simply covers the hole. • HUD Enabled Cluster – This is a must for a 97-99 owner that currently doesn’t have a HUD enabled cluster. The cluster may be HUD ready or it could have come from a HUD equipped car. If it is only HUD ready you will need a HUD switch and 11 pin wiring harness. • HUD Switch - Part # 12198648 (GM LIST: $124.04) • The very important 11 Pin wiring harness which is not available from GM, you will have to find a harness, or you will have to build your own using your existing harness. There are 2 different HUD install scenario's. 97, 98, or early 99 C5's without the HUD enabled cluster - You will need to get a late 99+ Cluster. The only way to tell whether you have the HUD enabled cluster is to remove the one you have and look for the white connector in the very back. If it doesn't already have the HUD Switch you will have to install one and find a 11 pin harness. If you need a HUD enabled cluster you will have to have it programmed with your existing mileage. I've heard ~$50 to do this, but contact your dealer. You will have to drill 3 holes to mount the projector, 2 in the plastic dash support, 1 in the aluminum column support. If you use a late 99-04 cluster you will also have to move the airbag warning light located next to the fuel gauge to the location on the Tach or else the light will remain lit al the time. Late 99-04 C5's with a HUD enabled cluster - You will need the projector, dash bezel, switch and 11 Pin from the switch to cluster. You will have to drill only 2 holes in the plastic dash support, the third is already notched out. Tools Necessary: • A small assortment of flat headed screw drivers. • Very sharp razor Blades • Something to cut the plastic under the dash pad (Dremel tool, utility knife, angle grinder etc...) • Something to drill mounting holes (I used a right angle electric screw driver with a 1/8" conical grinding bit) • Torx T15 driver, or bit with compatible holder to use with 1/4" ratchet. • 7mm socket and driver • 10mm Socket with swivel and various extensions • 1/4 ratchet for the 7mm socket • Needle nose pliers • 2 #10 rubber expansion nuts available from home improvement store (Lowe's, Home depot, Ace, Etc....) • 2 Allen Screws for the expansion nuts. With proper Allen wrench. • JB Quick Weld or similar to affix the bezel • Clamps or similar to hold bezel The install is pretty basic. If you have a roadster or coupe now is a great time to open the car up. This is also a great time to move both seats all the way back to allow your self plenty of room to work. I myself just completed this modification on my own 2000 Corvette on 8/5/03 and the pictures seen here are from my own install. These instructions are for a 2000 six speed coupe http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%.../beforehud.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...s/afterhud.jpg Removing the Center Console: 1)Remove the center console. To do this you will need to open the console remove the little covers in the rear of the console to access the 2,10mm nuts. Remove these. http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...oleremoval.jpg 2) Move up towards the front of the console bin. Insert a flat headed screw driver or similar to pop off the panel with the Traction Control / Active Handling. 3) Disconnect all wiring. 4) Remove the 2, 10mm nuts under the cover, at this point you need to disconnect the fuel door switch and the rear center console is ready to be removed. 5) To remove the front half you will need to remove the shifter knob, and pull out the ash tray. 5a.) To remove the shifter knob, first pry the black shift pattern diagram. Then you will need a pair of needle nose pliers or similar to pull the key out of the shaft before being able to spin the knob off. I'm assuming the A4 has a clip in the front of the knob that has to be pulled straight out before pulling off the knob. 6) There are 3, Torx 15 screws holding the front of the console in. These are located • 1. Under the temperature sensor panel, located to the right of the steering wheel. Pop off the bezel with a flat headed screw driver. Disconnect the air temperature sensor (If equipped with the dual climate) • 2. to the Left of the cigarette lighter • 3. behind the ash tray http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...leremoval2.jpg 7) At this point the center console pulls straight off. There are a few clips that still hold it in around the radio and climate control. Don't forget to disconnect the cigarette lighter by reaching around the back and pulling the connector off. With the center console completely removed, you are now ready to work on the panel under the steering column. Preparing for Dash Pad Removal 8) Start by removing the Trunk release/fog light switch bezel, with a flat headed screw driver, disconnect wires. Remove the Torx 15 screw. Remove the 2, T15 screws located up top of the instrument panel directly above the steering wheel http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...cs/dashpad.jpg 9) Look under the dash, towards the rear and remove the 2 T15 screws. At this point you’re ready to remove the lower steering column cover. Simply pull evenly towards the steering wheel; there are 2 clips that hold near the left hand upper corner. 10) You will need to remove the radio to help reach the hazard switch to disconnect when you start to remove the dash pad. Remove the 2, 7mm screws on each side of the radio and slide it out disconnecting all connectors from the back of the radio. 11) Take a flat headed screw driver and gently pry the defroster vent grill, Disconnect the sensor on the left side and twist the sensor loose on the right, now take your 7mm 1/4 ratchet and remove the 2 screws to the outsides of the defroster http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...frostcover.jpg 12) Remove the side pillars. To do this start from the top and pull towards the rear/center of the vehicle. Move down the pillar, there are 3 clips to completely disengage the pillars. 13) You are now ready to remove the rest of the dash pad 7mm screws. There are 2 on the top on the sides of the dash pad that were covered by the pillars. There is one on the passenger side of the dash near the hinge of the door, (look at the side of the dash with the door fully open) one near where the cluster resides on the drivers side, and the rest are visible around the stereo was http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...s/dashpad2.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...s/dashpad3.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...s/glovebox.jpg 15) Once all the screws are removed from the dash pad, gently pull the dash pad away from the window. Once moved enough disconnect the hazard switch connector. This is where you’re going to probably want a helper. Finish pulling the dash out of the car. http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...cs/dashout.jpg Preparing for HUD installation 16) Its now time to drill the holes for the rubber expansion nuts or whatever you decided to use. I'm sure you could also use self tapping bolts if you can managed to get space between the window and ratchet. Place the projector in into its seat pushing it all the way towards the front of the car. Mark the 2 holes with a marker or whatever you can manage to get between the window. Also mark the column support on the pre 99 cars for the 3rd mount. The 99+ cars should already have the cutout for the screw to reside in. Remove the projector and drill. Once drilled, mount the projector with whatever method you chose. http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...hudinstall.jpg 17) Once the dash pad is out, you can flip it over and see where you’re supposed to cut. Cut to the very edge of the sides, and about a 1/4" from the bottom (Front of dash closest to steering wheel) to provide a step for the bezel to grip the dash pad. Cut slowly, KEEP cutting device