chippers

Lost my father unexecpectedly in August and inherited a little money so I purchased a 2005 C6 base model cash and paid off my student loans. I find this sight very helpful and I am very proud to be a Corvette owner. I do see some arguing on here that I could go without though. I love my car, Its the color I wanted and also has a few mods.

The problems, I have two!
One: It smokes a lot when idling, and the exhaust smells like gas really bad. I have to back it out of the garage as soon as I start it or my entire house will stink. My garge is in my basement though so I'm sure that doesn't help. The smoke looks whitish grayish to me. It does not smell like coolant whatsoever and my oil looks and smells fine. Also coolant levels are fine! I do here a clicking noise and I am wondering if the problem could be an injector. I changed plugs and wires, and there may have been a gassy smelling plug. The car runs great while driving, there are no misses or back fires or anything, and there are no check engine lights on. Seems like it idles a little rough, but that may just be the cam. It idles at a constant 1000 RPMs!

Two: The car starts fine the first time I start it, however, after that it takes about 5 sec. or so to turn over. Starts the same way weather it runs for one minute or one hour. If I go out the next day it starts right up. Also, If I give it gas while starting it, it turns right over. I got a reciept with the car saying it has a new fuel pump. I recently filled it up with high test gas and it didn't make a difference, that was the first time I put gas in it.

Are the two problems related? Any help would be greatly appreciated! The car has 35,000 miles. Could thiese be a tuning issue?

Don-Vette

Take it in and have a diagnostic check done. Smoke usually means burning oil(rings, valve guides) or coolant (head gasket).

mickey5

white/gray smoke sounds like coolant/condensation. Take off the oil filler cap and look at the underside. If there's a light gray muck coating the cap bottom you've got a gasket problem. If its dry or slightly oily your OK, look for something else.

chippers

The bottom ofthe oil filler cap is perfectly clean and dry!

JJC5

1000 rpm at idle is too high unless the prior owner changed the cam. Should be 650 stock. Smoke and rough idle is a sign the cam was changed too. How's the oil consumption?

chippers

It's nice out today, so I backed it out of the garage and watched it. The smoke did go away after about 5 minutes, so maybe it is just condensation in the exhaust? I think the oil consumption is okay, but I only put about 200 miles on the car so far. It still doesn't want to start right away after it runs once unless I give it gas. Fuel filter maybe? I would like to thank anyone who gives me some input. I have had a bad year, my dad passing has really worn me out. My car really helps me take my mind off of things.

wayback

Car might have been tuned....badly. A dealership can check and reinstall the factory tune fairly easily.

Fuel filter is built into the fuel pump and designed to last 100,000 miles. PITA to replace and dealer charges $$$$.

I would run some techroline thru the system, cant hurt and might help.

GL

Wildmanht

Did you buy the car from a private owner or through a car lot? If private owner, then asked him/her about the mods. BTW, what mods does it have?

Huskerman

You might want to run a can or two of Seafoam through it also....

chippers

I purchased it from a car dealer who bought it at an auction. It has headers, cam, and I put exhaust on it. Still has original cats. It came with nice wheels and a flame painted on the hood. I put new rotors and SBC front calipers on it. I also changed all four tires. Its a really clean car, someone took care of it. I don't know how long it sat for. According to the vehicle history report, the same owner owned it for 29,000 miles and then sold it to the person that it got repoed from. It now has 35,000 on it.

haljensen

If it has header it CANNOT have the original cats. How do you know it has a cam? You do realise that a cam can cause a rich idle that gives you a gasoline smell from the exhaust? What exhaust did you put on it? If it has a cam it most likely has a tune.

Do you have a Check Engine Light? If so get it diagnosed quickly.

needcheese

From what has been described and things to check, it sounds like the your vett does not have proper/good tune. We are not able to give any suggestions for a shop to get the tune. You do not have a location where you are located.

wayback

Most likely a bad tune.

chippers

Oh, I'll will update my profile. I am in North Jackson, Ohio. 15 min from Youngstown, 25 min from Akron, 1 Hr from Cleveland, and 1 Hr from Pittsburgh.

Rocketmanwpb

I noted you said you have headers, you may not have cats which would cause the gas smell.

chippers

There are definitley no check engine lights on. I don't know for sure that it has a cam, but the guy told me it did when I bought it. Having a cam really wasn't a selling point for me, so I do think he was telling the truth. I was gonna buy it before he even mentioned the cam. It sure sounds like it has a cam, but I have no experience with cams. I did not know cams produced a gas smell. Sure looks like the stock Cats to me from pictures and research I have been doing online. I think they have been modified to fit with the headers, looks like a good solid setup with no leaks or rattles. I obviously have some learning to do still and I will learn. I plan on owning a vette for the rest of my life, and I'm only 33. Once again I would like to thank everyone for their time!

haljensen

Headers and stock cats would be impossible. Unless you have the rare shorty headers made of unobtanium. Headers have 4 pipes on each side going all the way down to one pipe each side of the mid pipe.Stock has exhaust manifolds each side that connect to a single pipe each side that has the cat, those single pipes connect to the mid pipe.

If you have headers and no CEL then you have a tune.