C4 Corvette Maintenance Basics

Book excerpt: In the "C4 Corvette Maintenance Basics" book you'll find troubleshooting and maintenance information and a resource section that will help you locate needed parts and accessories.The technical information provided is basic troubleshooting and maintenance techniques for the C4 Corvette including the recovery and meaning of computer trouble codes. You'll also read about symptoms and common causes for power train issues. This information is presented along with specific engine and transmission information plus preventative maintenance suggestions. There is also an FAQ section for new owners. (Note that these sections DO NOT cover everything a Factory Service Manual covers.)The majority of the book presents a listing of failure types and problems sorted by model year as reported by Corvette dealers, owners and independent repair shops. Called Defect Reports, these data were collected by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) over the years going all the way back to the first C4, the 1984 model. Unfortunately the NHTSA website does not provide information for all model years from the C4 production run. Fortunately, the author was able to find historical Defect Reports for the entire C4 production run for the 1984 through 1996 models and included it in this book. This is information that - to the author's knowledge - you can't get anywhere else.Most of the dealer's master technicians who knew the C4 inside-out have retired and when they left, they took their tribal knowledge with them leaving C4 owners with only a few Corvette specialty repair shops - mostly in large cities - and their own skills to sort out C4 problems. The "C4 Corvette Maintenance Basics" book is intended to help address the shortage of DIY technical information for C4 owners. When you have an issue with your C4 Corvette, it's suggested that you first take a look at the maintenance section of the book and then browse the Defect Reports - laborious as that may be due to the number of reports. If you use these resources the odds for diagnosing your problem and developing a repair strategy will increase in your favor.Finally, browse the recalls and defect reports for your year C4 some evening when you're bored. Use the information you find there as a guide for checking your car to find out if you have any similar conditions that might cause you problems in the near future.