perpendicular to cut while watching where the bezel rests. This is the most time consuming part of the install. Cut little by little constantly fitting bezel until snug. Cut the foam and pad with a sharp razor blade. TAKE YOUR TIME, you don't want to know what a replacement dash pad costs!!! (My diagram is for illustration purposes only) http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...uttingdash.jpg 18) Once you have the hole trimmed to fit the bezel, fit the bezel in place and hold it with some clamps. Make sure the bezel is flush with the rear edge of the dash (side under/closest to windshield) You can choose your own method to secure it to the dash pad. I mixed up a batch of JB Quick Weld filled the holes, glued the front tabs of the bezel, removed the clamps and was done. One of my customers cut the legs by enough to use screws into the legs. http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...cs/hudhole.jpg 19) While your waiting for your bezel to set you can use swap your stock 97-99 non-HUD cluster with the reprogrammed HUD enabled cluster, or to add the HUD switch and wiring harness to your HUD enabled cluster. To remove the cluster from the car with the dash pad already removed you need to remove 2, 7mm screws located just below the cluster and reach behind the cluster and pinch the large grey connector while pulling, rocking or whatever else it take to get it loose. http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...cs/cluster.jpg • 19a.) If your cluster came from a car with HUD already installed, install your new cluster and move to step 20 • 19b.) If you have a HUD enabled cluster that came from a car without HUD you will have to purchase a HUD switch from the dealer and swap it with your existing dimmer switch. If you can find a factory wiring harness, just plug it in, install and move to step 20 http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%...s/hudcable.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~at88mph/c5%.../hudswitch.jpg Putting your Vette back together 20) Congratulations take a step back and look at the mess you've created. Maybe have a drink or two, because reinstalling it all is the easiest and fastest part. 21) Plug in the main cluster harness, and now the HUD projector harness to the back of the cluster. Key the ignition on and make sure everything works. All the gauges should do they're full sweep as well as the projection on the windshield should do similar. • Play with the intensity, make sure it gets bright, dims, disappears... • Cycle through the page button, to switch displayed fuel level, coolant temperature, oil pressure, also hold it briefly to switch Tach on/off cycling through the different views. • Also move the display up and down the window to make sure everything is hooked up correctly. • If everything appears to work correctly move on to step 22. (make sure you firmly plugged in the fuel buttons on the right if you installed the HUD switch) 22) Re-install the 2, 7mm screws holding the lower cluster in. 23) Don't forget the sensor, and wire harness you disconnected from the defroster grill. Tape them up to the defroster so they will be accessible when you reinstall the pad 24) Get your helper grab the now "HUD enabled" dash pad and move it back into place. Before pushing it all the way back toward the window, make sure to hook up the hazard switch. (Forget to do this and your turn signals will not work) 25) Re-install the various 7mm screws you removed throughout, not forgetting: • 2 under the defroster vent, • 2 off to the side/under the pillars, • the one on the side near the passenger hinge area. 26) Re-install the 2, T15 screws above the cluster to dash pad 27) Re-install the side pillars by starting in the bottom, and working to the top 28) Re-install the stereo with 2, 7mm screws 29) Re-install the glove box, get all the 7mm screws, and 2, 10mm bolts in loosely before tightening everything down 30) Re-install the center console not forgetting to hook up all electrical connections 31) Re-install the shift knob/selector 32) Sit back and take a look at a job well done, hopefully there will be no mysterious screws left over. |
Vette Essential's Full Custom Seat Cover Replacement
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TheRadioFlyer's LED "halo" tail light mod
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Vette Essentials: Replace any interior piece: shift boot A4 and MN6, counsol lid, ect
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Leaky rear fix...with pics
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TPM battery replacement
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Multi-Function Switch / Headlight Switch / Blinker Arm Removal
Just thought I'd add my writeup on removing the headlight switch/blinker arm assembly! I've received many grateful PM's in the past few months, so this needs to be where it can do even more good.
Enjoy! http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...-a-how-to.html |
Hello;
The OE flasher isn't the most reliable either so sometimes bypassing it can be a good option. Here's how to do a flasher bypass. Pick up an electronic flasher and a connector for it. I didn't see a flasher connector but I found a 3-wire headlight pigtail that would work just as well. Picture shows a HD12 but an EL12 is a good flasher to use for this. http://i44.tinypic.com/28chkw3.jpg Note that the HD12 flasher is not suitable for use with all LED signal lights. It requires a minimum load of 1 normal signal bulb. Then, pull out the extra wire and you're ready to go. http://i39.tinypic.com/2ltg5fk.jpg The white connector is the one you need to get to. This connector is directly under the ignition switch. The picture is taken sideways. The end of the connector with the paper tags around it goes to the hazard switch and is the side you need to work on. http://i42.tinypic.com/w1wfog.jpg - Unplug it. - Cut the purple and pink wires. Cap off the ends going to the hazard switch. - Connect one wire from the flasher to the plug end of the purple wire. - Connect the other wire from the flasher to the pink wire. I didn't cut the pink wire but then realized after looking at the schematic again that it's fine cutting both wires. The flasher may have a X terminal and, if so, connect the X terminal to the pink wire and the other terminal to the purple wire. You can also get a couple of spade connectors and just crimp them onto the ends of the 2 wires and plug them onto the flasher. The spade part of those connetors is usually exposed and I don't like having any exposed electrical wiring, hence my use of the headlight plug. http://i42.tinypic.com/20iglg5.jpg Plug the connector back in, install the flasher and test it. http://i39.tinypic.com/11slglc.jpg If it works, put the car back together and you're done. If it doesn't work, you could possibly have the wires to the flasher backwards so carefully remove the side wire from the connector and plug it into the other side so you can turn the flasher around. FYI, the new flasher will be used for the normal signals. The OE flasher will still be used for the hazards. Here is some extra info on a flasher pigtail.
Originally Posted by Quicksilver Vert 01
(Post 1588482722)
I was able to find the correct 2-wire flasher pigtail to do the conversion, and just wanted to pass along that info to others doing the flasher mod.
Dorman P/N 84734 is the 2-wire flasher pigtail, that I used, available at O'Reily's and other auto parts stores. Thanks to lionelhutz for his excellent write-up and pics! I now have turn signals that work every time I need to use them! |
Just an FYI for you who are interested in replacing the batteries in you r TPM. Get a volt meter that allows you to load test the battery. If the battery is below 2.5v during the load test your battery is not good enough to send a signal to the reciever. If you just check it with DC volt meter it may show to still have 3+ volts.
