• Got the Contributing Memberships stuff finally worked out and made up a thread as a sort of "How-To" to help people figure out how to participate. So if you need help figuring it out, here's the thread you need to take a look at -> http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3581 Thank you, everyone! Rich Z.

Engine replacement in C8 Z06

Engineering is not what it used to be. And when I saw a Porsche tech remove the intake on a V-8 to get to the starter.....:shrug01:
 
I believe that car manufacturers REALLY don't want shade tree mechanics to be able to work on their products.

As for taking that C8 Z06 to the local Advance Auto to get a new battery installed in it, FORGET THAT! Heck, with all those bolts holding those panels underneath the car, I would imagine getting a starter or alternator replaced would be a headache.

I think the manufacturers want you to consider these $100,000+ vehicles as throwaways once the warranty has expired. But heck even under warranty, what are the chances that the techs at the dealerships would be able to get to anything on the engine without damaging something in the process? It appears that EVERYTHING will need to come out from the underside of the car.

Aw hell, I just noticed that the uploader pulled that video from YouTube. I guess Chevrolet figured out that seeing what is necessary to work on that car is a very strong NEGATIVE selling point. Well, they are right. Any fantasies I may have entertained about buying one went right out the window for me.

Or maybe they just found it embarrassing that a low mileage C8 Z06 was needing a new engine so soon. :shrug01:
 
Not that it's so difficult to work on them, but my issue is now finding parts. My CTS V is the first year manufactured (2004) and being a low number of these cars produced (2461) also brings the curse of a limited number of shelf parts made for warranty and/or resale.

When I first bought this car in 2010 I could go to a dealer website and view the parts list online and order anything I needed. IIRC they even had some complete LS6 engines for sale as well as Tremec 6 speeds and complete differentials.

My car had a warranty differential installed at 59K miles thank goodness, so it has the heavier duty 2006 upgraded one that replaced the original hardware that was prone to breaking when it was properly abused. Actually, when I look back over the warranty record I see where it has had THREE differentials replaced under warranty. But the first two were of the original design. Seems like they would have caught on a little quicker, right? This car apparently had four previous owners before I got it so I'm sure that it was flogged unmercifully during the first 97K miles. One of the owners only had it for about 1500 miles so I'm guessing he was scared of it.

Fast forward to today, the dealer parts list shows practically everything marked N/A. So now, if you can't repair it or rebuild it you have the choice of looking in wrecking yards for what you need or hoping some aftermarket company makes what you need. With production numbers this low the wrecking yard isn't much help. One particular aftermarket company, Creative Steel, does make a complete replacement rear-end from Ford 8.8 parts and it appears to be up to the task from the reviews I've read, but the cost is around 6 grand. Not including installation. To be expected I guess.

I have to say, the LS6 has not given me any trouble though. I don't beat on it. I actually only hammered it two times since I got it. The first time was when I had a friend I worked with telling me how much power his Escalade had. He had NO idea what this car was all about at the time but he was shocked when I slammed second gear and couldn't believe that it went sideways like it did. But I do love interstate on ramps where I can easily reach 96 mph in third gear!

But I do drive it so now it has 209K miles on it. But honestly, I have talked to others at car shows who have an easier time finding parts for their 60's and 70's cars than I do. It certainly takes the fun away from owning this car. It crossed my mind to upgrade to one of the later supercharged models, but I'm certain that I would be in the same situation in a few years.

I do love this hot rod Cadillac with the Z06 powertrain but it's becoming a burden.
 
Well, heck, I would guess that electronics replacement parts for my 2002 Z06 are likely getting pretty hard to come by. Those parts are hardened off with epoxy covering everything, which makes them resistant to environmental road damage. But on the other hand, makes it nearly impossible to fix them when they go bad.

I am beginning to think that buying older versions of vehicles where there isn't as much electronics crap in them to go bad might actually be the most logical thing to do these days. I would guess that prices would be about the same, regardless of whether it is a C2 Corvette or a C8 Corvette.

Too bad that Jeep discontinued the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, as I would be tempted to buy one. 770 horsepower in a SUV. :hehehe: Dodge is supposedly resurrecting the Durango Hellcat with the same engine in it. But my philosophy might be changing in my later years of life to buy a new vehicle, buy the extended warranty, and only keep it till the warranty runs out. Of course, even if you have a warranty, if replacement parts are unavailable, then it will be of little use to you.

Pretty sad to think that the USA is becoming a third world country. But I think that is by design, anyway. The powers that be cannot convince the American public to join the "New World Order" if it means to voluntarily give up their higher standard of living in the process. Encouraging to know we are just eggs that need to be broken in order to create that new world order omelette, isn't it?
 
Surprisingly I have found places that will recondition your ECM when it craps out. Two of our past cars, a Chevy HHR and a Mercury Mariner, had the ECM's go bad and whereas the dealer wanted $1400 for the HHR ECM, I sent it to a guy in Ft. Lauderdale who rebuilt it and warrantied it for life for $160 bucks! About the same for the Mercury too. Never had any trouble out of either vehicle. Just gave them the old ECM and the VIN number.

Joe says he wants half the new cars sold in America to be electric by 2030. I will walk or ride a horse before I buy an electric car. Way too many reasons why this won't work.

