The intake manifold gasket failed at 82,000 miles.
On both seats the stitching was pulled apart.
When I received the car the air conditioning did not work.
The exhaust hanger broke, but only took 20 seconds to weld.
The front suspension has a very loud and annoying squeak, but I think that will be easy to fix.
The starter failed at 90,000 miles, but a new stainless steel starter only cost $130 with core.
The radio has been giving me all kinds of problems, but could be fixed if I would come around to installing a CD player.
The C4 Corvette I think is the best all around sports car. If you know how to turn a wrench and read a repair manual you can figure these cars out. The small block Chevy has been around for almost 50 years so the parts are easy to find and there is a endless amount of different performance modifications you can do to these engines. You could easily get 350 to 400 horsepower with out the aid of a turbocharger, supercharger or nitrous, but I am not saying the corvette is lacking power in any way.
The suspension is very rough, but handles very well it gives you the feel of a sports car when performance was more important than comfort. The body being fiberglass I couldn't say if I favor it or not over steel. They both have opposite advatages and disadvantages. The thing that probably breaks the tie is that you can brag about it being fiberglass. As for the design of the body I personally like the look of the steel bumper corvettes, but the C4 the aerodynamics is almost 25% better than the 1984 corvette. It still looks better than most every thing on the streets. The hood and the fenders are a one piece unit so it is easier to work on the engine and suspension.
My car is used for a daily driver and only having two seats becomes a real pain. The seats are fairly comfortable and they really hold you in place. The radio is pretty good for being a 20 year old car. I enjoy the digital gauges where you just have to glance at the gauges to find out where you are at.
I recently purchase a 1984 corvette that's in great shape it's a 4&3 full power. now to the comment. you have to realize that these cars are 20 years old, and you are going to have some problems here and there, on the over all fix them and continue to be proud to be a corvette owner.
Lonnie Manchester Ct.
I also just purchased an 84 Vette. The fortunate thing for me was it had been reasonably well taken car of. By obtaining it for a reasonable price it allowed me to completely change out and upgrade ignition and steering components. With extra wide tires all around that are less than 2000 miles old it also makes a difference. The interior of the car is in fantastic shape and a shampoo of the carpet/fabric area of the vehicle really brought it up. Treatment of the leather seats with a dubbin compound made the leather more pliable. My vehicle was bought for summer fun and the pleasure of working on something special. I thoroughly enjoy it.
Gary (Owen Sound)
I just purchased an 84 Corvette. Has anyone had trouble with Crossfire? A friend told me that I would. What is the fix for it? My car looks fantastic and has new tires and paint and only 39000 miles. The price was real cheap. I am tickled pink. Please advise. mrjmhodge@yahoo.com.
Suspension squeaks - You may have missed one of the many! grease points on the suspension. The manual claims that greasing is required every 5000 miles. I've never managed to keep up to that schedule, but my '84 has developed squeaks after 20-30,000 miles without grease. They usually go away a few days after greasing.
Reliability - Mine had 80,000 miles when I got it, 5 yrs later it has 200,000 miles. Probably spent about $2,500 on it. Not bad. Very good for a sports car that's right up there with a Porsche 911 of the same year.
Major items to fail:
Transmission - (4spd auto) Right after I got it the auto stripped its clutch plates (I should've spotted the bad auto transmission when I was buying it), this necessitated a $1000 (incl. reinstallation) rebuild. I liked the price for a rebuild. Still can't believe how touchy the auto is though, if you don't get the transmission oil changed every year it'll stop shifting properly. Problem has occured for 4 years now, and once the oil is changed it's fine for another year.
Radiator went - Dumb design catches leaves and therefor moisture at bottom of radiator housing. $300 installed.
Thermostat failed twice. (Very cheap)
Idler pulley failed - This in turn shredded fan belt. (first time I was ever stranded) $150 installed.
AIR pump ceased - This also in turn shredded fan belt.
(left me stranded in north dakota, partially my fault as I probably turned the car off a little soon after some high speed driving) $100 did this myself. (You can make it home by removing the AIR pump pulley and running a shorter belt)
Battery went - It's a pain to change.
Rear mufflers have been gone for some time.
Overall not too bad for a true sports car.
-Engine power is average
-Brakes are very good (after retrofit with racing brake pads all round and cross drilled rotors at the front they are amazing!)
-Best cornering and handling car I've ever driven in! Perfect balance, just a hint of understear for decent safety, amazingly responsive to changes in direction, and the BEST maximum cornering grip ever!
-Great highway fuel economy 9.0l/100km (25mpg) doesn't drop below about 10.5l/100km (22mpg) even at 85mph (140km/h).
-Near zero depreciation now.
-Nice looks
-Very convienient targa roof, that's almost a convertible (no center bar).
ALL ROUND GOOD FUN BUY.
I have an 84 Vet and have a squeak in the left rear end, It sounds like it is coming from the taillight area. It can be stopped by pressing in on either of the left taillights. My Vet mechanic tried to fix it, but he is now saying he will have to take the rear bumper off the get at the proble. Anyone had this occur? Any way to avoid taking off the rear bumper?
Thanks.
Hugh.
As far as squeaks in rear near tail light is concerned, you may just need to replace your shocks. The bad part about this are the price per shock, however the good thing about this is that your vette is quite possibly the easiest shock exchange job ever to do compaired to any other car out there, lol. You could even do this yourself. When they go bad on your style vette they have a tendency to cause major squeaks so chances are this may be the cause. My friend that races the c-4 corvettes in speedchannel's corvette challenge has experienced this problem, so I am making a safe bet that this is all it is. For more help, go online to mid america motor works and order an awesome free catalog, and do the same at corvette central.
Someone asked about the 1982-1984 cross fire engine and if anyone has had problems with them. Yes, you should avoid these engines and get a vette with a tuned port injection motor. However, someone does make a kit that makes the cross fire injection work as it was originally intended. You may have to go to mid america on line (they specialize in corvettes) and also check out corvette central on line. Call both their 800 numbers and ask about this and request a free catalog too. Thanks. Jeremy jmb162000@yahoo.com.
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