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How to lower your C5
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How to DIY repair a curbed polished aluminum rim
I didn't see this in the list so I searched it out to add it...should be valuable to a lot of members:thumbs:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...y-with-it.html |
Does anyone know of a fix for an airbag light that stays on all the time on the C5? Is the number of times the light blinks on startup mean anything? I recently did a pull / re-install for a horn in-opp issue.
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Originally Posted by Red-Vroom
(Post 1571737071)
Does anyone know of a fix for an airbag light that stays on all the time on the C5? Is the number of times the light blinks on startup mean anything? I recently did a pull / re-install for a horn in-opp issue.
Read and post your DTCs and it will tell you whats not happy. READING YOUR Engine Diagnostic Codes (DTCs) The Diagnostic Display Mode is entered with the following procedure: 1) Turn on the ignition but don't start the engine. 2) Press the RESET button to turn off any warning messages. (i.e. door open, trunk open etc…) 3) Press and hold OPTIONS 4) While holding OPTIONS, press FUEL four times within a 10-second period. Initially, on-board diagnostics go into an Automatic Mode which shows diagnostic codes in a pre-set sequence: PCM - TCS - RTD - BCM - IPC - RADIO - HVAC - LDCM - RDCM - SCM - RFA. All codes will be displayed for each. ( i.e. PCM = 4 codes) If none are present in a given module, you will see No More Codes on the display. There are two kinds of diagnostic codes, Current and History designated with a letter suffix, C or ;H. A current code indicates a malfunction is present in the module displaying data. A history code indicates a problem existed sometime in the last 40 or 50 ignition cycles. When not accompanied by a current code of the same number, it's potential evidence of a previous problem, now resolved, that was not removed by clearing the codes. More likely it's an indication of an intermittent malfunction. Intermittent codes are the most challenging of the diagnostics. An intermittent code may have happened once, may have happened more than once but is inconsistent or may be happening on a regular basis but not at the time the codes are displayed. History codes can also be caused by a current malfunction in a system that is not operating at the time codes are displayed. An example is the rear window defogger which doesn't operate until the Body Control Module detects engine rpm. For history codes set by a module that does not operate with the key on and engine off, a special diagnostic tool called a Scan Tester is necessary to properly diagnose the malfunction. Once the system has displayed all modules, it goes into the manual mode which allows selection of each module using combinations of Driver Information Center buttons. Manual mode can also be entered during the automatic sequence by pressing any button except E/M. Once the display shows Manual Diagnostics, select a module by pressing the OPTIONS button to go forward or the TRIP button to go back. Once a module is selected, a code is displayed, and if more than one are present; press GAGES to go forward or FUEL to go back. To exit the diagnostic mode at any time, press E/M. If you want to erase codes in a given module, press RESET To reset the codes once in manual mode, press and hold RESET until it displays NO CODES Press OPTIONS to go to the next module. Repeat the steps until you have reset the codes in all the computer modules. NOTE!! Only reset the codes IF you want to - it is NOT necessary to do this. Clearing a code does not repair a problem. You are simply erasing the evidence of it in the module's memory. If you clear the code/s, and extinguish the Check Engine Light, your emissions status ready will NOT allow you to pass an emissions test until you have completed the required driving cycles. Once you have the codes, the next question is: What to do with the information? First, consult the factory service manual. Any serious C5 Do-It-Yourself owner should invest in the Corvette Service Manual of the appropriate model year. The Service Manual is really a requirement if you want to understand and work on your C5. Here is very good site of DTC definitions: http://www.gearchatter.com Make sure to include the H or C suffix!! BC |
Here they are:
B0026HC ??? C1255H EBTCM Internal Malfunction U1064H Loss of Communications with BCM B2285H Battery #2 Fault U1064H Loss of Communications with BCM U1096H ??? U1016H Loss of Communications with PCM As you can see some of these I don’t know the meaning? All I did is disconnect the battery, pull the #16 fuse from the panel in the passenger side foot well, removed the airbag / horn button and dis-connected the yellow cable + horn wires. I reversed all the steps when I put it back together. Any Ideas? |
Originally Posted by Red-Vroom
(Post 1571738315)
Here they are:
B0026HC ??? C1255H EBTCM Internal Malfunction U1064H Loss of Communications with BCM B2285H Battery #2 Fault U1064H Loss of Communications with BCM U1096H ??? U1016H Loss of Communications with PCM As you can see some of these I don’t know the meaning? All I did is disconnect the battery, pull the #16 fuse from the panel in the passenger side foot well, removed the airbag / horn button and dis-connected the yellow cable + horn wires. I reversed all the steps when I put it back together. Any Ideas? U1096H Loss of comms with IPC Ok,,,You have LOTS of Loss of Comms codes and a B2285H Battery #2 Fault. Two things can cause a LOSS OF COMMS. - An actual loss of communications cause by corruption of the serial buss. - Loss or incorrect power to the modules effected. A couple of things to check out: Is your battey fully charged and in good condition/ Recommend removing the battery, cleaning the battery cable terminals. Have the battery fully checked out at a automotive store. Check the battery for proper Cold Cranking Amps and output under load. Have you tried to reset the DTCs and clear them. Please answer those questions and get back to us. BC |
Found the Bug!
After you I.D. the B0026 code as an open circuit & I’m back at my garage. I pulled the air bag again and checked out the yellow 90º connector, when I went to pull the “snap pin” the whole connector came off the air bag, it never made contact and was about 1/4" off the surface. With the “snap pin” removed I made sure the connector was well seated against the air bag, on a C5 the bulk of the connector should fit flush against the air bag then put in the snap pin. Now the connector is secure. The airbag light now goes off when the car is on. Thank you for the help. |
the howto on HUD installation is awesome. easy instructions. On my 97 I went from no HUD to a HUD in less then 2 hours. :thumbs: The only two thing's I dont like is that my odometer now say i have 2,200 miles LOL (the car actually has quite a few more miles) I also dont like that the Z06 logo is on the tac side of my cluster. other then that its great.
