DR-08C6Z51

I am aware of the extended warranty, 120,000 miles or 10 years. My car is a 2008 with 98,000 miles. My main question is has anyone had or heard of anyone having any luck getting GM to help with this outside of the 10 years?

Disclaimer: The rest is just an old man yelling at clouds. I know this is probably the 1000th thread on this. I know it's not unique. Apologies for my rant, but I don't really do Facebook. If you don't like grown men whining, do not proceed.

I was under my car today to replace the EVAP canister vent solenoid. And to assess the possibility of me doing the oil pan gasket, which until today was the most involved and expensive repair needed. I thought I had been smelling gas so before I got started, I was looking around and noticed there was fuel leaking down the driver's side fuel tank. I am assuming it's the fuel pump issue. Disappointed doesn't even begin to describe my reaction. (How can a company that brags about making cars for 100 years not have figured out how to keep the gas in the tank??) It's a 2008 with just over 98,000 miles. It's probably been leaking since I bought it 2 months ago but I have been in denial.

For anyone reading this looking to buy your first Corvette: listen to the wise people on here when checking out the car. These guys and gals are great. I did not. I didn't even check this forum until after I bought it. If I had, I never would have bought this car. It had almost every red flag imaginable. (In all honesty, I probably never would have bought a Corvette, period.)

I knew it had issues and I have been addressing them. It has been manageable. The car starts every time, runs fast and loud and is a lot of fun, even if it thinks it's overheating when it's not (still troubleshooting) or occasionally thinks it's out of gas when it's not (Techron helps) or stains my driveway (drip drip) or doesn't believe it's in park (I just haven't got around to it). But this one has me defeated. Unlike the oil leak and the other issues, I can't just "live with it". It's a lot of money to have it repaired. And even with access to a lift and tools, it's likely beyond my abilities.

I'll probably bite the bullet and get it fixed. I'll be calling around tomorrow for prices but if anyone can recommend a shop near 36330, that would be helpful. I also might just sell it without fixing but I would fully disclose the repairs needed. I intend to fix the temperature sensor issue. It would still need the oil pan gasket. And I'm assuming the fuel pump is the cause of the fuel leak; and the fuel sender on the passenger side needs replacing. What do you think a fair price would be if I decide to sell it? 2008 Base A6, 3LT, Z51. No wrecks, clean title, headers, no cats, CAI and a tune. The interior is clean, with 1 tear in the driver's seat. It has a wrap on it which I intend to have removed. Best guesses? And if anyone is looking for a fixer upper, make me an offer.

Thanks for reading. I realize this is a first world problem at it's finest and there are people out there with real problems. But it still sucks.

SixAddict

Sorry for having to deal with this. Mine took a dump two months after my (09) ten year anniversary was up to get this repaired under GM’s dime.

A6 your looking at around 2500 bucks at stealership. An indy shop might be less but make sure they KNOW corvettes. Good luck.

pewter99

you can DIY if you have the patience and are mechanically inclined but you need to be careful not to F up the connectors...I have a friend who did it himself...otherwise its $$$$

DR-08C6Z51

2 months after and no help? I am sorry to hear that. It's crazy that this isn't a recall issue.

DR-08C6Z51

Yeah, lack of patience is the issue. Those connectors look like an absolute pain.

FAUEE

Recalls are for safety issues in the use of the vehicle. This is a small leakage of vapors that's more annoyance than anything. So it wouldn't be a recall, it'd be a TSB. Which it was, but your car is 14 years old now.

It's one of those things that comes with the territory. If it makes you feel any better, in the future vehicles of that age will be of no use and long since needed replaced, so you're doing pretty good to have a 14 year old car that just smells a little!

DR-08C6Z51

I have a 2007 Accord with 230k miles. It isn't perfect but it has no problem keeping fuel inside the tank. Although I'm sure many people have problematic Hondas too. And to dismiss it is as "just smells a little" isn't quite accurate. There is gas dripping down the outside of the tank, not just vapor escaping. I would consider that a safety issue. Maybe on most cars it is just vapor. And I understand it was a TSB. But if you google "fuel leak recall" many manufacturers have done recalls on what appear to be similar issues.

I don't exactly agree with you on everything but I do agree with you, the lifespan of cars is dropping, especially as they pile more and more technology into them. I appreciate your point of view.

JABCAT

From reading your initial post, it appears you purchased a pretty rough vehicle with several issues. GM covered this particular issue for 10 yr/120k mi as you are aware so they have no further obligation regarding this repair. Hopefully you didn't spend too much on it.