It sounds like Chrysler is jumping on the EV bandwagon too. No more Hemi Chargers after this year I understand. Unbelievable!
 
Yeah, just wait till the electric grid crashes and burns when EVERYONE is charging up their vehicles overnight on a hot summer day with all the air conditioning units running full tilt too. This all sounds to me that there was some big bucks crossing palms from people with a lot of money invested in the electric power companies. And I am sure that the Chinese manufacturers of those batteries are certainly loving this idea too. Again, money crossing palms there too.

Personally I think this is a ploy to try to keep people tethered to a small radius around their residence. You can only drive half the full charge distance, as there just are not going to be that many places, except in high population density areas, to get your car recharged to continue with a long trip. And then there is the problem of the amount of time it will take to charge up your vehicle. It won't be anywhere near as quickly as just pulling into a gasoline station, filling up the gas tank, and being on your way.

Oh yeah, and then sticker shock when it comes time to replace those batteries in your vehicle. :ack2: I have zero interest in buying an electric vehicle and even less to ever buy a USED one.

When are people going to learn that anytime the government MANDATES something, is is certainly NOT for our own good?

BTW, I wonder what a direct short across the negative and positive terminals of those battery banks will do? Those things must be providing a lot of current.
 
BTW, your signature:
"I finally figured it out. Kamala Harris is Joe Biden's guarantee against assassination."

And Joe Biden was Obama's insurance against assassination.

Now that begs a question. If Obama knew that no one would want Biden to become president at his demise, then how exactly did Biden get enough legitimate votes to become POTUS when even Obama knew that it was likely that most people would not want that to happen? :shrug01:
 
Key word. Legitimate.....


Not sure what went wrong with the video. It was an engineer pointing out how the EV's are/will be destroying the planet and that by 2030 there will be a vast wasteland of non-recyclable batteries.
 
Crazy! I can see it on the other site but when I post it here, it's gone. Uhh!

https://www.tiktok.com/@rodney_you_plonker/video/7199361480062553350

Let's see if this works.....

Yeah, that one works. Not a lot of surprises there, though. Just the fact that if we get pushed to all EV, China will have us even more by the short hairs. Imagine if they were to get pissed at us and said "No more batteries for you!" By then all of the gasoline stations would have gone away because no one was buying their products. So transportation would grind to a halt as the batteries died and could not be replaced. Heck, for that matter, China could shut us down right now simply by ceasing from selling us anything.

Trying to find anything that isn't "Made in China" is real tough to do. Matter of fact, Ebay has pretty much been taken over by China. So much so that they forced Ebay (IMHO) to stop displaying where the seller's account was registered from. Used to be, yeah, they would tell you that the ITEM was located, but you could also check on the seller to see where THEY were located when they registered the account. I guess the Chinese didn't like that much.

Just like the Chinese didn't like it when the USA passed a law stating that the country of origin for food items must be displayed on the packaging. China got that killed REAL QUICK.

And who knows how deeply China has it's hooks in our "representatives" in Congress? We are being conquered by the Chinese while we are sleeping. IMHO.
 
Heck, they already own all the chip making facilities for the computers in our cars. And for some reason we can't seem to be able to build those here in America! Sounds like there is something political about that too.
 
They have priced all the performance cars out of my price range. I decided long ago to never buy new. I’ve had pretty good luck being selective and working for car dealers off and on since 1975 gave me the insight as to how dealers function. When I say they are out my price range, really I just mean that I’m not going to pay that kind of money only to have depreciation wipe out $20K or more when it rolls off the car lot. We’re making a couple hundred thousand a year now but cars are not that high of a priority. I mean I bought my wife an Escalade last year but we didn’t pay $80-$100K for it. She always liked the Suburbans we had when the kids were growing up and now she has something nice to haul the grandkids around in. Car prices have gotten ridiculous. But then again, so has everything.
 
Well, one good thing about the push towards ALL electric vehicles is that it will certainly take the thought of me ever buying a new vehicle again right off the table. Of course, if they deep six the oil companies and gasoline goes the way of the dinosaurs, then there goes the used car market with gasoline powered vehicles too. Personally, buying a used EV and running a risk of an imminent expensive battery replacement will pretty much got the market for ANY used vehicles at all.

So why is the government trying to eliminate the personal freedom of personal owned vehicles that can travel basically as far as we want to go? :shrug01:

But something is afoot. And they are using all kinds of excuses to try to herd us there.

Yeah, we are being herded towards a "green" world. Green from mold and decay, I would imagine.

And remember that the Second Amendment is the canary in the coal mine.
 
I was watching one video last night where they were saying that dropping the engine out of a C8 is rated a 24 hour shop labor job. I am sure that shop hourly charges are more than the $110 per hour last time I had work done in a Chevy dealership service department.

I think a lot of people will be selling these things the moment they go out of warranty.

Oh yeah, if you want to get a 2023 Corvette Z06, you are going to have to break into your piggy bank.

The 2023 Chevrolet Corvette C8 Z06 starts at $106,695 MSRP. The range-topping 3LZ convertible costs $127,545 MSRP.

And don't forget all the little incidentals like taxes, and other sundry fees.
 
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