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Power seat issues..look here
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Oil Pressure Sender Relocation How To (former sticky)
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How to fix exterior mirrors with broken swivels (former sticky)
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C5 Differential Rebuild
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How to Jack Your C5 Properly
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How to replace your AC compressor
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Door Handle LED install
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Service ABS, Service Traction Control, Service Active Handling
2 Attachment(s)
Link to original sticky regarding Service ABS, Service Traction Control, Service Active Handling and EBCM
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...andling-4.html here are the tutorials in PDF form click and save Attachment 47653998 Attachment 47653999 |
My Rotor Cleaning Techniques as Requested
Originally posted in 2006 from another thread
Having 1200 dollar rotors look like 1200 dollar rotors five years later and 55,000 miles later is all in the technique: Ive posted this hundreds of times in PM when asked,but Ive never really posted it in public forum... Thanks for the Kudos Veteran:thumbs: These procedures are designed for when your zinc coating is starting to go.... BTW I bag my wheels and tires if I'm washing the car... http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c5/eviltwin//pict0701.jpg This is very labor intensive so the first rule is, do not attempt to do more than two rotors in one day. ( very important ) You want to be able to invest the same energy and focus on this job... You do not want to spend an hour on the first rotor, then wind up spending 15 minutes on the fourth one. So just plan to do 2 in one day.. 1)It requires that you remove two rotors. 2)You want to clean both sides of the rotor with any brake cleaner... make sure you clean the inside cooling vanes. Wash them out and blow them off with compressed air. 3) Cut some 120 grit emery paper into 1/4 in squares. ( it will take 8 or 10 squares to do one side of one rotor.) If you force the sq into the hole you will tear up the emery. You only want to flex the emery slightly into the hole. AS the emery becomes more flexible you can return to the same holes and go deeper to remove any rust they may have built up inside the hole. 4) Take one of the squares and poke a hole in the center with an ice pick or awl. Using a dremel with a screw type arbor, remove the screw from the arbor, put the screw through the grit side of the emery, and screw it into the arbor. You now will focus on only the first angle of the hole. You want to push the emery into the hole only about .060 in. This will do two things: 1) it will radius the top ( Major angle ) angle, 2)it will also create something called a sinus radius. This sinus radius will, in effect, reduce internal stress at the opening of the hole by removing the sharp angle. After you do about ten holes, and if the emery is still good ( this is were the technique comes into play. ( I can do about 15 holes with one piece of emery) you can now take the broken in emery and do the next angle ( the minor angle ) of the chamfer. 5) Now you polish these holes until they look like diamonds. This is actually fun.. I suggest you take a before picture and after picture. you do both side of the first rotor. 6) Once the holes are done, you take some #00 steel wool, then using a paint stirring stick, you place the steel wool under the stick and run it up and down the slot, like you were trying to start a fire with a stick. you do both sides. 7) you then take some steel wool and polish the outer diameter and the chamfer on both sides of the outer diameter. 8) Now the rotor should look awesome, so now you need to protect it. 9) You need a minimum of 1200 F Clear VHT paint, or 1500F clear header paint. 100 You now spray some clear into a cup, allowing some of the thinner and suspension agent to flash off. With a q-tip, you dab each hole with some clear, and each slot Allow this to dry for about 20 minutes. 11) Now you start on rotor # 2 while # 1 is drying. 12) After 20 minutes turn the #1 rotor over and dab the other side, don't forget the slot. 13) Continue to work on Rotor #2 for 20 minutes, then turn # 1 rotor over again and dab each hole and slot a second time making sure some clear runs down inside the rotor. You can be sloppy here and don't worry about getting too much on the fire path. 14) At some point you will be done polishing rotor # 2. You can now dab the slots and holes of # 2 rotor. 15) the idea here is to get two good coats on the holes and slots, both sides. 16) at this point it would be good to allow the paint to dry overnight. 17) Next morning, with a wood block and a piece of 120 emery under it you can sand down the fire path to remove any of your sloppy q-tipping. 18) You can now use some masking tape and tape up the fire paths, both sides. 19) Making sure the slight chamfer of the outside diameter is exposed, use a razor blade to remove any masking tape from this chamfer, or you can use an exacto knife to clear that chamfer. 20) you can now spray the outside diameter with the clear spray , getting close with the nozzle to allow plenty of paint to enter the cooling vane area. Give them ( Both rotors )two coats. Allow them to dry, then remove the masking tape, Don't forget to take a picture. install on the car and stand back and smile. I suggest you do a front and back rotor in one sitting. At least one side will look awesome while you catch your breath to do the second two rotors the next week end. I have done this the last two springs and it looks great right up to the fall. AS I have said, it is important not to bit off more than you can chew... You want the last rotor you do to look as good as the first one you do, so spread out the workload. If you have any questions, you can pm me NEW STUFF: Added March 2006 Go to home depot and get a few 100 plastic drop cloths, you really only need one but they are good to have. You may be able to do you rotors on the car ( I know you like that idea..... I now still use the dremel to do the holes... while on the car... I use a high speed grinder with a wire wheel to wire the outer diameter, and the slots... when you are done wire wheeling they will like like they are zinc coated.. OK now the holes, slots and diameter is shiny as hell.. now you cut a hole in the center of the drop cloth, like a dentist would do when working on a tooth,,, use some painters masking tape when you buy the drop cloths.. the blue painters tape.. now your wheel wells and suspension is protected from the paint.. now mask off the caliper and bracket area making sure you can still rotate the rotor,, Now here is my new trick,, a can of silver header paint,,,it will etch without using primer... I get about 5 inches from the vane opening, and spray right into it, I noticed this year that all of the zinc coating a clear was almost gone.. started to see signs of rust inside.,,, spraying right into the vanes will cause over spray to also coat the holes.. from the inside out,, rotate the rotor using the wheels studs, do two or three coats.. then dust the fire path lightly,,, allow it to dry about 10 minutes and dust again... after 15 minutes, take a paper towel with some break cleaner or choke cleaner.. not real wet just slightly damp and wipe the fire path,,., this doesn't have to be perfect because the pads will finish the job... if you have 2 piece rotors with black hats you will have to mask them off... this method is much faster than using the old method with a paint brush and a q-tip. If you have any other question I'M here for you http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c5/eviltwin//pict1807.jpg http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c5/eviltwin//pict2095.jpg Here is a picture of my five year old rotors with over 55,000 miles on them, this picture was taken a week ago. http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c5/evi.../pict2022s.jpg HERE IS THE UPDATE: March 2010: Baer EradiSpeed two piece rotors 14 inch rears, 13.25 fronts.... the zinc plate lasted 2 years... If I went out to my car right now and took a photo, my rotor would look exactly like those photos I shot 2 years ago.... I have posted my process on this forum about a dozen times... in any event my car is now 11 years old and has 80,000 