DR-08C6Z51

[QUOTE=JABCAT;1604460539]From reading your initial post, it appears you purchased a pretty rough vehicle with several issues. GM covered this particular issue for 10 yr/120k mi as you are aware so they have no further obligation regarding this repair. Hopefully you didn't spend too much on it.[/QUOTE

You're right on both counts. Car is pretty rough. And I understand GM has no further obligation. I just figured I'd ask the question. I fully expect to be paying for the repairs.

mkel2010

I recently went through the fuel smell issue with my 2007. The vapors were bad enough that I was afraid to park it inside my garage where the water heater also resides. The dealership quoted me $3,000 to do the work (their shop rate is $180 an hour and the "book" calls for 10.5 hours to repair.) GM's "book" also calls for completely dropping the transmission, differential and rear suspension to do the repair - one of the reasons it's so expensive. I researched doing this myself and found a number of videos showing how to do it without dropping everything else in the rear end. I found a local mechanic shop that was willing to attempt it without dropping the rear end, with the understanding that they might need to drop everything anyway (their shop rate is $110 and hour.) I purchased all the parts (finding the right part numbers was a bitch) and took everything to the shop. They were able to replace the fuel pump, fuel line and sending unit without dropping the rear end and only charged me 7 hours instead of the 10.5 called for by the "book." All totaled, I spent less than half what the dealership wanted for the same job. I'm also happy to say there are no more fuel smells.

DR-08C6Z51

That's encouraging, thanks for the info. And I have watched the videos too. The shop that's going to look at it Monday is currently doing the same job on a Z06. So far, it's the only shop I've found around here that has any experience with them at all. We discussed dropping the transmission vs not and he said he'll look into it. Apparently, they have only done manual transmission cars. I'm happy to hear you got yours sorted out.

mkel2010

Mine is an automatic. I talked to the mechanic who did the work and he said the only issue he really had was lining up the crossover tube and the fuel line because of the limited access. I would also ask about providing your own parts. I found about a $300 price range difference on the fuel pump. I was able to find a stock AC Delco replacement for $266 when the dealership wanted almost $600 for the same part. You also need to make sure you get the right sending unit as they are different for the 05-06 and 07-13 model years.

DR-08C6Z51

Again, thanks. I'll start looking and see about providing the parts. And yeah, I watched a video of a guy rewiring a sending unit because he initially got the wrong one. Thanks for mentioning it.

ruxvette

Being an old fart and looking for the easy way to do things is there a way to cut access hole(s)/panels in the body floor to do it from above? Some sheet metal, screws, resin and cloth and yer done.
Pros? Cons?

DR-08C6Z51

I read through a thread awhile back where that was discussed. But I believe it was mostly theoretical. I don't think anyone had actually tried it on this model.

Bodacious104

My father and some other guys recently replaced the fuel pump on my 2008 base model automatic. We used the resources on this forum as well as youtube videos. We were lucky enough to be able to put the car on a lift so we could sit on stools and mess with it. If we had to be on creepers I don't think we could do it. We didn't have to drop any of the powertrain, but the gaps to loosen the collars and plastic retainers were quite small. The task was an extreme challenge having never done it. But once it was completed we realized several aspects were overthought. The hardest part was removing the metal collar from the gas tank and putting it back on.

I'd say with that many miles go ahead and replace the fuel pump and buy a new o ring set for where the crossover tube goes into the gas tank.

Bodacious104

When we looked into this we discovered there is a metal plate that covers the top of the fuel pump. This would have to be grind or cut out from inside the car and since I or anyone working on my car was not an engineer we weren't sure if we were working on a structural part, decided that was not the way to go.

FAUEE

If it's dripping actual liquid fuel, that's highly abnormal. They typically just leak a bit of vapor up around the top. If you're leaking actual liquid, I'd guess you have a different issue.

If your car is in that rough of shape, I wouldn't be surprised if someone damaged the tank somehow to cause actual liquid leaking.

DR-08C6Z51

I already figured the fuel pump was a given. Good point on the o rings. I'm not 100% against attempting it. I'll make a decision after I get the estimates. Good to hear you were able to get yours done.

I appreciate everyone taking the time to share their experience.

c5arlen

I'm so thankful that I studied this forum for a full year immersing myself in problems of all three, 5 6 an 7.
...like, know your Corvettes FIRST!