1998 Chevrolet Corvette Transmission Problems

STEERING COLUM LOCK UP AND SHIFTER LOCK UP REF. IN EA02-031 *CJS

NHTSA ID

10007598

Incident

Aug 20, 2002

Mileage

28,594 mi

WHILE DRIVING CONSUMER NOTICED THAT ENGINE CHECK LIGHT HAD COME ON. AFTER TAKING VEHICLE IN FOR A DIAGNOSIS, CONSUMER WAS TOLD THAT A STEERING WHEEL POSITION SENSOR WAS NEEDED. STEERING SENSOR UNCORRELATED MALFUNCTIONED/SENSOR SHORTED-PER INVOICE. CONSUMER FELT THAT THIS WAS A DEFECT BECUASE VEHICLE HAD LOW MILEAGE, AND KNEW OF OTHERS WITH SIMILAR PROBLEMS. MANUFACTURER WAS AWARE AND WAS WILLING TO SPLIT THE BILL 50/50, BUT CONSUMER FELT IF DEALER DIDN'T COVER ALL CHARGES THEN FURTHER ACTION WILL BE TAKEN. COST OF TOTAL REPAIRS WAS $1256.36. *SCC...*AK

NHTSA ID

568012

Incident

Oct 2, 2002

DASH DISPLAY SAID TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM INOPERATIVE AND THEN 'REDUCED POWER MODE'. POWER DROPPED TO ZERO, ALTHOUGH ENGINE CONTINUED TO RUN. WE WERE IN THE CENTER LANE OF A CROWDED FREEWAY AND JUST MANAGED TO GET TO THE SHOULDER. IT WAS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. IT HAPPENED SEVERAL MORE TIMES ON THE WAY HOME. THE TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM WAS NOT ACTIVE (SUMMER, DRY, STRAIGHT ROAD). DISABLING THE TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM HAD NO EFFECT. IT MAKES NO SENSE TO ENDANGER THOSE ON THE ROAD BY DROPPING THE POWER TO ZERO FOR A TRIVIAL REASON.*AK

NHTSA ID

766482

Incident

Feb 1, 2002

CONSUMER WAS TRAVELING ABOUT 70MPH ON HIGHWAY WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING AND VEHICLE DECELERATED TO 20MPH. HE WAS ABLE TO PULLL OVER TO SHOULDER S TO PREVENT AN ACCIDENT DEALERSHIP MECHANIC TOLD CONSUMER THAT VEHICLE WENT INTO LEAP MODE TO PROTECT ENGINE. PROBLEM IS STILL EXISTS. *AK

NHTSA ID

883170

Incident

Feb 16, 2001

1-STEERING LOOSE AND UNSAFE/2-ENG STUMBLES AND DIES/3-ENG RATTLES IN GEAR/4-DRIVERS SEAT LOOSE/5-GAS MILAGE DROPPING/6-ALL CODES ERRASED BY THEMSELF. *AK

NHTSA ID

737523

Incident

Feb 4, 1999

THE PASSENGER SIDE SEAT BELT JAMMED FOR AT LEAST THE FIFTH TIME AFTER THE DEALER INSTALLED THE CLIP REQUIRED BY THE RECALL. AN ACCIDENT OCCURRED A FEW MINUTES AFTER THE LAST JAM. MY PASSENGER WAS VERY LUCKY NOT TO HAVE BEEN INJURED WITH MORE THAN A BRUISE ON HER LEG AND A BUMP ON HER HEAD. WHEN SHIFTING FROM FIRST GEAR INTO SECOND AT ABOUT 35 MPH (ENGINE SPEED AT ABOUT 3300 RPM), THE REAR END CAME AROUND TO THE LEFT CAUSING THE CAR TO DO A 180. THE TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM NEVER INTERVENED AS IT HAS DONE MANY TIMES IN MUCH LESS SEVERE SITUATIONS. THE CAR THEN WENT SIDEWAYS ACROSS TRAFFIC INTO A CURB AND THEN OVER THE CURB INTO A FENCE ON THE EDGE OF AN OVERPASS. A POLICE OFFICER WAS A FEW CARS BEHIND ME AND SAW THE ENTIRE INCIDENT. IN HIS POLICE REPORT HE ESTIMATED MY SPEED AT 35 MPH. *AK

NHTSA ID

737402

Incident

Dec 3, 2000

I FIND THAT THE GEARS GRIND BETWEEN SHIFTS AT EITHER HIGH SPEED OR HIGH RPM'S. AT THE BEGINNING ONLY 5 GEAR HAD GRINDED NOW I FIND THAT GEAR 4 AND 6 GRIND. THE GRINDING OCCURS OCCURS AS THE RPM'S APPROACH 4,500 AND HIGHER. ALSO THE GEARS ALSO GRIND WHEN SPEEDS EXCEED 140KM/H OR 88 MILES/H. I HAVE ALREADY HAD 3 PRIOR MECHANICAL PROBLEMS WITH MY 6 SPEED TRANSMISSION. THE FIRST WAS A TRANSMISSION LINK FAILURE. THE SECOND WAS A TRANSMISSION LEAK. THE THIRD WAS A BROKEN SHIFTER. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TWICE DUE TO THE INCIDENTS. I FOUND COUNTLESS OTHERS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM AT WWW.C5-CORVETTE.COM IT SEEMS TO BE A SYNCRO PROBLEM. NO DEALER HAS BEEN ABLE TO RESOLVE MY PROBLEM TO DATE. I HAVE BEEN TO 3 DIFFERENT DEALERS FOR A TOTAL OF 5 TRIPS, NO CORRECTION HAS BEEN MADE THUS FAR. *AK

NHTSA ID

723403

Incident

Apr 1, 2000

TRANSMISSION FAILURE.

NHTSA ID

609473

Incident

Jul 1, 1998

DEALER CONTACTED TWICE, NOTHING DONE.. LETTER TO GM, TOLD TO GO BACK TO DEALER. NO SAFETY DEFECT MENTIONED IN SUMMARY. *AK

NHTSA ID

706432

Incident

Apr 17, 1999

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID LEAKS (SERVICED 4 TIMES WITH MANY COMPONENTS REPLACED), PASSENGER SEATBELT RETRACTOR FAILS TO RETRACT (DEALER REPLACED)

NHTSA ID

704442

Incident

Mar 10, 1999

PASSENGER'S SIDE SEAT BELT RETRACTOR ISN'T WORKING PROPERLY. ALSO, GEAR SHIFT IS CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO SHIFT FROM 1ST TO 4TH, LEADING TO AN UNPREDICTABLE SLOWING OF THE VEHICLE. *AK *ML

NHTSA ID

833776

TRANSMISSION OIL LEAK. ALSO PASSENGER'S WINDOW LEAKED.

NHTSA ID

534293