miles in fact to prove my point I may take a shot of them... I put them on when the car was 2 years old and had about 9,000 miles... I spent many hours on one rotor.. I wire brushed ever inch of it...including using a dremel tool to wire brush each vane... I used a dremel to change the chamfer of each hole to what it called a sinuous curve chamfer a stress free chamfer where stress can be high. the rotors looked like a diamond... after all the cleaning and wire brushing and polishing... once the rotor was prepped, I used a halogen lamp to raise the surface temp to 110 degrees F and then I used high temp header paint HDTV Silver... I coated the edges of the rotors and inside the vanes. A single light coat where I could see some of the paint depositing in the holes.. I let it sit for 20 minutes then turned off the heat lamp.. and let it sit for another 20 minutes colling.. during this sit cycle . I started on another rotor.. making sure that I did not try to do this too fast...I set my goal on doing two and investing 8 hours... after prepping and wire brushing and cleaning, I heated up the second rotor to 110 F and painted it. after 20 minutes I put the heat lamp on the first rotor brought it up to 110 F and gave it a second coat.. I did this three times for both rotors .. it wound up being about ten hours.. No rush and no hard work, only focused work, with time for a few breaks for lunch and dinner... once they were don't three times I used a wire wheel to remove the paint from the fire path, and then took a q-tip and hit each hole and each slot three times, and then the brake pads did the rest.. Using soft pads is key here.. Ceramics are a definite NO NO, they are way too hard and increase rotor temps and discolor the rotors...... Ceramics on a street car are just so wrong.. luckily most brake pads sold for street use only have a very small amount of ceramic... but its enough to increase rotor temps .. Soft pads will dust but they will stop a street car much better than ceramics which dust less only because they are so much harder... soft pads have a high coefficient of friction, which is what stops your car.. ceramics are harder therefore the friction coefficient is less... OK I went out and shot a few photos of my rotors alittle while ago today..Now these rotors are 8 years old and have 70,000 miles on them.. My car is 11 years old and has 80,000 miles on it... I put these rotors on when the car was 2 years old Just shot today 03/10/10 http://evil-twin.smugmug.com/Cars/My...77_F3q39-L.jpg http://evil-twin.smugmug.com/Cars/My...83_uxeSB-L.jpg EXIF Info Date Taken: 2010-03-10 15:53:46 Camera: SONY DSLR-A700 Exposure Time: 0.025s (1/40) Aperture: f/6.3 ISO: 200 Focal Length: 55mm (82mm in 35mm) Date Modified: 2010-03-10 15:53:46 Photo Dimensions: 4272 x 2848 File Size: 8.39 MB JPEG Quality: 8/18 Flash: flash fired, compulsory flash mode, red-eye reduction mode Metering: pattern Exposure Program: shutter priority Exposure Bias: 0 EV Exposure Mode: auto Light Source: cool white fluorescent White Balance: manual Digital Zoom Ratio: 0/1 Contrast: 0 Saturation: 0 Sharpness: 0 Color Space: sRGB Brightness: 487/100 |
Excellent info - thanks to all!
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How to replace the rear "halo" weather stripping on a coupe.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...procedure.html |
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Thanks
I must save this for sure Alan |
seat fix
Just fixed my wobbly seat as per the instructions on this forum. What great instructions. I can't believe it went so smoothly. All I can say is Thanks, thanks, thanks. You are a blessing to this forum.
Dave |
Upgrade TPMS
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Oil pressure sensor replacement without cutting or intake removal
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Originally Posted by pewter99
(Post 1575200160)
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What spec did you torque it to, and what type of torque wrench did you use? Many who have replaced these senders have stressed how critical it is to not over-tighten the new sender, as it too may fail if you do......
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Originally Posted by Bill Curlee
(Post 1575200449)
WOW! Your ARE the MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was brilliant!!!!:smash::cheers::thumbs:
yeah a member PMd me that and suggested it go in the thread..:thumbs::cool:
Originally Posted by AZ99C5
(Post 1575206123)
What spec did you torque it to, and what type of torque wrench did you use? Many who have replaced these senders have stressed how critical it is to not over-tighten the new sender, as it too may fail if you do......
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Your still BRILLIANT!:lol: This thread gets better and better day by day!!!!!!!!:cheers::flag::thumbs:
Thanks for keeping it up dated!:flag: BC |
Originally Posted by Bill Curlee
(Post 1575208794)
Your still BRILLIANT!:lol: This thread gets better and better day by day!!!!!!!!:cheers::flag::thumbs:
Thanks for keeping it up dated!:flag: BC |
Originally Posted by pewter99
(Post 1575211844)
:rofl: I am glad so many people have found this thread helpful
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The $40 fix for broken side bolsters [pics]
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Tips on shocks, sways and lowering
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Clear corner installation - Version 2
I big thank you to Pewter99 for taking the time and some great pix on those clear corners. I just did mine this weekend and thought I would share my experience. I did mine without lifting the front of the car, what I did was:
1. Before you raise the headlights remove the 2 torx screws that are behind each painted headlight cover, you cant get to them when the buckets are up. 2. Raise the headlights and remove the neg from the battery. 3. Remove the black shroud from the headlights, 3 philips screws. 4. Remove the 2 other torx screws that hold on the painted headlight cover, on screw on each side. 5. Remove the hood stops to give you more room. 6. Reach down and with a rachet wrench remove the 9/32 bolt that is closest to the side of the car, the bolt is screwed in from underneath. 7. Remove the 10mm bolt that is closest to the front, if you push out the brake cooling duct from the front of the car you can reach in and feel where the bolt is, also from underneath. It's a little tight to get to but if you go slow and have patience you can remove it no problem. 8. Now that the corner is loose you must remove the spring from the corner and it will come free. Remove the corner from the cradle by removing the two 9/32 bolts that hold the two together. You must do this while the corner is still inside the bumper. By doing this you will have enough clearance to remove the corner through the same opening you put your arm through. Leave the black bracket in the bumper. If you don't remove the corner from the bracket it wont fit out the top. 9. Carefully slide in the new corner the same way you removed the old one and join the bracket to the corner with the two 9/32 bolts. 10. Carefully slide in and seat the corner to the bumper corner and attach the spring to hold it in place. 11. Screw in the 9/32 that goes in the sidemost corner and the 10mm for the front. For the 10mm front, put your hand back into the brake duct so you can give you other hand a guide to start the bolt. Slowly and carefully screw in the bolts. There wont be much travel on the rachet to screw them in so patience is a must. 12. Attch all your bulbs and reattach you painted headlight cover, shrowd and hood stops and reseat your brake cooling duct and your good to go. This was the first time I did the corners and it was fairly simple. If you are a body builer or just have abnormally thick forearms then you may have to lift the car and go underneath. For those of you who dont have Popeye arms and would rather not lift the car then going through the top is no problem. So between Pewter99's pics and this guide it should be a breeze. Good luck! |
Found this and think many people have forgotten about it. Gonna do this soon :thumbs:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...-mod-done.html |
Flasher Switch
The part listed on Post #50, Tridon Flasher EL12, is no longer available with wires at AutoZaone. The "new" model has two connectors like a plug. Is this part an acceptable replacement? How does it change the very well done detailed instructions?
Thank for your help. |
Another DIY Jacking Puck thread
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DIY AR Header Install on my 1997 C5 6 speed car (bucketlist1957)
1. Spray down your Exhaust pipe bolts with Penetrating oil the night before you start. Make sure you hit all 3 bolts at the bottom of the Manifold. I take a piece of clear motorcycle fuel line and tape it to a stiff wire. Then put the spray tube into the the fuel line and touch the end of the line with the wire on it where you want the penetrating oil to go. Keeps from making a big mess.
2. Disconnect the neg. battery terminal and Pull the designer covers off the fuel rails. 3. Remove the alternator and bracket 4. Pull the Spark Plug wires and remove the Spark Plugs. Use the right tools! Here is a hint. Use a 2 foot 3/8 extension with a swivel to get that hard to reach #7 Spark Plug. It will come right out. That extension is very useful all through the process. 5. Pull the Ignition Coil Packs. 6. Disconnect the Vaccum line into the Brake assist vaccum chamber. Remove the Air pump line and valve from the Drivers side. Then remove the air pump line to the manifold on the passenger side and the bolt that holds the dipstick in place connected to the manifold. 7. Jack your car up at least 20 inches off the floor. Use Good Jack Stands. 8. Make sure you have a good drop light or 2 to help you see under the car. 9. Unplug your O2 Sensors 10. Use a 3/8 drive air impact to remove the manifold to X pipe bolts. 11. Do the same for the rear X pipe bolts to the muffler sections. 12. Lay under the X pipe and remove the spring hanger bolts. 13. Remove the Front X pipe hanger bolts and lower the X Pipe gently to the floor so you don't damage the 02 sensors. 14. Look at how the O2 sensors were connected. The front O2s go to the same side they came off of. The rear O2 sensors connect to the opposite side of the motor that the pipe is on. Carefully remove the O2 sensors with an O2 wrench you can pick up at any parts store. Don't bang them around or get anything on them. Set them aside where you won't damage them. 15. Take the bolt out of the block on both sides where ground wires attach so you don't snag them while doing the install. 16.Remove the Drivers side Exhaust Manifold bolts from the rear. Leave one of the middle ones until you are ready to pull them off. Remove the last bolt and lift the Exhaust manifold up and out of the engine compartment. 17. Call one of your buddies to help you out. Start on the Drivers side. It is the easiest side and will give you confidence befor you tackle the passenger side. Take the Drivers side Long Tube header under the car and lift it up through the opening where the old exhaust and manifold used to be. Or get your buddy to lift it up. Stick 2 bolts through the header and hang the gasket on the bolts. Guide the bolts into position and start them. Then start the rest of the bolts. Hand tighten the bolts then get out your Torque wrench and alternate tightening all the bolts to 11 ft lbs. Once you have done this go back and retighten them to 18 ft lbs. Whamo Bamo you just mounted your drivers side header. 18. Take a break drink a beer and pat yourself on the back for all the work you have done. 19. Now comes the passenger side. Remove the bottom of the bell housing (my car is a 6 speed). Remove the starter. 20. Find the bolt that holds the Dip Stick tube in and remove it. Then pull the dip stick tube. 21. Remove the Passenger side Exhaust Manifold. 22. If your cars air conditioner line is in the same place along the fender well that mine was I would advise you to have your freon bled off and remove the line. It will save you a lot of cussing and spitting and general being pissed off. If you don't want to do this I hope your line is in a different position than mine was. No matter how I tried I couldn't lift the header up from the bottom. If you don't have any luck doing this then the only other option is to do what I did. 23. Pull the valve cover from the passenger side for additional clearence and remove the bottom nuts from the motor mounts. Jack up the motor and snake the Long Tube Header in from the top. It kept getting stuck on that same Air conditioner line I couldn't get past from the bottom. Here is where I did something I rarely do. Instead of bleeding the freon I pried back on the line to get it as close to the fender well as possible then got my trusty rubber mallet and persuaded the header past the AC line. Ouch I can't believe I did it but I did. Fortunately it didn't damage the line. 24. Follow the same procedure as in step 17. 25. Now that the passenger side Header is installed you need to reinstall the oil dip stick tube and put the retainer bolt at the bottom back in. 26. You now realize that the top bracket for the dipstick tube was mounted to the old exhaust manifold and wonder what the heck you are going to do now. Easy I will get back to it later. 27. Put the valve cover back on the passenger side. 28. Reinstall all the Spark plugs. Remember that long extension with the swivel for old #7. 29. Reinstall all the Ignition Coil packs on both sides. 30. Reattach the Spark Plug wires to the drivers side. 31. Reinstall the Alternator. 32. If you are going to still use your air pump reinstall all the valve and tubes on both sides. 33. What about the Dip Stick Tube on the passenger side. Heck I don't know. Why didn't they tell me I would have to relocate how it is held in place??? Here is what I did. There is a tapped hole in the Block that isn't in use just above the passenger side header in the same place that the tube was mounted. I took a 4 inch long by 3/4 inch wide piece of aluminum 10 Ga sheet metal and drilled a hole for the bolt that would go into that unused tapped hole in the block. Bent the piece of aluminum at a right angle at the bolt then wrapped it around the Dip stick tube and pinched it tight. Walla a new piece of hard ware that works perfectly. I am sure there is a bracket pre made but I didn't get it with the headers. I will follow up with American Racing on that little detail this week. 34. Reinstall the Starter and the ground wire bolts to the block on both sides. 35. Reinstall the bottom of the bell housing. 36. Reinstall the spark plug wires on the passenger side. 37. At this point as I read in another forum you can reconect the neg battery cable, fire up the motor and giggle like a little girl. I skipped this step and went directly to work on the new exhaust pipes. 38. Reinstall the O2 sensors in your new X pipe of whatever configuration you chose. Be careful with them. Use a tiny bit of anti seize on the threads being careful not to touch the sensor end. 39. Put the X pipe on your stomach and crawl under the car with your buddy. Lift up the pipe and with your buddies help start the header collector flange bolts. 40. Start the X pipe to muffler pipe flange bolts. 41. Reinstall the spring hanger bolts and draw them up tight. 42. Look everything over to make sure you are straight and lined up front to rear. 43. Tighten up the Header Collector bolts. 44. Tighten up the X pipe to muffler pipe flang bolts. 45. Tighten up the slip joint clamps if you have this style of X pipe. 46. Recheck that everything looks good from front to rear. 47. Reconnect the O2 sensor wires. The front O2 Sensors have 12 inch adapter wires and connectors in the header kit as they are located about 12 inches further back than the original ones on the manifold. 48. Carefully tuck them back where they were along the tunnel to the firewall. At the fire wall I wasn't able to use the original mounting spots for all the O2 connectors because they were too close to the headers. The connectors will melt so you have to maintain clearance. I used wire ties to hold them up and out of the way. Just hook them around whatever you can find so you have clearance. I then got some header wrap and thermal tape to make double sure I didn't melt anything. 49. Take the car down carefully off the jack stands and put the beauty covers back on top of the Ignition coils, reconnect the neg. battery cable. Close the lid and fire it up. After the car starts you will get a message to turn the key back off and wait 10 seconds. Then start it up again. 50. Don't worry about the smoke when you first start it up. This is just inherent oil from the machining process when the headers and pipes were built. 51. Warm it up and enjoy that nice rumble as you rev it up. I did all of the above and the car never threw a code. Hope this may help someone else out. It is really pretty easy to do. I had two little boys 3 and 4 years old helping Grandpa work on his race car so it took me a little longer than it should have but I loved every minute of it. |
Z06 rear Brake Duct Template * FREE *
2 Attachment(s)
From forum member IM QUIKR
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...ates-free.html the attached templates are here in PDF form Attachment 47661357 Attachment 47661358 |
My mirror was not loose until I took it off to fix my broken visor. In taking the mirror off I broke a couple of pins so now the mirror is loose. But the good part is I fixed my poorly made visor with a piece of 1/4" plywood cut in shape to fill corner of visor. Now visor looks new and is stronger than new.
Originally Posted by DeeGee
(Post 1562023057)
I had a problem with the mirror separating from the visor and I tried a couple of things before I got one that worked. I used zip ties:
Pull the mirror away from the housing gently. Stick a piece of 3M double sided tape along the inside edge of the top of the mirror between the two holes in the visor. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/HPIM1140.jpg Thread a small zip tie through each hole from the back and outside of the hole, with the “head” of the tie located in the large rectangular recess. Pull the tail of the zip tie towards you and thread from inside to out through the hole in the locating pin. Push the tail through the head loosely at first. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/HPIM1143.jpg Use needle nosed pliers (holding the tail) and a precision screwdriver (pushed against the head) to tighten the zip ties. Be very careful when pulling the ties tight not to pinch the lighting wires which run through the same hole. Once tight, snip the spare tail of the tie but carefully so as not to snip the electrical wires. Push the mirror back into its housing and press firmly against the double sided tape. Should be good as new http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...e/HPIM1146.jpg |
I have a dumb question. I pulled the codes on my car, where do I find a listing of what they mean??
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Torque Converter installation
This information is very useful.
http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/automa...allations.html
Originally Posted by Vince @ FLT
(Post 8201796)
This topic of discussion seems to be one that I constantly get asked. With the help of Terry of Precision Industries aka Vig converters I wanted to post this. This text is what comes with all converters that they have built in the past few weeks. I feel that it is good stuff and wanted to share with all of you. Here it is.
Torque Converter Installation 1. Using a lift or jack stands raise car off the ground far enough to be able to slide transmission out from under the vehicle. 2. After the vehicle is raised, drain the transmission fluid into a drain pan by removing the pan bolts from the rear half of the pan then slowly loosen the remaining bolts to allow pan to tilt down towards the ground allowing the fluid to drain into the drain pan. 3. Remove the battery cable, starter (if necessary), driveshaft, torque converter bolts, exhaust (if necessary), cross member and all of the transmission bolts except for one near the dowel pin. 4. Raise the transmission up slightly by placing a suitable transmission jack under the transmission. 5. Remove the last bellhousing bolt and remove the transmission. 6. Check the flexplate for cracks and chipped teeth on the ring gear. Take the new torque converter and hold it against the flexplate to see if the application is correct by checking that the pilot size and bolt circle are correct. 7. Add a quart of new transmission fluid to the torque converter. Using the aid of a helper, stand the transmission on the tail shaft and carefully install the torque converter onto the transmission. Spin the torque converter and listen for 3 distinct clicks as it drops into the transmission. The following are measurements you can make to insure the torque converter is all the way in the transmission: GM-TH350, Powerglide=1.125" from bellhousing to the converter pads. GM TH400 = 1.187" from bellhousing to converter pads. GM 700 R4, 4L60E, 200-4R = 1.125" from bellhousing to converter pads. GM 4L80E = 1.030" from bellhousing to converter pads. Distance may vary +/- .050". 8. Remove any debris in the crankshaft pilot hole and lubricate. Clean and lubricate the dowel pins. Check to see that dowel pins will be in the transmission bellhousing by more than .250". 9. Mount transmission to the back of the engine block making sure the bellhousing fits squarely against the block. If it does not, find out why! Is there something between the bellhousing and block or has the torque converter slipped out of the transmission? DO NOT PULL UP THE BELLHOUSING TO THE BLOCK USING THE BELLHOUSING BOLTS!!!! 10.After the transmission bellhousing bolts are tightened, check to see if the torque converter will turn by hand. Push the torque converter back into the transmission as far as it will go. Using feeler gauges or calipers measure the gap between the flexplate converter mounting pad and the torque converter mounting pad. If gap distance is between .060" and .187" it is OK to bolt up the torque converter. If the gap is greater than .187" install a .060" flat washer between the torque converter and flexplate. 11. Finish installing the cross member, exhaust, driveshaft, etc. Add 5 quarts of good quality transmission fluid. Start the engine and immediately add 2 more quarts. Check the fluid and finish filling the transmission to proper level.
Originally Posted by mickey_7106
(Post 14317475)
i think i got it right this time. the 1/8 bit wouldnt go through but the 7/64 did which equals to 0.109375
here's a pic as a reference with the 3/16 drill bit http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...C/DSC01004.jpg |
Lowering your C5 Corvette, the right way
There is a huge amount of misinformation as to how to lower a Corvette, and how much you can lower it before it messes up the handling or even worse, it becomes dangerous to drive. I’ve tried to put together in one place a how to and, more importantly the why behind it, and hope this saves some folks some time and heartache by getting it done right the first time.
First of all, you shouldn’t lower these cars all the way on the stock adjustment bolts. If you take your car to any good race shop (like Phoenix Performance) to have it set up for the track, they won’t lower the car all the way on the stock bolts. This should tell you something right there. Moreover, I've tested these cars on the track at various ride heights and the stopwatch doesn't lie, they are faster and corner better when they are set up right, and that isn't as low as you can get on stock bolts. And you can forget about using the longer Zip bolts in the back unless you have shorter than stock shocks. Without shorter shocks on the back the stock bolts will have about an inch of travel and with Zip bolts you will have even less. The reason for this is that the suspension works properly when it is in the right range of motion, and if you lower it more than that it won’t. There are two technical reasons for this. The first is that the suspension camber gain that you get from a properly set up ride height goes away and you won’t get as much grip as you would if it was at the right height. The second reason is that if you lower it all the way on stock bolts in the rear, you will be nearly on the bump stops and have almost no travel. If you cut the bushings in the back you will be into the bump stops and have no travel. Using longer bolts in the back with stock shocks guarantees that you will be into the bump stops and have no travel. The rear bump stops are built into the shocks, and are progressive. Lots of people don’t realize they are into the bump stops because they don’t hammer the car if you don’t hit them that hard. So what’s the big deal about hitting the bump stops in the rear suspension? Well, first of all if you are cornering fast, hitting the bump stops results in instant oversteer. This means the tail will jump out and you can, very likely, lose control and wreck your car. Secondly, if you hit a good size pothole or bump, the rear shock acts like a wedge and this pushes the rear alignment adjustment eccentrics out of place and you will be taking the car back to the alignment shop because the car will be driving funny as you have knocked the rear alignment off. I hear lots of people who say “I’ve taken out the front bolts and cut the rear bushings and my car feels really tied down, it only feels a little bouncy”. Well, it feels tied down because you are on the rear bump stops and the ride is going to be real firm, but if you take a corner quickly and hit a bump, or crank the car to avoid an accident, you are very likely to lose control and wreck your pride and joy. Ask anybody who has taken his car to the track like this and they will tell you that, at high speeds, these cars, if not set up right can be dangerous. If you want your car down in the weeds the only way to avoid bottoming out the rear shocks is to get shorter rear shocks, or go get a set of dropped spindles. The right amount to lower these cars is about without dropped spindles is ¾ of an inch, and the absolute maximum for decent handling is 1 inch. Notice also that I haven’t suggested taking out the front bolts because this will A) cause the car to be too low for the geometry to work correctly, and B) it will result in the spring gouging into the control arm and will eventually ruin one or the other unless you put some kind of pad in there to allow the spring to slip on the control arm. The stock pads on the adjustment bolts allow some motion and this prevents damage to the spring and control arm. So let’s start with how to lower your car the right way, assuming that you don’t have a race setup shop or access to a set of scales to corner weight your car when you are done, which is actually the best way to do it and really, the only way to do it if you are going to track or seriously autocross the car. If your car is stock it was set properly from the factory and the ride height is right from side to side RELATIVE TO THE CHASSIS, which is the important part. First, in the front, take the weight off of the lowering bolt by jacking on the spring with a block of wood on the jack to keep from damaging the spring. If you don’t take the weight off you will likely round off the lowering bolt and make a mess of things. If you are lowering the car from stock, mark the screws with paint, nail polish or a sharpie, and turn the adjustment screws in equal increments from side to side. That is turn each front screws an equal amount of turns. In the front it also helps to turn the screws in full turn increments from where you started. This keeps the orientation of the deformed front pads the same and the car won't take as long to settle out. Turning them until they bottom and then back 1/4 of a turn assumes the car and the spring are level and is not the right way to do it. In the front expect the screws to be about two or three threads from bottoming out. Same thing for the rear, turn them equal amounts from side to side, but you don't need to turn the rears in full turn increments. You will find that, typically, in the rear, one screw is about 3 or 4 threads different from the other. THAT IS NORMAL. If you turn them to the same length you will screw up the corner weights of the car. Expect in the rear the left rear screw will be about 3-4 threads from bottoming out and the right one will have about 5 or 6 threads showing. If you have already gone in and messed with the bolts you have lost the setup that the factory put into the car in the first place and to get it really right you should have the car corner weighted. If you don't want to do that you can get close by finding a flat surface, (and no, most garage floors aren't nearly flat enough) like an alignment rack or a known leveled slab, and measuring so that the front jacking point is between 5.0 and 5.25 inches from the ground and equal on each side, the rear as measured at the rear jacking point should be a 1/2 an inch higher than the front. You want some rake in the car to keep the aerodynamics right at high speed. If you don’t the rear end of the car will lift at speed and that can be dangerous. NEVER measure from the fender lips. The fender lips are just plastic pieces that are hung on and are all over the place. EXPECT that the car will look different from side to side. As I said, these fenders are just hung on the car and you could see a difference at the fender lips of as much as a half an inch. There you have it, all done, set to the right height for the best handling, and as balanced as you are going to get without cornerweighting the car. |
This tread alone is the reason i joined this Forum. I was on the SmokinVette forum for a while. thanks guys good work:rock:
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When air comes out of all AC vents: How to Fix w/Pics
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...with-pics.html |
How-to-repair-EBCM-avoiding-costly-repairs-through-ABSfixer-or-Fleabay
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Originally Posted by red01corvette
(Post 1577282519)
This tread alone is the reason i joined this Forum. I was on the SmokinVette forum for a while. thanks guys good work:rock:
Thanks to all who keep contributing :cheers: |
I love this thread, I just got here but I love this thread.
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Window Motor Rebuild
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Clear Corner Installation - Version 2-A
From experience, here are a couple of points for changing the front corners:
1. Leave the battery connected and use the knobs on the motors to raise the lights after removing the painted cover rear screws. You need the power to the lights to check that the bulbs are inserted correctly . . . bulbs won't work if inserted backwards. Once you are finished putting everything back together, cycle the headlings on and off, they will return to the proper position. 2. Mark the position of the bracket that the painted covers attach to and remove the bracket (4 torx screws). Now you can remove the three bolts (10mm) on the plastic "bulb assembly", lift it up and flip it over on top of the frame (the wires are long enough). 3. Now you have full access to the corners with both hands. |
Originally Posted by jims01vette
(Post 1577994333)
onyx02ss, hey i looked through the list and could not find any thing on the steering position sensor. Did i miss it some where? Thanks,jim
One of the other threads below referenced this article.. I found these threads..hope this helps... http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...on-sensor.html http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...on-sensor.html http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...on-sensor.html |
DIY for adding AUX Input using GM10-AUX do not need COR HAR Harness
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